First, Robert Rodriguez’s adaptation of Frank Miller’s Sin City. Now, Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins. Never has there been such a strong back to back showing for movies derived from graphic novels.
Where to begin?
Let’s start where all great works of art should … the story. While the Burton films had a gritty charm, they were still highly stylized and had an almost art-house feel … albiet on a grand scale … in their overall voice and pacing. As for the Schumacher films, well the less said the better. Their only saving grace was Val Kilmer. That said, all four of the modern Batman films shared a live-action comic book sensibility.
With Batman Begins Nolan borrows heavily from Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One graphic novel. The result is hyper-real. For the first time in the genre, you actually feel that such a superhero could exist in the real world. This feel runs through the entire film with the exception of one subtly grand chase scene. As a result, there is little need to “suspend disbelief”. Everything is inherently plausible when one witnesses how tragedy could so shape the will and life of one man.
Speaking of that man, Christian Bale was born to play Batman. An amazingly skillful actor, he inhabits Batman/Bruce Wayne. This is a deep, rich role which was well-mined by Bale, who should recieve Oscar consideration for his performance. I expected Katie Holmes to be annoying eye candy, but was very pleasantly surprised. Her role was well written, well acted and integral to the story. Michael Caine is a perfect Alfred. Gary Oldham is the perfect Commisioner Gordon.
I was also a bit concerned about three classic Batman villians appearing in the film. After the Guhvahnator played Mr. Freeze to Uma Thurman’s Poison Ivy, I was concerned about more weak team-ups. I wont play the spolier here, but suffice to say that everything falls together perfectly. Again, kudos to Christopher Nolan’s script and direction.
Costume and set design were superb. Most striking is Gotham City itself. It looked like a real city, perhaps Chicago or New York. While I love the hyper-stylized Gotham of Burton’s films, I believe Nolan’s Gotham much, much more. It is organic and real. Even the surreal, gritty “Shangri-la” seen early in the film feels real. The only thing that seems a bit unreal is the Batmobile. That said, the origin of this piece of Bat-tech is believably explained by Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman). The same can be said of the costume (sans Shumacher’s famous latex nipples) and the rest of the arsenal.
Finally, fight coreography is amazing. What makes it so is the simple, nasty realism. There are no Matrix-like effects or Day-Glo bad guys as per Schumacher. Everything is clean and believable while remaining visually “muddy”. This is a good thing. There are no dramatically stylized punches or exchanges. Everything is in close and vicious. You cannot see precisely what is happen, but it feels like you are watching real fights. Yet, all of this is done without gratuitous gore.
Sandy Collora set the bar high with his independent labor of love … Batman: Dead End. Until today, I considered it the finest Batman film ever made. Batman Begins has stolen the crown. Word on the street is Nolan and Bale are signed for at least two more installments. I cannot wait to see what they have in store for us next.
