Batman, how I love thee, let me count the ways. Or I did, that is, when Tim Burton was at the helm and things were nice and dark. Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992) were fine adaptaions of the Dark Knight, played for realism and mood. Then came Joel Schumacher and it all went down the toilet. Day-Glo costumes, idiotic black light sets, and the bat-costume got some nipples. ugh. Jim Carey alone almost saved Batman Forever (1995) but Batman and Robin (1997) effectively killed the super hero genre for years and is the lowest ranked film in my DVD collection. Fade to Black...
2005 and Batman is back. As the title implies, this film does not follow along in the cowl of Keaton, Kilmer and Clooney, but rewinds Batman to the beginning. A fresh start. The franchise was turned over to promising director Christopher Nolan, he of Memento fame. And the American Psycho himself, Christian Bale took up the cape and strapped on the utility belt.
I really enjoyed this film. It took us back to Bruce Wayne and how he evolved into Batman. Here's the orgin finally laid down. His parents were killed by a mugger (how it really happened in the comics), not a young Joker. Here's how he got the cave, the batmobile, the suit, even why he's got those pointy ears and those spike things on his forearm. And why he chose a Bat to pattern himself after. This is very well done and although it takes up the first half of the film, doesn't seem overly long. When Batman finally does appear, we shift to the point of view of the criminals he's beating, so we experience their terror at being stalked, not batman doing the stalking. Here's my complaint. And it is a big one. The number of good fight scenes in this movie is: ZIPPY. None. Every fight scene (with the possible exception of Wayne and Ducard's (Liam Neeson) katana duel on a frozen lake) is shot super close-up and with a hand-held camera. It's shaky and edited with fast cuts that make it impossible to follow the fight and you get no sense of place or movement in the battles. It's really aggravating that a film that gets so much right has such a glaring weakness. There are so many films with great fight scenes, Nolan should have gotten some help.
The cast is truly outstanding, filling out Gotham City with some of the best actors today. Joining Liam Neeson (1 Oscar Nomination) are Michael Caine (2 Oscar Wins, 4 other Nominations) as Alfred, Morgan Freeman (1 Oscar, 3 Nominations) as weapons designer Lucius Fox, Tom Wilkinson (1 Nom) as gangster Carmine Falcone, Ken Watanabe (1 Nom) as Ra's Al Ghul, and Gary Oldman (NO Oscar Nominations!?!? What!?! Travesty!) as a young Sgt. Jim Gordon. Caine gets all the laughs and has some powerful scenes, and Oldman makes the future commissioner Gordon a scene stealer. Cillian Murphy is also good as Dr. Jonathan Crane although the Scarecrow is kind of tossed of as a villain toward the end of the film. Then there's Katie Holmes. I used to love Katie Holmes, back when she made Go, The Ice Storm and Wonderboys (I never watched Dawson's creek). This film makes one thing about the future Mrs. Cruise abundantly clear: She has a F#@&-Up mouth. It crooked and looks like she's biting the inside of her cheeks. It's really repulsive, and I can't look at her again without making that face! UHHGGG. She doesn't do much in Batman, although she's meant to be Bruce Waynes' conscience. He does tell her he's Batman at the end, so who knows what'll happen in the next film. As for Bale, he is amazing. He owns this role, and is a way better Wayne then Keaton, who was the best of the old bunch. Making a super hero believable is not that easy, but Bale is now Batman, forevermore. That's a good thing.
It's good to see DC comics movies getting things right, this bodes well for the upcoming Superman film, and just as the Marvel films are starting to flop (Fantastic Four, Elektra, Blade Trinity). And they even kept the immortal line........."I'm BATMAN!"
The Sneaky Cheetah's Grade: A
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