Batman Begins
REVIEW FIRST APPEARED IN MEDIA EYE FILM IN 2005
Cast: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman,
Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer,
Ken Watanabe, Morgan Freeman, Sara Sterwart,
Richard Brake, Gus Lewis, Linus Roache, Colin McFarlane, Larry Holden
Director: Christopher Nolan
Running Time: 140 minutes
Director: Christopher Nolan
Running Time: 140 minutes
On the big screen he has fared less well - 'Batman 1966', the feature-length outing for Adam West and Burt Ward's corny television series, is actually one of the funniest films ever made, but its high camp high-jinks hardly do justice to DC Comics' brooding original. Tim Burton's Batman (1989) certainly nailed the legend's noirish, gothic look, but was less assured in its handling of tone - and a rash of sequels brought the predictable diminishing returns. Now, however, Christopher Nolan's 'Batman Begins' wipes the slate clean, taking viewers right back (again) to the caped crusader's origins - and in this far more earnest adventure, the bat has well and truly abandoned camp and headed into more epic territories.
Haunted by anger and guilt after witnessing his parents gunned down in cold blood, and frustrated in his desire to kill the man who did it, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) has turned his back on Gotham City and his father's legacy. Travelling incognito amidst the world's thieves and murderers in an attempt to understand the criminal mind, Wayne ends up in Bhutan, where he is recruited and trained in fighting and stealth techniques by Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) on behalf of Ra's al Ghul, leader of the secretive 'League of Shadows'. Rejecting the group's merciless brand of vigilantism, Wayne returns to Gotham, where the judiciary and constabulary are corrupt, and crime boss Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson) now operates with impunity.
Determined to put his new skills to good use, Wayne becomes the masked crimefighter Batman. Aided directly by his trusted family butler Alfred (Michael Caine), and less directly by the head of Wayne Enterprises' Applied Sciences division, Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), by old childhood friend turned Assistant DA Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes), and by honest cop Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), Wayne soon uncovers a far more catastrophic threat to the city than Falcone and his thugs. In a plot involving Arkham Asylum's chief psychiatrist Dr Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy), his mysterious backers and a panic-inducing hallucinogenic drug, Gotham is about to be visited by some very rough justice.
Fans of the Dark Knight's on-screen iconography will not be disappointed by this new film, which traces Batman's customised suit, car, utility belt, weapons and secret cave right back to their very beginnings, while giving them a more functional and rationalised feel. While still at heart a dark fantasy, this adventure is more grittily realistic than Batman's previous outings, with stunts and effects that are mostly physical rather than computer generated. The fights are close and hard, although in perhaps the most visually striking sequence Batman is reduced to a black blur in the midst of a crowd of toppling criminals.
The ever excellent Christian Bale manages to make Wayne seem a real, complex individual, while giving Batman a formidable physical presence - the very opposite of Bale's previous, skeletal performance in The Machinist. He is well supported by an excellent (and stellar) cast - most notably Michael Caine seemingly born to be Alfred, Gary Oldman for once getting to play the nice guy, Cillian Murphy creepily nerdy, and Liam Neeson bringing a clever twist to his previous 'guru knight' roles in The Phantom Menace and Kingdom of Heaven.
'Batman Begins' is emphatically concerned with retributive justice and the politics of fear - themes which have an inescapable geopolitical resonance in a post-9/11 context. It is gratifying to see that Nolan's film depicts the morality of justice in a manner that is anything but cartoonish. As Wayne struggles to do what is right, he is informed as much by the values of the judicial system, of law enforcement and of patriarchal philanthropy (values embodied respectively by Rachel, Gordon and, through Alfred, Wayne's own father) as he is by anger, fear and a desire for vengeance (an ideology represented by the fascistic 'League') - and so the film's dialogue, scripted by David S. Goyer, weaves an ongoing, highly nuanced argument about crime, punishment, and the uses and and abuses of terror. It is inevitable that Wayne becomes an extra-judicial vigilante - for that is the very core of his legend - but the film ends not on a celebratory note, but rather with dark mutterings about 'escalation', and a suggestion (fulfilled by the films to which this stands as a chronological precursor, if not quite a prequel) that the beginnings of Batman also mark the beginnings of a new, more dangerous sort of criminal, modelled on Batman's own underground methods.
From this it is not difficult to unmask a multi-faceted commentary on America's current flouting of international law in its War on Terror, and a subtle warning about what the consequences may be. Such serious and intelligent engagement with the issues that darken our own times make 'Batman Begins' more than merely an entertaining blockbuster about a man in a cape.
The Dark Knight
REVIEW FIRST APPEARED IN MEDIA EYE FILM IN 2008
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhal
Running Time: 2hrs 30mins
Cast: Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhal
Running Time: 2hrs 30mins
Christian Bale returns as Bruce Wayne/Batman. He's cleaning up Gotham City, and along with Jim Gordon (a supremely controlled performance from Gary Oldman) and new DA Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) they're making substantial progress. This time Batman's success has led to a spate of copycat vigilantes working the streets, toughening up the problems for the real Dark Knight. In fact, the public isn't even entirely sure what to make of Batman anymore. The Joker (Heath Ledger, of whom more later) shows up and things get really interesting. Nolan's direction continues to inspire. When Tim Burton was at the helm, the films featured a decidedly gothic looking Gotham City. Nolan has dropped this in favour of a more industrialised look that seems to work even better than the gothic aesthetics of the older films. Gotham City in Nolan's film has a very oppressive feel to it, you can almost taste the danger that potentially lurks around every corner. In this regard, Gotham City is almost a character in its own right. It's a living, breathing metropolis with a deadly personality.
The only real negative in the direction of this film is found in the editing of the action scenes. The frantic, quick-cut editing style worked well in Batman Begins because Batman often attacked out of the shadows with ninja-like precision. It doesn't work as well in The Dark Knight because the action scenes feel more traditional and less like guerilla warfare. Additionally and in an ironic contrast to the title, many scenes are brightly lit around the main man - and as a result the vital enigma of the Batman character is diminished and this, together with the hyper-edits mostly serve to make the action confusing at times. It's not a major flaw, but it is something worth mentioning as is the unexplained methodology and logistics employed at extremely short notice by The Joker in setting up (seemingly unaided) his monstrously destructive scenarios. These are the downsides in an otherwise fantastically shot film.
The cast is uniformly excellent. Bale again is superb and measured in the lead role/s, the perfect mix of playboy playfulness as Bruce Wayne and tortured crime fighter as Batman. You can sense that the time between the two films has allowed Bale to refine his take on the dual characters, and the end result is an even more nuanced performance than his first time out in the cowl. He remains the only actor to make this character his own, although I do have slight concerns at the apparent demise of his own previously apparent inner psychosis. The rest of the cast is equally impressive. Aaron Eckhart continues to demonstrate just how diverse an actor he is. Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine bring depth and respectability to their roles as indeed does Gary Oldman. Maggie Gyllenhall makes a fine replacement for Katie Holmes.
And now, Heath Ledger's portrayal of The Joker. Since Ledger's unfortunate passing, there's been a great deal of debate about whether or not he deserves a posthumous Oscar, whether he or Jack Nicholson was the better Joker, and if this is a performance of the age. I wasn't a fan of Ledger and felt dubious regarding his casting when it was initially announced. Despite the fact that I couldn't envisage a viable alternative, equally I just couldn't see this actor as The Joker. As comic fans know, the Joker is not just a crazy clown, he is a full blown psychopath. The Joker kills with impunity and complete disregard for human life - innocent or not. Additionally, the restrictions applied by the 12a and international equivalent rating I also felt would possibly somewhat neutralise the character. I needn't have been in any way concerned. Ledger presents himself as The Joker in a role that defines a career. Ledger's descent into what is, and has become, The Joker makes Jack Nicholson's earlier interpretation look like nothing more than a tedious and mildly humorous caricature. The Dark Knight here presents a character so destructive and without a care for those landing in his path of decimation that you are left to your own devices. Love him. Hate him. Hate to love him or love to hate him, director Christopher Nolan has guided an actor into a dark realm not often realised. A nameless, unrecognisable entity you won't be willing to or able to admit is Ledger until the credits roll. His performance is mesmerising and masterly.
The Dark Knight is an emotional rollercoaster extending from the characters portrayed on screen to the audience sitting comfortably as they watch an inexplicable series of events unfold. The Dark Knight is a political machine in duplicity and an exercise in gaining an edge no matter the means.
