`Huh ? "Batman" eh ?' One of you film buffs might say. Yes. Batman. I
reluctantly went
along to the popcorn-manufactured smell infested mega-multiplex to watch, what I
was
presuming to be, not only the zillionth corny super hero comic adaptation, but
also the
umpteenth Batman adaptation. And considering the sheer quality of the previous
"Dark
Knight" blockbusters, I really did have random thoughts of suicide in my head,
when
entering the cinema. Well anyway I better stop complaining now because 90% of
Batman
Begins is pretty much the opposite of everything said until now. So why did I
say it ? Well
just to let everybody know that I'm not easy about movies, especially these
summer
muilti-trillion blockbusters, and I'm certainly not going to praise or trash a
movie
depending on it's special effects or other pathetic elements as such (sorry
Harry Knowles).

Believe it or not, the plot sticks religiously to the title: Batman Begins
really does start right
when the seed is planted. At the beginning, there is no fancy Batman with his
batmobile &
gadgets, instead we're forced to learn the very origins of everything. These
origins are
partially inspired by Frank Millers sinister graphic novel named (surprise!)
"Batman : Year
One". So it's back to zero for Batman which is a good thing considering the
sheer bat feces
that came out from 1989 to 1997 on screen. Christopher Nolan feasts us with the
usual
hollywood action bla bla (which can be relaxing and enjoyable if you don't feel
like an
intense film), whilst for the first time initiating us to the interesting story
behind Bruce
Wayne, explaining his anger, his fear, and how eventually he will use this fear
to maintain
order in Gotham City (now we're commin'). As the director of Memento, Nolan sure
does
show the complex confrontations inside Bruce's mind.

Bruce Wayne/Future Batman (Christian Bale) is supposed to be a billionaire, but
the first
scene of Batman Begins shows him as a dirty, grubby, tramp, doing slave work,
he's a
prisoner. Feeling responsible for the unfortunate death of his parents, killed
by a Gotham
criminal, he decides to take revenge on all men on earth stained by crime.
Before long he
gets slammed in prison, and then rescued by the mysterious Henri Ducard. The
later takes
Bruce as his mentor and teaches him various martial arts and spiritual ways of
living that
will help him confront his real fears. Strange Henri goes a bit far and tries to
initiate Bruce
into his masters sect dubbed "The League of Shadows". Bruce discovers the amoral
values
behind the cult and escapes, thus making a new dangerous enemy. The teachings
have
however helped him cope with his fear, and transform it into a symbol, the bat
(his
childhood fear). Bruce returns to Gotham, his mansion and faithful butler,
Alfred (Michael
Caine), with his plan to restore order in the - once beautiful, now rotten with
corruption -
Gotham City. Coming back to his family business, run by the selfish "Earl"
(since the death
of his father) Bruce soon discovers Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) the only worker
in the
science division of the company, who turns out to be willing to supply Bruce
with all the
familiar batman gadgets. The rest is pure Batman perfection. There is a
semi-romantic
subplot involving Katie Holmes (don't ask) and it's really not worth talking
about.

The first half-hour of Batman Begins is definitely a bit patchy and has the
typical and
pretentious ""zen-philosophy-mystical"" side that a lot of directors nowadays
just place in
their movies and expect it to refine the film and give a touch of intellectual
thought to it-
but it doesn't. The thing is, I can forgive these small errors, as I wasn't
expecting a
masterpiece anyway and that's how this film just works. It's fun, "cool", yes it
has it's
hollywood moments, but it also has some unique and original ideas, you can just
sit back
and enjoy the show whilst it maintains the element of surprise and plot depth
that lacks so
much in these kind of films. Nolan also takes a bit of a courageous risk as a
director, and
adds some nice gory and surprise elements to the party, unlike the other comic
book
adaptations. Not only does this movie look dark and sinister, but it alos looks
more real,
yes! Nolan has thank god for once used real props and less CGI, so instead of
the super
slick and shiny animated garbage, we get some real vehicles and sets, and by god
it really
does change the movie.

Well what can I say? Batman Begins was not only the best Batman movie to date
(that's not
a huge achievement), but to me it was also the best mainstream hollywood action
movie I
have ever seen. In fact it's the perfect model of how a hollywood blockbuster
should be:
innovative and enjoyable.

Owen Gothill

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