REVIEWS

"BATMAN BEGINS"

As a child, every now and then, I would dabble a little in comic books, but it wasn't until the hype surrounding 1989's "Batman" that I really got interested. After I saw the movie, I bought Frank Miller's comic book masterpiece "The Dark Knight Returns," and I've been a comic book geek ever since.

If you'd like to read the long version of the above paragraph, check out my review of "Sin City" (a movie based on other great comics by Frank Miller).

The first Batman movie (I'm not including the 1966 feature film starring Adam West that followed season one of the campy TV series), titled "Batman," was released in 1989. After all the hype, it was hard not to be at least a little disappointed. The movie is good, but it's not even close to being the definitive Batman movie. Michael Keaton was an interesting choice to play the title role, but he defied expectations by actually being really good in it. Still, I don't consider the film to be a true adaptation of the comic books. Still, it looked great, and director Tim Burton practically created a new genre that would be duplicated repeatedly. The movie really is quite flawed, though, and not just because of how inaccurate the adaptation is.

In 1992, the sequel, "Batman Returns," was released. I liked it a little bit more than the one before it, despite the many problems it had. It was very entertaining. It was darker, and the addition of Catwoman (as played by Michelle Pfeiffer, who played the role purr-fectly... heh, sorry) made the movie work for me. Also, it's the more "Burtonesque" of the Tim Burton Batman movies... though perhaps TOO Burtonesque. The Penguin was less Batman villain and more ghastly creature you'd find in a typical Tim Burton movie, and he had little resemblance to the comic book character. I really did like the movie, though.

In 1995, "Batman Forever" was released, and that movie sucked ass. That one was directed by Joel Schumacher, and it was simply awful. Robin was added, and even though the costume was cool, the character was all wrong, as was the actor (no disrespect to Chris O'Donnell intended). The worst thing is that Two-Face, one of the best and most complex characters in the Batman rogues gallery, was reduced to being just another cackling villain. Horrible. This movie was the beginning of the end of the Batman franchise.

"Batman & Robin," which came out in 1997, was the final nail in the coffin. Wow, what an abomination. To be honest with you, I've yet to see it in its entirety, but the little I've seen (Batman whipping out a Bat credit card saying "never leave the Bat Cave without it," or something like that... ugh) and the stuff I'd read about it told me everything I needed to know. Probably the most damaging thing I'd seen was an interview with Joel Schumacher, where he said that Bruce Wayne was too depressing, and when it came to watching his parents get murdered, Schumacher felt that Bruce Wayne needed to "get over it and lighten up." Ugh. Can you think of anyone less qualified to direct a Batman movie? The movie effectively destroyed the Batman franchise. It took years for me to finally forgive Joel Schumacher and the film's writer, Akiva Goldsman.

Eight years later, the Batman franchise gets a reboot, and it's about damn time. As soon as Warner Bros. announced that they were going to return to the Batman franchise, I followed the development closely. I waited for every little rumor and announcement, terrified that they were gonna ruin my favorite superhero once again. There was a rumor that Ashton Kutcher was cast as Batman. Thankfully, it wasn't true (ugh, I don't even wanna think about what that would have been like). In fact, it seemed like a miracle was taking place, and Warner Bros. was trying to make things right.

When Chris Nolan was announced as the director, I wasn't overjoyed, but I thought he was an interesting choice. I would have preferred David Fincher, but I liked Chris Nolan. I'd seen all of his movies ("Insomnia," "Memento," and "Following"), and they were all really good. Then I heard that the script was gonna be written by David S. Goyer, and I got worried. Goyer seems like a good guy, and he's a comic book geek to the extreme, but I'm not a huge fan of his writing. He wrote the horrible TV-Movie with David Hasselhoff, "Nick Fury: Agent of Shield," as well as "The Crow: City of Angels," and all three "Blade" movies (the third one being one he also directed). He's yet to write a script that I liked (though he did help write "Dark City," a movie I like quite a bit), so I wasn't too happy with him writing the script. Fortunately, he wrote it with Chris Nolan, so the writing wouldn't only be left up to him. Besides, if nothing else, Goyer would make damn sure that the Batman depicted on film would be true to the comic books, ensuring that the character is treated with the respect that he deserves.

When casting announcements were made, it was almost always good news. If Warner Bros. called me up and asked me who I would have chosen to play the role of Batman, I would have chosen the same guy who Chris Nolan ended up picking, Christian Bale. Though I didn't see his breakthrough role in "Empire of the Sun," I did see him in "The Machinist," "Equilibrium," "Reign of Fire," "Shaft," and "American Psycho." He was the perfect guy to play Bruce Wayne, and he was the perfect guy to play Batman. There are plenty in Hollywood who would have been fine as one or the other, but none would have been as perfect at both roles as Christian Bale, and most comic book geeks agreed with me.

Then came the other casting announcements; Michael Caine as Alfred, Gary Oldman as James Gordon (eventually to be Commissioner Gordon), Liam Neeson as Henri Ducard, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox... what an amazing cast! Admittedly, I'd never heard of Ken Watanabe, the man who was cast as Ra's Al Ghul, nor did I know who Cillian Murphy was, the man who was cast as The Scarecrow. Still, the casting was so good, it could be assumed that they were right for their roles (although Ra's Al Ghul is not Asian in the comic books... but that gets explained in the movie). The one bit of casting that scared me was Katie Holmes. She seemed totally out of place with the cast.

Okay, blah, blah, blah... is the movie any good???

YES!!!! The movie is awesome! Is it perfect? No, but it's a whole lot better than any of us could have hoped for. Lemmie get to the stuff I didn't like first. The villains are weak, and they had little resemblance to their comic book origins. That's nitpicky comic book geek stuff, but some of my other complaints are more legit, such as the fact that Batman causes way too much damage to public and personal property. With all the destruction he leaves in his wake, it almost seems like it would be better to just let criminals run loose. Also, considering what witnessing the murder of his parents did to Bruce Wayne, I think the scene should have been much more gut-wrenching. Another problem I had happens to be one of my biggest pet peeves; fight scenes that are nothing more than quick cuts and close-ups. Sometimes it's appropriate, since the whole thing with Batman is that he's hidden in the shadows, then he sneaks up on you and kicks your ass before you have a chance to think. However, if it's a long fight scene, the camera should be pulled back so we can see what's going on. Finally, the third act really is a surprisingly standard action movie climax, with over the top action and typical Hollywood moments. That doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing, but I expected more.

I know that seems like a lot of complaints, but in the grand scheme of things, it's not. I absolutely love this movie, and the good things outnumber the bad in spades. I especially like the obscure things that a geek like me could appreciate, such as the appearance of Victor Zsasz and the mentioning of Joe Chill by name (contrary to popular belief, Bruce Wayne's parents were killed by Joe Chill, not Jack Napier). Also, the relationship between Batman and Gordon was handled perfectly in the film.

Speaking of that, the cast was truly excellent. Christian Bale was as great as I expected him to be, and I think it's safe to say that even those who walked in having never heard of him were impressed with him in the role. Gary Oldman was great as Jim Gordon, and it was good to see him pull off a subdued performance (he's a great actor, but I wish he would reign in his performances more often). I'd never heard of Cillian Murphy before this movie, all I knew was what I'd read, which is that he's an Irish actor who starred in "28 Days Later." He was a nice surprise, and I liked him a lot as The Scarecrow. Ken Watanabe isn't in the movie much, so there's very little I can say about him except that he's good in the few minutes he's in the movie. Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer... they're all great. The only weak spot is Katie Holmes, but I don't blame her. In truth, Katie Holmes does a decent job, and she's playing a pretty cool character, but the problem with her in the role isn't the acting, it's the casting. She doesn't belong in this kinda movie. She sticks out worse than Keanu Reeves stuck out in Kenneth Branagh's otherwise excellent feature film version of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing." Besides, Batman shouldn't have a love interest, it makes no sense. Considering the lifestyle of both Batman and Bruce Wayne, the only person who can work as a love interest is Selina Kyle, better known as Catwoman. Logically and emotionally, Catwoman is the only one who makes sense. Unfortunately, the recent "Catwoman" movie (a horrible adaptation having little to do with the comic book character at all) probably ruined the chances of Catwoman being in this series of Batman movies.

The music score was completely different from the previous Batman films. It was a collaboration between two giants in film music, James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer. You might think that there were ego clashes, but that wasn't the case. Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard are longtime friends, and they'd been wanting to do a score together for years. With "Batman Begins," they were finally given the opportunity to collaborate, and it was a collaboration in the truest sense, actually working together from beginning to end. The end result is, well, interesting. The music isn't what I expected, but I don't know what it is that I expected. I liked the music a lot, but it isn't as memorable as Danny Elfman's work in "Batman" or "Batman Returns." Also, there's nothing that can be called the main theme, but there is no opening credit sequence for the theme to play over anyway (you never even see the movie title until the end). There's this one cue that can probably be considered the theme, but it's not really music. It's music the same way that the haunting theme from "Jaws" is music, and like with "Jaws," the sound is that of looming dread approaching. I liked it as soon as I heard it playing over the Warner Bros. logo. I dunno, you'll know it when you hear it. I liked it a lot.

Okay, this ridiculously long review is coming to a close, but before I go, here's a list of the essentials, some great "Batman" graphic novels/trade paperbacks that I strongly recommend to those of you who are interested in reading up on Batman, but don't know where to start. They're in no particular order, all of them are excellent. A warning, though; some of them are "suggested for mature readers." Here they are: