Luis’ capsule review: So that’s what a two-and-a-half hour orgasm feels like.
I’ve been waiting all my life for a superhero movie that fully measures up to the mythology of the comic on which it is based, and I finally found it last night with Chris Nolan’s Batman Begins. Here is a Batman that works on both a fantasy/pulp-comic level, as well as a rational, "realistic" level — an impossible balancing act for anyone but the most careful of filmmakers. Consider how Tim Burton’s original two Batman films (here and here) were these stylish, atmospheric production masterpieces: Burton had the Batman feel down pat with his two contributions, but they were ultimately hollow and unimaginative story-wise. (I don’t consider the Joel Schumacher-directed sequels real movies, let alone genuine contributions to the Batman franchise. To my mind, they were little more than 2 hour commercials for the resulting line of merchandise.)
Chris Nolan’s film (Memento, Insomnia), on the other hand, is a superbly wholistic rendition of the Batman legend, and excels in nearly every aspect: the wonderfully-paced origin, the inspired production design (the bridge-jumping Batmobile is a geek dream), the brilliant supporting cast (Liam Neeson’s mentoring has never been better), and of course, the most effective Batman the silverscreen has ever seen (Christian Bale kicks the shit out of all the previous Batmans combined).
This film is a journey, in much the same way as Sam Raimi’s Spiderman followed Peter Parker’s clumsy early days as the young wall-crawler. The whole origin takes up nearly half of the movie, but the pacing is so expert that you don’t mind at all. In fact, you welcome it. It’s very likely the first time you’ve seen an origin story this enthralling.
Without giving away too much of the plot, I should mention that there is a very important conversation at the end of the film between Rachel Dawes and Bruce Wayne that, in a few sentences, captures the very essence of the Batman persona. It’s an amazingly insightful bit of dialogue and it gives you an idea of just how … well, "screwed up" I guess is the word for it, Bruce Wayne really is. It’s the first time I’ve seen any depiction of Batman outside of the comics talk about his psyche thus, and is what makes this movie so special for me; it treats the Batman character with a mature kind of reverence that foregoes all the glossy special effects and gothic fethishist designs of the past four entries.
Some additional notes:
Although the previous Batman features left a lot to be desired, the animated movies have been serving up some of the finest depictions of Batman since the mid 90’s. Batman and the Mask of the Phantasm and Batman Beyond: The Return of the Joker are really must-see movies for anyone who is interested in the Dark Knight. They are compelling in the way that Messrs. Burton and Schumacher could only dream about (but fortunately not Messr. Nolan).