Something Else Entirely

When I was ten years old, I sat in a movie house and saw the very first Burton Batman. Though the years, in spite of the stories, I watched Batman on film, because they were Bat films. Sixteen years later, I once again sat to watch Batman. Forget the past four films, disavow the sixties campy Batman, Nolan, Goyer, Bale and everybody involved with Batman Begins had built upon sixty plus years of legend, and took it beyond imagination. This is the Batman like no one has seen in any medium!

Batman Begins', hypothesis is simple. Who is Bruce Wayne? It is true that this has been the subject of much debate over the years. It has been the basis of story lines for the past decade at the least. None has delved much closer than Goyer and Nolan's Batman Begins.

Batman Begins takes us to the very beginning of the Batman mythology. Bruce Wayne takes center stage. It is a serious film, a biographical-epic. It is a documentary of Bruce Wayne. It is an analysis of Bruce Wayne.

The audience will see him evolve, going through a roller coaster ride of moral dilemmas even until the end of the film. You don't have to be converse in the comic books or have seen any of the vast material there is about Batman to enjoy this movie. And when the credits start rolling, the audience can go home, having understood how this young man, this prince chose to become the king and protector of his city.

About twenty years ago DC Comics (the publisher of Batman comics) rebooted their comic book universe and so, a guy named Frank Miller who created and wrote so many fine comic books (particularly a spectacular Daredevil run and had created Elektra before that) was tasked to tweak the Batman legend. It was called Batman: Year One. Since Frank Miller's run, the Batman legend has been tweaked a bit, but never ever straying from the concept that Miller had recreated. Year One had since been the de facto standard. Batman is human who is superhuman because he is a man.

Goyer's and Nolan's Batman follow those footsteps, builds on that rock-solid foundation. They have brought to an even wider audience, something comicdom has known for more than sixty years now: The Batman is the greatest comic book character of all time, bar none. Goyer's and Nolan's Batman is real. Batman is Bruce Wayne. Everything in the movie is as realistic and tangible as possible. Everything, no exceptions. You can believe Gotham really exists. Everything is just fantastic!

Beyond the aesthetics that surround the setting, Goyer and Nolan have created lifelike characters. Every actor who played a character in this movie is just perfect for their role! And every actor did a splendid job of bringing their characters to life. Katie Holmes as Rachel, wow! Garry Oldman, as Gordon, superb driving skills (you'll know what I mean when you watch it). Michael Caine, the best Alfred ever and truly captures the butler-father figure of the comics. Murphy's Scarecrow, what perfection! Freeman's Lucious Fox, more than excellent. Neeson performance was beyond outstanding. And Christian Bale without a doubt, he is the Batman!

People are said to be three people--- who others think of us, who we think we are and who we actually are. Bruce Wayne is the same. Others think he's just this playboy flop, which is useful when one wants people to leave you alone. Then there's who he think he is--- the mask of the bat: fearful, powerful primal. Then there is this person who he really is--- the shrewed businessman, the philanthropist, the compassionate human being, the crime fighter, the martial artist and many others. Christian Bale was able to personify this complex character in Batman Begins. Christian Bale is the perfect Batman.

One of the reasons for Batman's success throughout the years is the deep Rogues Gallery that compliments him. They come no better than Goyer's and Nolan's interpretation of those villains.

The villains in this story are so well written, so aptly portrayed that there are not enough words to describe them. In a typical superhero movie, a villain wears a mask, well maybe except Lex Luthor. It is the rule of thumb that the bad guy must wear a mask. Villains in Batman Begins are as evil as they can be because of who their characters are and this movie translates the depth of the Batman's Rogue's Gallery on screen exactly as they are in pages of today's comic book.

Ra's Al Ghul is the (main) villain of this story. Like all great villains, his evil coerces you to join him in his holy crusade. His, is an evil that wants to cleanse the world, not to rule it. He is the anti-Batman. Ra's was created by a man named Denny O'Neil who added much value into the Batman mythology. Though different in his comic book origin, this Ra's Al Ghul is very much so in spirit, in writing, in form and in substance the same character, O'Neil created. He is the perfect villain as the Batman begins his holy crusade. And what is Batman but a concept of using darkness to bring light? In many ways, Ra's Al Ghul is who Batman can be, should he disavow his own moral convictions and after watching the movie, could not picture another actor playing his part than Liam Neeson.

Murphy's Scarecrow was simply amazing. You will cringe in fear of his mask, though he hardly ever wears it except towards the end of the movie. Scarecrow is a perfect second villain to this huge movie. Surprisingly, his use like everything else in the movie, is just perfect.

Superhero movies of our time, have had characters included as easter eggs. Maybe a creator or a famous writer of that character for many years is included for about ten seconds, something for the fanboy/fangirl to leap for joy or say “hey” about during and after the film. Victor Zsasz didn't play any big role, but he was an “easter egg”. Zsasz, (FYI: a serial killer that the Batman had time and time again in the comic book brought back to the loony house) I'm pretty sure the avid Batman comic book reader would recognize. The Bats during Batman's Arkham siege was another hats off to Miller's just as the characters of Falcone, Flass and Loeb and many others were but not because it had to be there, and were essential part of the storytelling process.

The success of the Batman franchise--- comic books and other media are not just rooted in the fact that Batman is such a rich character (no pun intended). His Rogue's Gallery have added to that success but similar manner, the profusion, the fullness of his supporting cast has helped create a world so very much like our own. Batman Begins has made that even more evident.

In the comic books, Lucious Fox is Bruce Wayne's trusted right hand man at Wayne Enterprises. He runs the company for Bruce. Here, he is thrown into Applied Sciences by the corrupt Chairman of the Board of Bruce's company. It is Fox in the movie, where young Master Wayne gets his fancy gear. He is Batman's “Q”, though not your typical geeky gadget guy. Here again, Goyer and Nolan adds to the richness of the mythology by writing him more than just the caretaker and enforcer of Bruce's empire and Morgan Freeman is delivered the role, flawlessly.

Goyer and Nolan again added constructively to the richness of the character of James Gordon and Oldman's performance brought him to life perfectly. Understandably though, we could not have a bigger Gordon subplot but it is Bruce Wayne's movie and what we got is more than great. One event in the entire film that I enjoyed pretty well was Gordon's driving. (If you've seen it after reading this then you'd know what I mean). That was just way cool.

Throughout the many incarnation the Batman on the big or small screen, it is Alfred the Butler who is the most human and the best character they have translated. In this incarnation, Goyer and Nolan have again out done themselves. Like every character in Batman Begins that takes their cue from the comics, this Alfred is our era's Alfred Pennyworth. He is father figure as much as he is friend, adviser, employee. And his sense of humour, superbly delivered by Michael Caine makes him even more believable. The crowd where I watched laughed really hard at his lines. What good are all those push ups, Alfred yells at Bruce, If you can't even lift a single log? Hilarious.

Katie Holmes' character is something new and something old to the Batman mythology (and I hope they make this character a fixture in the mythology). Yes, I had asked before why Talia (Ra's daughter in the comics and one of Batman's love interest) was not included. That answer was simple of course. Talia doesn't and wouldn't serve any purpose at all to this story. Katie Holmes' character Rachel Dawes, does. Ms. Holmes holds her own with her more veteran co-stars. She just fits and delivers an excellent performance--- girl next door with matching moral conviction, who more than a mere love interest is the conscience of our hero.

Just as she is Bruce's conscience throughout the movie, Rachel is our eyes and ears. At the end of Batman Begins, it is through Rachel we find our answer to the movie's hypothesis. It is not who we are in the inside that defines us, it is what we do.

Superhero movies used to be relegated as fun movies. They are big budgets with actors playing campy roles. There were a few select ones that were outstanding, that shined. The first Superman movie for its time, reflected Superman and the essence of his character but in many ways, my personal preference (though at times the angst just gets to you) is Smallville. There was also Burton's Batman and set the bar higher for superhero movies. Spiderman and its sequel(s), raised the bar again in quality of production as much as the acting, cinematography and storytelling. Though a lot of people disliked it, I believed on second viewing, Hulk also shined. To say that Batman Begins raises the bar on superhero movies is a discredit to it and to the cast and crew's hard work. Batman Begins is more than a fun movie, it is not saying it isn't. It is a superb story so meticulously and painstakingly crafted but even that isn't describing it with justice.

Some people may think that dramatic storytelling at the beginning of the film makes the film boring. Contrary, they fail to construe that it perfectly tells the story of the young Bruce Wayne as he searches for himself amidst the darkness. As an avid Batman comic book reader, I was one of those who have waited years for Hollywood to make Batman right. Now they did. This is how movies should be made, irregardless whether or not the movie is based on a comic book. It is exciting. It has the right dose of funny. It is entertaining. It is smart. It has depth in storytelling, in the characters, in cinematography, in acting, in production, in everything. Kudos!

Because it is something else entirely, Batman Begins makes the legend of the Batman much more richer. It answered for the common folk the question of who Bruce Wayne is. Batman Begins is why Batman is a legend. This is the Batman!