Batman Begins Review
“Batman Begins” is a 2005 action/superhero film. The movie is directed by Christopher Nolan and stars Christian Bale, Liam Nesson, Michael Caine, Cillian Murphy, Gary Oldman, Katie Holmes, Ken Watanabe, Tom Wilkinson, and Morgan Freeman. In it, the film focuses on Bruce Wayne’s beginnings, from his parents’ death, his training, and his eventual becoming of Batman himself. His goal is help the city of Gotham from the crime and corruption that has taken over.
I’ve been a fan of Batman for as long as I can remember. My introduction to the character was the animated series that aired in the 1990’s. I consider Batman to be part of not only my childhood, but part of my life. As I got older, I was introduced to Batman in film, ranging from animated ones to the live action ones. And yes, that even includes the Joel Schumacher ones ha. But in the live action ones, I always felt that there was something missing. Like there was an element or two that could make them perfect. Well to paraphrase the late Roger Ebert, “Batman Begins is the fifth live action take on the character. It is the first to get it right.”
The first is the Bat himself. Christian Bale’s take on both Bruce Wayne and Batman is excellent. In my opinion, he balances both characters equally. He’s slick and charming as Bruce Wayne and both dark and brooding at Batman. I know he gets a lot of criticism for his Batman voice, but the scene where he interrogates that detective in the alley; I still remember jumping in my seat a little bit.
I could go on and on about the supporting cast all day for this movie, but there are two performances of the supporting cast that stand out to me. That is Michael Caine and Gary Oldman. I enjoyed Michael Caine’s portrayal of Alfred. His relationship with Bruce really feels like a father/son relationship, and more than a boss coworker relationship. You can genuinely tell that Alfred cares about Bruce, and doesn’t want to see him get hurt. Gary Oldman is superb as Detective Jim Gordon. The relationship between him and Batman is one of the best parts of the mythology, and here it is perfected. Oldman nails the character as a cop who is trying to do the right thing in a corrupt city.
What makes the movie stand out is the sense of realism that you get while watching it. The locations make you feel like you’re watching a real place, and not it just being shot on a sound stage. Like every city, there is both good and evil in it. But every city needs a symbol of hope. A symbol is something that gives people a sense of optimism knowing that everything is going to be ok.
I also love the theme to this movie. Hans Zimmer did a great job with this score. Every superhero movie needs to have that one score that makes it stand out. For “Batman Begins”, this one is an exception. It doesn’t feel generic, and to me it is up there with some classic iconic themes.
If I did have an issue with this movie, it was just one. It was a con that eventually became a pro. I didn’t like how some of the action scenes were filmed. Everything just felt like it was shot up close, and felt nauseating at times. Now here is how it became a pro. “Batman Begins” helped me appreciate the widescreen format for DVD’s. When I rented this movie in 2005, there was only the full screen. After viewing it, I could never look at the full screen format the same way. Thank you “Batman Begins” for helping me appreciate that.
I see “Batman Begins” as both a blessing to superhero movies, but at the same time a downside to movies in general. It started what I like to call, the “reboot” genre. It seems now every franchise that gets a reboot, has to be dark, and realistic. For some it does work, while others it comes off as painfully awkward. But I guess that is Hollywood for you. Trying to copy something that only worked once.
Overall, I think “Batman Begins” is not only one of the best “Batman” movies, but also one of the best superhero movies. The acting is great, the music is excellent, and is quite vastly underrated when you look at the other Batman films Christopher Nolan has directed. Being this the 10th anniversary of when this film was released, give this one a watch. For my overall rating, I am going to give “Batman Begins” a 4.5/5. This is Mr. Birdwell saying, “Keep Reading and Watching.”
“Batman Begins” is a 2005 action/superhero film. The movie is directed by Christopher Nolan and stars Christian Bale, Liam Nesson, Michael Caine, Cillian Murphy, Gary Oldman, Katie Holmes, Ken Watanabe, Tom Wilkinson, and Morgan Freeman. In it, the film focuses on Bruce Wayne’s beginnings, from his parents’ death, his training, and his eventual becoming of Batman himself. His goal is help the city of Gotham from the crime and corruption that has taken over.
I’ve been a fan of Batman for as long as I can remember. My introduction to the character was the animated series that aired in the 1990’s. I consider Batman to be part of not only my childhood, but part of my life. As I got older, I was introduced to Batman in film, ranging from animated ones to the live action ones. And yes, that even includes the Joel Schumacher ones ha. But in the live action ones, I always felt that there was something missing. Like there was an element or two that could make them perfect. Well to paraphrase the late Roger Ebert, “Batman Begins is the fifth live action take on the character. It is the first to get it right.”
The first is the Bat himself. Christian Bale’s take on both Bruce Wayne and Batman is excellent. In my opinion, he balances both characters equally. He’s slick and charming as Bruce Wayne and both dark and brooding at Batman. I know he gets a lot of criticism for his Batman voice, but the scene where he interrogates that detective in the alley; I still remember jumping in my seat a little bit.
I could go on and on about the supporting cast all day for this movie, but there are two performances of the supporting cast that stand out to me. That is Michael Caine and Gary Oldman. I enjoyed Michael Caine’s portrayal of Alfred. His relationship with Bruce really feels like a father/son relationship, and more than a boss coworker relationship. You can genuinely tell that Alfred cares about Bruce, and doesn’t want to see him get hurt. Gary Oldman is superb as Detective Jim Gordon. The relationship between him and Batman is one of the best parts of the mythology, and here it is perfected. Oldman nails the character as a cop who is trying to do the right thing in a corrupt city.
What makes the movie stand out is the sense of realism that you get while watching it. The locations make you feel like you’re watching a real place, and not it just being shot on a sound stage. Like every city, there is both good and evil in it. But every city needs a symbol of hope. A symbol is something that gives people a sense of optimism knowing that everything is going to be ok.
I also love the theme to this movie. Hans Zimmer did a great job with this score. Every superhero movie needs to have that one score that makes it stand out. For “Batman Begins”, this one is an exception. It doesn’t feel generic, and to me it is up there with some classic iconic themes.
If I did have an issue with this movie, it was just one. It was a con that eventually became a pro. I didn’t like how some of the action scenes were filmed. Everything just felt like it was shot up close, and felt nauseating at times. Now here is how it became a pro. “Batman Begins” helped me appreciate the widescreen format for DVD’s. When I rented this movie in 2005, there was only the full screen. After viewing it, I could never look at the full screen format the same way. Thank you “Batman Begins” for helping me appreciate that.
I see “Batman Begins” as both a blessing to superhero movies, but at the same time a downside to movies in general. It started what I like to call, the “reboot” genre. It seems now every franchise that gets a reboot, has to be dark, and realistic. For some it does work, while others it comes off as painfully awkward. But I guess that is Hollywood for you. Trying to copy something that only worked once.
Overall, I think “Batman Begins” is not only one of the best “Batman” movies, but also one of the best superhero movies. The acting is great, the music is excellent, and is quite vastly underrated when you look at the other Batman films Christopher Nolan has directed. Being this the 10th anniversary of when this film was released, give this one a watch. For my overall rating, I am going to give “Batman Begins” a 4.5/5. This is Mr. Birdwell saying, “Keep Reading and Watching.”