Movie Review: Batman Begins

Who is that masked man? He's baaaack! This time it's the backstory; how did rich guy Bruce Wayne decide to put on a rubber suit and clean up Gotham City anyhow?

We first meet Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) as an 8-year-old who has witnessed his parents' murders. We establish that he's also afraid of bats which seem to hang out in abundance around Wayne Manor. After trying to live a normal life as a college student, young Bruce bolts and we see him as a wrecked human being in a horrible Far Eastern prison where he kicks major butt. We learn that he's traveled the world trying to figure out the criminal mind and has evidently learned to fight in the process.

Bruce is rescued from the prison by a dark warrior called Ducard (Liam Neeson) who hangs out at a sort of Ninja training school slash monastery. Ducard trains Bruce to take control of his emotions and do some awesome martial arts. The school is the domain of the League of Shadows headed by guru Ra's al Ghul (Ken Watanabe) who tries to recruit Bruce to join his undercover vigilante crew battling evil world-wide, as they have for centuries by being a little more evil. This isn't Bruce's cup of tea. He splits and becomes the arch enemy of the Shadow bunch.

Bruce goes home to live in the family mansion with faithful butler Alfred (Michael Caine) and take over Wayne Enterprises now run by greedy CEO Richard Earle (Rutger Hauer) who wants to halt the company's philanthropic ventures in favor of big bucks deals. Bruce also reunites with old childhood pal, now hot young Assistant D.A. Rachel (Katie Holmes).

A crime gang now runs Gotham. Seems like all public officials are on the take. The one really honest cop Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), tells Bruce he can't get anything done toward cleaning up the city without some help.

So, after a while, Bruce creates alter-ego vigilante crime fighter Batman with the aid of another family faithful Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) who is in charge of the Wayne archives of military prototypes.. everything Batman needs to fight crime in style including a bullet-proof body suit and a hot car that he turns into the Batmobile. The Batcave is discovered underneath Wayne Manor and, with his new emotional controls in place, Bruce faces the bats and sets up secret shop there.

The bad guy in this one is Scarecrow, a freakazoid dude who uses hallucinogens to scare the crap out of his victims and is secretly in cahoots with the League of Shadows. On his day job he's a creepy psychologist running local Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane. The whole city is afraid of the crime czars and citizens live in fear. Batman turns that fear against the criminals using Batman to frighten them and start the daunting task of cleaning up Gotham.

The "Batman" films, since the original in 1989, have been quite campy, full of bombastic effects, hokey costumes and also packed with over-the-top villains that steal focus from the Batman character. Not so this time. Chris Nolan, the director of the wonderfully twisted tale Memento (rent it if you haven't seen it) takes firm charge of the legend with the quest of making Batman "real".

Batman Begins (origin films of superheroes are always fun) is witty, smart and full of super actors (although I think Katie Holmes' part could have been played by any number of actresses). Michael Caine is a revelation as the Wayne butler Alfred. He's funny, critical but also obviously loves "Master Bruce" and is a great dad figure for him. Yes, we have Liam Neeson playing a dark side character similar to the mentor he played in Star Wars but he's so good at being dark! In a real twist of casting, constant bad guy Gary Oldman is....well normal. He's a good guy cop in a very corrupt police department. Even Gary admits that it's a refreshing turn for him. Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman is a great addition as the "Q" to Batman's James Bond. He's the dude who gives Bruce all those cool gadgets..including what turns into the Batmobile.

The real revelation of the film is Christian Bale as Batman/Bruce. This guy is FINE in many senses of the word. He plays the questing, tortured Bruce with appropriate gravitas and the playboy, cover story version with flair. As Batman, he's strong and angry and macho. No namby-pamby dude in a Halloween costume here. He's out for blood, he yells, he snarls and hey, he's hot!

I loved this film. A few scenes go on a little long but the film never loses your attention. I object to the label that all superhero movies are for fanboys. Girls can get down with the action and the pathos and emotional story in this one. This "real" hero has no real superpowers. He's just a buff, angry, well-trained guy with a mission. Don't miss it.

For a welcomed return of a legendary character, done with style... 4.5 out of 5 stars

***

Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.