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Batman Begins - Nolan and Bale Give Fans the Goods

Iain W. Reeve, A&E Editor

ince his creation in 1939, the char-

acter of Batman has come an

incredibly long way. Like any pop-
ular character, he has been dragged
through various mediums, from TV to
radio, video games to novels. And, of
course, his many depictions on the big
screen. Throughout his many incarna-
tions, Batman has always been at the
centre of a battle between those who
would like to depict him artistically as the
20th century folk hero he has become—
attempting to give service to the many
deep levels of character available—and

 

Iain W. Reeve, A&E Editor

here were many Batman movies

for me to choose from to trash

here. Instead, I decided to go
with what is my second favourite Batman
movie, the one staring Adam West and
Burt Ward as Batman and Robin. The film
was, of course, a spin off of the 1960s
series that combined a zany (mis)interpre-
tation of the character with cheesy
costumes, hammy dialogue, and the most
ridiculous cast of villains ever conceived

10 | www.theotherpress.c¢

 

those who see him as an effective tool for
making money, often driving content out
the window. The latter side has won out
more often than not, especially in depic-
tions of the Dark Knight outside of the
comics.

We are currently in the age of the
comic-book film. Two different
approaches have been taken in attempts
to bring these implausible characters to
life. One is the “comic-book-on-screen”
approach seen in most of the ’80s and
90s superhero movies. The other is to
take the characters and circumstances of

of.
So the question is this: If this movie is
such a brutal bastardization of the

 

the story and make them seem to be real
in our world, the approach of most mod-
ern films like Spider-Man and X-Men.
Batman Begins does a better job than ever
at this. While it would be going a little far
to say the film is realistic, as the principle
character is a full-grown man jumping
around in a bat costume, it is plausible and
believable on a level not previously
accomplished in a comic-book film.

The story goes out of its way to make
all the skills and gizmos of Batman make
sense. More important than this, however,
is the story that is told in this context. The
filmmakers walk a perfect line between
being loyal to a well-known story, and cre-
ating something original that draws on the
best parts of the existing stories. For the
first time we get to see Batman’s motiva-
tions explained in believable detail. He
becomes a man with fantastic abilities, but
who is fallible, and who is forced by his
past to sacrifice his future for the good of
others. We don’t see the man in costume
until the film’s second act, which is exact-
ly as it should be. We get to see the
triumphs and failures of Batman as a
rookie crime fighter.

While this film does have its share of
action, it is still a drama. It relies on strong
characters, not explosions. We gain a good
understanding of the supporting charac-
ters Alfred, Gordon, and Fox. Through
them, we also gain a better understanding
of Bruce Wayne. All the performances
were sharp, Gary Oldman nailing the awk-
ward confidence of a young Jim Gordon,
and Michael Caine effortlessly slipping

 

Batman mythos, why is it so good?
The story revolves around the dynam-
ic duo going up against not just one, or

into the shoes of Alfred, the Wayne fam-
ily’s strong-willed man servant. The

scenes between him and a young Wayne,
who just witnessed the death of his par-
ents, are truly powerful. All the villains are
played excellently, with a special nod
going to Cillian Murphy, who was suave
and chilling as Jonathan Crane/the
Scarecrow.

With Nolan, of Memento and Insomnia
fame, at the helm, the visual quality of
this movie was a sure bet. Chicago was
used as the skyline of choice to simulate
Gotham City. Nolan creates it as a believ-
able, but dark and troubled city.

The concept of fear explored
throughout the film is played beautifully
in scenes ranging from Wayne’s training in
a mountain hideout, to first-person shots
from the point of view of the Scarecrow’s
fear-gas victims. Some have complained
of camera shakiness during fight
sequences, or the lack of any good clear
shots of Batman. I, however, see this as
the best way of displaying the combat
prowess of a character who lurks in dark-
ness and uses it as his greatest tool. The
less you see of Batman, the scarier he is.

This is without a doubt the greatest
appearance Batman has made outside the
comics. Better than Burton, better than
the long-celebrated 90s animated series,
and far better than the mess Schumacher
made of the franchise. Batman is back,
and as long as they can keep this crew
together for successive movies, the fran-
chise will only get better.

 

two, or
greatest

even three—but four of their
enemies: Joker, Penguin, the
Riddler, and Catwoman. The horrible
“United Underground’s” evil plan
involves abducting the security council of
the “United World” assembly. But they
plan to abduct them by using a horrible
invention, the super-dehydrator, to turn
the world’s diplomats into small piles of
coloured dust. Holy vacuum Batman!

So the world’s greatest crime fighters
must go on the hunt and face such hor-
rors as disappearing boats, exploding
marine animals, moronic pirate goons,
buoys with supermagnets, and _ sinister
missiles that write riddles in the sky cour-
tesy of the Riddler.

Can the dynamic duo possibly defeat
four of their greatest enemies? Tune in,
same bat time, same bat channel.

July 13/2005