Nolan Has Delivered The Finest ‘Batman’ Yet

In the interest of full disclosure, I should admit that I’m an unabashed Batman fan. However, my bias doesn’t completely cloud my judgment.

For example, my 1989 opening night experience (at Danbury’s Palace theater, back in the day, no less) for Tim Burton’s Batman, starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson, was the most fun I’ve ever had at a movie theater and I still consider that film to be one of my favorites. But I could see clearly enough that each successive Batman film increasingly disappointed, until the nadir was reached with Batman & Robin (starring George Clooney and directed by Joel Schumacher), which was an absolute debacle of a movie and brought the caped crusader’s film franchise to a screeching halt.

Now, seven years later, esteemed director Christopher Nolan (Memento, Insomnia) takes the reins for Batman Begins, a tale that completely disregards all previous big-screen incarnations of the Dark Knight and starts afresh by telling the story of Batman’s genesis. Said Nolan in an interview, “Over 66 years, there have been all kinds of things that were tried with Batman and didn’t stick. Somehow they didn’t feed into the elemental mythology of what Batman is. It would be a mark of great success for this film if there are a couple of things that do stick.” Well, let me applaud Mr Nolan and say that not only do a few things stick, but his vision has brought us the finest film version of Batman yet.

Batman Begins bucks convention of the other four films early on by placing its emphasis not on any eccentric villain but squarely on the character of Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale), who is first seen languishing in a dank, muddy Bhutanese prison. He’s a lost soul in search of himself and his purpose in the world. His quest leads him to Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson), a mentor type who works for a mysterious figure named Ra’s Al Ghul (Ken Watanabe).

Under their tutelage, Wayne learns valuable techniques that will help shape him into the Dark Knight he will ultimately become, but not before he also comes face to face with some of his own fears and failings. His journeys eventually lead him back to his hometown of Gotham where he must reconnect with his past as Bruce Wayne as well as establish his crime-fighting identity as Batman.

Bale is fantastic as Bruce Wayne and his performance goes a long way to realizing Nolan’s design of a Batman movie that is more a Christopher Nolan film about Batman rather than a typical, cookie-cutter blockbuster that just happens to be directed by Nolan. Those of you who’ve seen his fantastic neo-noir Memento, one of the finest films of the last 25 years, as well as the underrated thriller Insomnia, know about his penchant for playing games with conventional, linear storytelling as well as an aptitude for placing the audience into the subjective reality of his protagonists.

Both of those elements are at play here. Bale, as assisted by a fantastic cast that includes Neeson, Michael Caine (spot-on as Wayne’s guardian and butler Alfred), Morgan Freeman (very cool and composed as Wayne Enterprises employee Lucius Fox), Tom Wilkinson (as Gotham crime boss Carmine Falcone), Gary Oldman (as Gotham cop James Gordon, one of the few honest cops left on the force), and Cillian Murphy (charismatically creepy as Dr Crane, a/k/a the Scarecrow), help bring all the characters to brilliant life as three-dimensional figures, not just comic book archetypes. This is the first time in the onscreen adventures of Batman that the caped crusader’s unmasked alter ego is just as engrossing and captivating as the high-flying action antics of the dark-cowled detective.

Speaking of action, Nolan makes the gusty decision to ground every action set piece, every flight of fancy with gritty realism. There are few CGI moments here and little that requires one’s willing suspension of disbelief. Certainly, there are exciting moments and breathtaking sequences (a tracking shot of Batman hovering above the Gotham skyline is astounding), but Nolan and company do their absolute best to keep it all within the realm of plausibility.

Nolan has stated that one of his goals was for audiences to see Batman as Gothamites would: as an extraordinary figure in an ordinary world. He’s not only done that, but by radically revitalizing a franchise with his own singular vision he has also helped us see the Batman mythos as if it had never been done before.

Batman Begins is rated PG-13 for intense action violence, as well as disturbing images and adult themes.