Since his creation at Bob Kane's pen decades ago, Batman has become one of our culture's most schizophrenic icons. The Dark Knight has gone from a tortured comics vigilante to 60's television's acid tripping pop clown crimefighter back to being broody (but stylized) in Tim Burton's film incarnation and an animated series, and then (woefully) back to a fizzy joke courtesy of Joel Schumacher's gay sensibilities and batsuit nipples. It's no wonder then that for the past few years fans have wondered how to bring back their beloved hero from such a mixed up fate. It seems the icon was prescribed uppers when things seemed too dark and downers when things got too giddy. But how else do you fix such a complicated and deep-rooted identity complex? According to Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, with a good dose of therapy. Nolan and co-screenwriter David S. Goyer, like any good therapist, truly start at the beginning. We see the childhood of Bruce Wayne and exactly what could become of a young man who watches the murder of his parents and becomes imprisoned by the anger and fear of being too helpless to have done anything about it. Christian Bale deftly tackles the shell of a man who seeks to fill his empty spaces with justice. This Batman begins with a clean canvas and gives us fresh paint to work with. Our own missing links, how Bruce trained to fight, his introduction to vengeance at the hands of a deadly stealth team (led by the impressive Liam Neeson and Ken Watanabe) to his return home, development of his weapons cache and plan for righting the wrongs of a decaying Gotham city, are given straight focus and explanation. I was impressed by the film's ultimate position of realism in the world of Batman. There's a solid lead up of scientific explanation for how Batman and his many tools can exist in the first place. The film doesn't try to make a comic book come to life, it succeeds at bringing real-life to a comic book idea. Gotham City actually seems to exist in this film rather than feel like a painted set CGI landscape. Don't fear that this neuters Batman in any way. The Dark Knight has always been human after all and, unlike other comic heros, has always dealt with real flesh-and-blood issues.
Overcoming panic and fear drive the heart of Batman Begins and that is evident in the film's upfront villan Dr. Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy) otherwise known as Scarecrow. Crane, who dusts his victims with a hallucinogen that, after spooking them with a haunting burlap sack on his head thus bringing out their deepest fears, runs the legendary Arkham Asylum. The notion that Bruce Wayne himself is just one step away from being put in a straight jacket is an interesting angle to bring into the Batman world. It is this falliabilty that the film juggles nicely. We have a hero that that fights because he has some problems to work out, but does so using double identities and violent intimidation. As complicated as it seems to bring these issues to life I'm grateful that this once waning series has returned to the dark, mental world that it has. This Batman is lying on the couch talking about his problems, and I think we're ready for another few sessions.
PS- look for good performances from Michael Caine (trusted butler Alfred), Morgan Freeman as weapons expert Lucius Fox, the usually intense Gary Oldman doing his best nebbish as a young Lt. (and future Commishoner) Gordon and Katie Holmes as childhood pal/ love interest Rachel Dawes. Though she's hard to bite as the DA of Gotham City, she fits into the world ultimately and even Dawson couldn't resist that sideways smile....
Directed by Christopher Nolan
(USA, 2005, 140 min)
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