Batman Begins

[fajrdrako]

I could easily talk about Batman, the nuances, implications, and history of the character from now till midnight and hardly stop for breath. I'll try to control myself...

Batman is one of my favourite heroes, right up there with Francis Crawford, Aragorn son of Arathorn, Mr. Rochester and Aral Vorkosigan. I've loved him since I was about 9 years old. He is the best and the sexiest hero DC Comics has ever had. (Just ask me and Stephanie Plum.)

It's as if there were a Dunnett movie and I had to judge the movie Lymond compared to the Lymond in my head. Would any actor and any director and any script do him justice? Unlikely. Would he be acceptable? Conceivably.

And for the record, no previousy filmed version of Batman has been IMHO even remotely acceptable to me. The worst was the 1960s TV show, which was so dumb I went into a Batman-funk and ignored the character for a couple of decades out of sheer embarrassment. The best has been the 2003 TV cartoon version - maybe. (I never really watched it, but liked its retro artistic style.) Michael Keaton was the worst miscasting I have ever seen in a movie, though the Tim Burton movie had its good points - music and set design, mostly.

Which is a lot of preamble to say: Christian Bale is almost-perfect casting, and his version of Bruce Wayne is superb. Better than I dared hope. Batman... not so much; the suit is clunky. But I am happy to say that this story is mostly about Bruce Wayne, and how Bruce Wayne develops the persona of the Batman.

The best things about "Batman Begins":

1. Bruce Wayne: utterly sane, but utterly self-directed. He doesn't care what other people think: he has his own ways and he follows them. This is shown very clearly, with the mix of anger and compassion that I think are the hallmarks of the character. Christian Bale puts across the three primary facets of the man: First, Bruce Wayne, the dedicated detective and secret vigilante hero; second, the billionnaire playboy; third, the frightening, obsessive Batman. The movie does a wonderful job with all of these, and makes him a convincing person. I liked his training with Liam Neeson, his interactions with others, his skill, his intelligence, his sense of humour, his alienation, his sense of himself and of Gotham City. All done just right.


2. The people close to Bruce:
   
   
   • Gary Oldman as Sgt. Jim Gordon - ah, if ever a man was born for a role - he was Gordon to the life! Perfect. Better than perfect.
   
   
   • Michael Caine as Alfred - not my mental image of Alfred, not what I expect from the comics, but just as good if not better. His bond with the Wayne family was delightful and there was nothing servile about it - his relationship with Bruce was as nurturing henchman, surrogate parent, accomplice and confidante, all exactly right.
   
   
   • Liam Neeson as his mentor. To say more would be a spoiler, but Neeson was brilliant - fully worthy of his acolyte and his role - and he managed to put across the weird mix of ancient wisdom and cold cruelty that the role needed, along with a loving-but-ruthless attitude to Bruce himself.
   
   
   • Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox. I've never seen Fox be particularly interesting in the comic; Freeman here gave him a wonderful mix of humor, imagination, genius, and stolidity. I'd have trusted him with my
     life, too. A bit like James Bond's M, a bit like a favourite uncle.
   
   
3. The script: Good dialogue, good lines.

Things I didn't like so much:

1. The plot. It wasn't bad, but it didn't seem focussed. I like structure to a plot, and a strong climax. There were too many villains - Carmine Falcone, Ra's Al Ghul, and the Scarecrow - each one was excellent, and any one of them individually would be enough for a full movie. All the more so since the main theme was Bruce Wayne's invention of the Batman, and that was pretty weighty as it was. I would have chosen to simply make Ra's Al Ghul the villain, and stick with him. I would have liked a stronger climax, where Bruce questions his choice to become Batman, and is strengthened by his decision.


2. Rachel, played by Katie Holmes - what passed for a female lead. As far as I was concerned she was a dud and a nonentity. She was supposed to be an idealistic and feisty Assistant D.A., but I was never convinced she was anything more than a self-righteous kid. Bruce's attraction to her made sense in terms of the story, but I didn't like it. I kept wanting to grab him and tell him: "Wait! You haven't met Selina Kyle yet - or Talia Al Ghul - or Silver St. Cloud! This woman is nothing!"


3. Too many car chases and gadgets - not enough lurking on gargoyles, not enough acrobatics.

Neutral comments:

1. I like the way they set up sequels - Dr. Stephen Crane has let all the homicidal crazies out of Arkham
   Asylum and Batman has to find them. A typical Gotham City situation, rich in possibilities.


2. It's way too early for the 'Batman Family' but we get a hint of Barbara Gordon's presence - she's just a kid but fans can spot her as the future Batgirl and Oracle when her father is taking out the trash.


3. Gotham City can be portrayed in a lot of ways, and is usually sort of gothic. Not here. It's all girders and dark, dirty alleys and skyscrapers - slick inside, grubby outside - with the occasional art deco touch. I liked it, but I wouldn't look at a picture of the place and think, "Gotham City". An arial view was very impressive - I took one look and recognized the map from the graphic novel "No Man's Land". There was some nice business with the bridges but I wasn't sure how clear it would be to a casual viewer.


4. It was a bit odd seeing Rutger Hauer as Earle of Wayne Industries, when I last saw him as the
   Superman villain Morgan Edge on Smallville. Almost confusing....


5. I like the way we saw Bruce Wayne in disguise as a street bum; and in prison; and in many different
   social situations.


My second favourite scene was when, near the end, Bruce takes over the Wayne Foundation (or Wayne
Industries or whatever they were calling it).


Earle (to Lucius Fox): I fired you. What are you doing here?
Bruce: I gave him your job. I own the company.
Earle: I sold the shares on the public market!
Bruce: I bought them.


(Don't expect any of my quotes to be close to the original dialogue. Just the gist.)

My favourite moment was near the beginning when Bruce is in a Chinese prison:

Big tough thug about to attack Bruce: I'm the devil.
Bruce: No, you're not.
Thug: What am I, then?
Bruce: Practice.

Comments

[laitosto.livejournal.com]

I found another copy of "Learn Latin" by Peter Jones -- the same guy that did the Greek book that we like. I'll send it along with M when she comes next week.

FWIW, Adam West was always "my" Batman. It was on TV just about the time I was allowed to stay up late enough to watch it. I didn't have a comic to compare it to, so I didn't know better. Ok, now I know it was bad, but it was bad in a campy way and you gotta love the cast of criminals (Ceasar Romero, Frank Gorshen, Eartha Kit, etc.)!

I also think Peter O'Toole would have made a great Alfred...

Thanks,
L

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

"Learn Latin" - prefect! I've been doing quite a bit of Latin lately. I don't exactly feel I'm mastering it, but I'm enjoying it. Ave atque vale!

If I had been a few years younger, or if I hadn't read the Batman comic, I might have liked the Adam West version too. As it was - well, I did like Eartha Kitt! (But didn't see her until years after the show aired.)

Peter O'Toole would have been a magnificent Alfred.