Throwback Thursday- Batman Begins

Logline: Bruce Wayne loses his philanthropic parents to a senseless crime, and years later becomes the Batman to save the crime-ridden Gotham City on the verge of destruction by an ancient order.

Cast: Christian Bale, Liam Neeson, Cillian Murphy, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Katie Holmes

Directed By: Christopher Nolan 

So, I decided to write my critique for this movie because of 2 separate reasons.

1) Being that The Dark Knight Rises is being released for midnight screenings tonight to cap this trilogy off

and

2) This is the Batman that, in my opinion, is most forgotten about by the general public.

Why?

Why would such a great movie get forgotten about?

Well, lets dive in.

The film begins with a young Bruce Wayne exploring the grounds surrounding his parents mansion. He is specifically interested when he discovers a well dug into the ground. Shortly after, he falls somewhat inside and a colony of bats flies out at him while he hangs on for dear life. The story continues and reveals that his parents own a corporate juggernaut by the name of Wayne Enterprises.

On a night where his two parents take him to see a play, he gets chills from watching, remembering the incident with the bats. He asks them to leave and they leave through a back door which leads them to a back alley. If you follow Batman, or have watched this movie, you know what happens next - his parents are shot and killed by a thug looking to score some cash.

Skip forward about 20-30 years and bam, Batman is now Christian Bale beating up criminals in prison because he put himself in there for that sole purpose. Bad Ass. 

Wayne is met by Liam Neeson's character, Henri Ducard, who has been watching him for some time, observing. He is released from prison and asked to journey up to the mountain tops to find what he has been searching for. What does he find? A group called The League of Shadows. He learns all of his skills and techniques from them and refines his abilities. He later finds out they plan to ruin Gotham and he destroys most of their members and their leader, saving Ducard. 

After this event Bruce Wayne attempts to become an icon of justice. He figures as just a mere human being this feat would would be impossible, so he creates a superhero. BATMAN.

He plays the game and visits high end parties to fish out what's going wrong with Gotham.

 

So, enough of reiterating plot, because most of you know what happens, and the ones that don't, GO WATCH. I'm not going to ruin it.

Lets take a look at what we can take from Batman Begins. Why is it so epic & why is it so forgotten? This Batman addition is critically acclaimed and has scored ridiculously high numbers on top websites.

The answers as to why? An awesome screenplay.

I wrote about the first portion of the film in my review because it is important to prove my case. BACKSTORY. Backstory, Backstory, Backstory. Yes, we're dealing with one of the best characters ever created in superhero history. Yes, people are going to show up to theatres to watch him defeat memorable villains no matter what. But, this time, they got the right director/writers to do it. Not only is Batman, Batman, he is also Bruce Wayne, the lost soul who lost his parents at a young age and still holds anger higher than guilt years and years later. We, the audience, are more connected to this rendition of Batman more than ever before because for the first time in cinematic history, we are taken on the ride of his journey from the beginning and we know what he is all about & where his abilities come from.

The film sits at 140 mins (2h 20mins) which, in 2005 was considered relatively longer than most. This is understandable considering Christopher Nolan decided to cover the backstory necessary for an epic trilogy. However, the story never feels over saturated.  This is also due to having an amazing screenplay. Not only do we have character development, we constantly have plot and conflict. We get to see the creation of Batman, we get to see Batman publicly humiliate one of Gotham's biggest crime lords, we get a glimpse into Bruce Wayne's troubled love life, we are introduced to a new villain, and then - we are introduced to one of the most successful tools of screenwriting.

There is a device stolen from Wayne Enterprises that will vaporize the city's toxin-ridden water supply which will turn Gotham into a chaotic mess. Ducard returns to make sure this happens. They implement a ticking time bomb - not only are the stakes raised, there is a sense of urgency that moves the plot forward. Exciting! 

Batman Begins ends with an epic train ride which is a fantastic spectacle you cannot miss.

However, don't forget about my second point...

Notice how I didn't mention Scarecrow once?

This Batman lacked a memorable villain.

Sure, the Scarecrow is scary and he has two decent scenes, but his character is not nearly developed enough to keep the audience fully interested in him. Nolan relied immensely on the eccentricity of his mask to keep interest. Not to mention, I believe Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes) is the one to defeat him near the end, although he is never brought to justice. Not a very strong villain if I say so myself.

I believe the main villain(s) of this story were Ducard & the League - but I believe that adds to the fact that the villains were not memorable. Don't get me wrong, Ducard is tough as nails, but in a superhero movie... he's just too plain.

So there is that,

And then there is The Dark Knight which is one of, if not the best sequel of all time that completely shadows this brilliant film. We already have Batman's backstory, we're given a new villain which Nolan can create more time developing, and you know the rest. Batman Begins is one of the most epic and forgotten about movies of all time. The film brilliantly develops a true hero in Bruce Wayne/Batman and paces itself perfectly without having a dull moment in its 140 mins of runtime. A true and compelling start to what could be the best trilogy of all time.

For that, I give this movie:

9/10