Batman Begins (2005) Movie Review

It's easy to take Batman Begins for granted in a post-The Dark Knight world. While Batman Begins' more popular 2008 sequel rightfully gets acknowledged for being a superhero movie that is primarily a crime drama, the successful relaunch of the Caped Crusader hinged on Batman Begins. Believe it or not, at one point, Batman was not a recipe for box office success (in fact, as the more recent Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League indicate, he isn't today, either). After Joel Schumacher's trainwreck/hilarious-as-a-comedy Batman & Robin (1997) singlehandedly dismantled the movie franchise, Warner Bros. was afraid to touch another Batman film for a long time. After more failed attempts to continue/resurrect the franchise (seeing as Batman & Robin was both a critical and financial failure), the ball finally got rolling with Christopher Nolan's script for Batman Begins (yes, David S. Goyer is credited as the writer, but Nolan himself did a ton of touch-ups on the script). Batman Begins was both a critical and financial success, not a massive financial success, but still a sucess nonetheless. But it really is the film's cult following after DVD sales that spurred it to become such a beloved film. It took the character of Batman seriously, setting him in a grounded world that felt real (even with its fantastical elements, bolstering an era where comic book movies took themselves a bit more seriously (for better or worse depending on the film). 

I was 12 in 2005 when Batman Begins came out, and I first saw it on a DVD my mom rented from Blockbuster (RIP). I remember liking the film, but not loving it. I remember liking 2006's Superman Returns more, and I think it was because it was more superhero-y. Sure, Batman was always a more grounded character even in his comics, but Batman Begins felt too serious and boring to me at the time. Fortunately, age 13 was when I started development different sensibilities about film, so I revisited Batman Begins soon afterward and fell in love with it. Eventually, The Dark Knight was announced, giving me more of a reason to revisit this film's ending scene with the Joker's calling card. But the rest of that movie before the ending was enough reason to.

Batman Begins gives us an in-depth origin story of the Batman, simultaneously cutting between Bruce Wayne returning to Gotham after being gone for 8 years training, to flashbacks of his childhood. The most notable flashback is the most well-known aspect: young Bruce Wayne and his parents leave a play of Zorro early because Bruce is afraid of bats, and Bruce's mother and father get robbed and murdered by Joe Chill in a dark alley. While Batman Begins is an even better re-watch now that Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy is complete, it was already a great watch beforehand. The acting all across the board is strong. Christian Bale is excellent at capturing all aspects of a younger Bruce Wayne, from guilt to sadness to rage to love to a yearning to do good. Michael Caine as his father figure and butler to the Wayne family is equally excellent and convincing. Other standouts are Liam Neeson, Bruce's mentor who taught him the necessary skills to become the Batman, who (in a twist that was surprising to me when I first saw the movie) turns out to be the film's main villain, Ras Al Ghul. Tom Wilkinson is particularly despicable and entertaining as mob boss Carmine Falcone, chewing up every scene he is in. Morgan Freeman is very good as Bruce's Q, Lucius Fox. Cillian Murphy as Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow is believable as a lunatic masquerading as a sane individual, and Katie Holmes is adequate but pretty bland as the (also pretty bland) Rachel Dawes.

The action sequences are overall well done...except for the fight scenes. Hand-to-hand fight scenes Nolan's biggest weakness as a filmmaker, in my opinion, although he has come a long way since this film. The hand-to-hand scene are shot with a lot of shaky cam, and the choreography you can make out is sketchy and often unconvincing. That said, the staging for them is excellent. The cinematography is very good, capturing the bleakness of Gotham while also making it feel realistic. And Han's Zimmer's score, while not instantly memorable in the way that Danny Elfman's Batman 1989 theme is, is absolutely riveting and still memorable in its own way.

It's ultimately the writing and story of this film that shine. The common theme is conquering one's fears to become something more. My favorite scene in the entire film is not even a "Batman" scene, but it is, in my mind, the scene in which Bruce Wayne first becomes Batman in his head. It's when he faces Carmine Falcone, only for Falcone to show him (indicating throughout the club) that he has plenty of corrupt cops and a judge in his pocket. You can practically feel the rage emitting from Bale as Bruce Wayne, as well as the gloating from Wilkinson's Falcone for putting a rich, spoiled playboy in his place. This is definitely the scene that made me fall in love with this movie. And it makes the first appearance of the Batman where he takes out Falcone's thugs and apprehends Falcone that much sweeter. 

I have a lot more I could say about this film, but that will be saved for any future in-depth discussions I write about the film. Batman Begins gets a strong 9/10 (A-) from me. How about from you?