Batman Begins
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Batman Begins is a 2005 American movie based on the comic book character created by Bob Kane. The movie was first released on June 15, 2005, directed by Christopher Nolan, and written by Nolan and David S. Goyer. Although it is the fifth live-action Batman movie since 1989, the movie is neither a sequel nor a prequel to the previous Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher films, but rather a complete revision of the series. It more closely follows the darker psychological theme of the Batman comics and graphic novels.
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Plot summary
Batman Begins explores the origins of the Batman legend and the Dark Knight's emergence as a force for good in Gotham City.
A young Bruce Wayne (Gus Lewis), while playing with young Rachel Dawes (Emma Lockhart), falls down a well and is attacked by a flurry of bats. After his father, Thomas Wayne (Linus Roache), pulls him from the well, Bruce begins having nightmares about bats. One night, the Waynes go to the opera where Bruce becomes scared at some of the dancers' portrayals of bat-like demons (from Mefistofele). Bruce experiences a panic attack and begs his father to leave the theatre early. The family exits into an alley where they are confronted by a mugger, who, despite the calm submission of Thomas, shoots both him and his wife. Fatally wounded with a bullet in his chest, Thomas Wayne's last words to his son are, "Don't be afraid". Bruce is left physically unharmed, but in a state of total mental shock.
While being comforted at the police station by police sergeant Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and being told "good news" about the shooter, Joe Chill, being arrested, Bruce is taken home by family butler Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine), who raises him in the absence of his parents.
Now a young adult, Bruce (Christian Bale) has returned from Princeton University for the parole hearing of his parents' murderer which was arranged as part of a deal to testify against the crime boss Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson). Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes) is now a Gotham City Assistant District Attorney. The killer is granted parole, but is murdered immediately after the hearing by a mob operative. Bruce Wayne was planning to kill him as well, but was robbed of the opportunity. When Rachel learns this, she explains the difference between vengeance and justice to Bruce, and then tells him that his father would be ashamed. Bruce becomes ashamed of himself and promptly goes to confront Falcone. After the fateful meeting, Bruce steals away on a cargo ship, and is later arrested and jailed by Chinese police for the theft of goods that, ironically, belong to Wayne Enterprises.
The disillusioned Wayne travels the world seeking the means to fight injustice and "turn fear against those who prey on the fearful." He is approached by Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) in jail, representing Ra's al Ghul of the League of Shadows, a group of fanatical assassins. Traveling to the home of the League of Shadows in the Himalayas, Wayne learns to use theatrics and deception as his greatest weapons. However, after his training, Ra's and Ducard tell Wayne that he must lead the League to destroy Gotham, a source of evil according to the group. Wayne refuses to destroy the city he loves and battles Ra's before making his escape. Ra's is killed in the battle, but Wayne manages to save Ducard.
Thus prepared, Wayne unveils his alter-ego: Batman, a masked crusader who uses his strength, intellect and an array of high-tech gadgets to combat the sinister forces that threaten the city. To that end, Wayne returns to Gotham and befriends an unjustly demoted senior company researcher, Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), recruiting him as his armorer. Fox uses his job as lowly caretaker to grant Wayne secret access to various unused company prototypes for his own use.
Two of his first foes come in the forms of Falcone and Dr. Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy), who later becomes better known as the Scarecrow. Batman eventually discovers that Ducard is actually Ra's, and has conspired with Crane to poison Gotham's water supply with a toxin that would cause the inhabitants of the city to riot, destroying each other and Gotham itself. They battle and Batman eventually defeats Ra's. As the movie ends, a promoted Gordon expresses gratitude for what Batman has done. Gordon explains that a criminal in the lost "Narrows" area of Gotham has left calling cards at all his crime scenes in the form of a Joker playing card.
Reaction
Early reviews from professional film critics were enthusiastic, with Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times – who panned all the previous live action adaptations of the character – calling it one of the best films of the year. Manohla Dargis of The New York Times also gave it high praise, dubbing the film "the most successful comic-book adaptation alongside Terry Zwigoff's Ghost World."
The movie was also received quite favorably by audiences and many fans, earning the highest rating of any film released in 2005 by users of the web site boxofficemojo.com and garnering an 83% score at rottentomatoes.com. The film is currently on the IMDb's list of the Top 250 films of all-time [1]. All told, this movie is considered to be the favorite Batman movie for critics and audiences alike.
According to boxofficemojo.com, the $135-million movie has earned $205.3 million during its North American theatrical run and approximately $166 million elsewhere, making it the second most successful Batman movie (next to the 1989 movie) and fifth most successful of summer 2005 (next to Revenge of the Sith, War of the Worlds, Wedding Crashers and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). A recent poll at IMDb marked the film as #1 as the best summer movie of 2005 with Revenge of the Sith at second.
The movie also solidified Christopher Nolan's capability of directing a major blockbuster. Before then, he was known for directing low-budget movies that focused mostly on dark themes, but had substance and depth. Hiring him for this kind of movie, particularly one of Warner Brothers' biggest franchises, was a risky endeavour on the studio's part. But the movie marked a successful return of the Batman saga, erasing the legacy of its predecessor Batman and Robin and ensured the studio's plans to greenlight a sequel.
Sequels
Warner Brothers has announced its intentions to make a sequel to Batman Begins with most of the film's main cast, including Christian Bale, returning. This would make Bale the first actor since Michael Keaton (who appeared in the first and second movies) to play Batman more than once. Gary Oldman (James Gordon) and Michael Caine (Alfred Pennyworth) are also under contract to reprise their roles [2]. At this time, director Christopher Nolan and screenwriter David S. Goyer will be returning for the sequels, though Goyer revealed in an interview that he and Nolan have devised a rough scenario for a trilogy, using The Joker as the antagonist in the second film and Two-Face in the third. Some online sources claimed there would be multiple villains in the sequel, including the Joker and a mysterious young heir that some believed to be Roman Sionis. On August 22, 2005, producer Charles Roven denied that any villain had been decided upon, and that the reference to The Joker in the film, was intended as a tip of the hat to the 1989 Batman film [3].
Cast
- Christian Bale – Bruce Wayne/Batman
- Michael Caine – Alfred Pennyworth
- Liam Neeson – Henri Ducard/Ra's al Ghul
- Katie Holmes – Rachel Dawes
- Gary Oldman – Lt. James Gordon
- Cillian Murphy – Dr. Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow
- Tom Wilkinson – Carmine Falcone
- Rutger Hauer – William Earle
- Ken Watanabe – feigned Ra's al Ghul
- Mark Boone Junior – Detective Flass
- Linus Roache – Dr. Thomas Wayne
- Morgan Freeman – Lucius Fox
- Richard Brake – Joe Chill
- Alexandra Bastedo – Mrs. Delane
- Tim Booth – Victor Zsasz
DVD
The Batman Begins DVD was released October 18, 2005. It is available in Fullscreen and Widescreen. In addition, a Deluxe Two-Disc Widescreen Edition was released which contains exclusive special features and copies of Detective Comics #27, Batman: The Man Who Falls, and an excerpt of the 13-issue Batman: The Long Halloween. Some vendors have reported that the deluxe edition of Begins was set only for a limited release, and thus only had a one time stock pile. This puzzling rumor has left many potential customers baffled, and concerned with how to obtain this commodity from the very few vendors that still have some in stock.
Also released on the same date was Batman: the Motion Picture Anthology 1989-1997, which contains each of the four Burton-Schumacher films in new 2-disc special edition format. The set also includes many new documentaries and new digital transfers for all four films: Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992), Batman Forever (1995), and Batman & Robin (1997).
Trivia
- Before production began, Christopher Nolan showed the entire production crew the film Blade Runner and told them he wanted his film to be just like it.
- The film was inspired by the graphic novels Batman: The Long Halloween, Batman: The Man Who Falls, and Batman: Year One, in addition to comics from the 1970's era.
- Originally, Joel Schumacher was slated to direct the fifth Batman movie, titled Batman Triumphant, with George Clooney and Chris O'Donnell reprising their roles as the Dynamic Duo, and Steve Buscemi among those considered to play The Scarecrow. However, when the box office returns for Batman and Robin dropped drastically in its second week of release, Warner Bros. began to panic. It was decided to replace Schumacher with Andrew Davis, who directed the Batman OnStar commercials, doubling as his screen test. The new film would be a lower budget movie with more emphasis on characters, as well as returning to a darker, serious tone. Bret Hart was considered for Batman, Vincent Kartheiser for Robin, and Crispin Glover for Scarecrow. But then Schumacher made a pitch to write and direct an adaptation of the comic book Batman: Year One. Warner Bros. bought the idea, but replaced Schumacher with Darren Aronofsky. Aronofsky joked that he would rather make The Dark Knight Returns with Clint Eastwood as the aging Batman, and film it in Tokyo, Japan. Nevertheless, he wrote a script with Frank Miller that ignored the "Year One" comic book, and was more of a "Death Wish-meets-The French Connection" movie. Horrified at the script, Warner Brothers killed the project and searched for a new director, ultimately hiring Christopher Nolan.
- In the movie, Dr. Crane declares Falcone hitman Zsasz insane as a favor for the mob boss. Rachel calls him on it and says Zsasz really isn't crazy. Ironically, the comics' version of Zsasz really is quite insane.
- Christian Bale, the actor playing Batman, at one time auditioned for the role of Robin in Batman Forever before the role went to Chris O'Donnell.
- In the movie, Bruce Wayne is shown arriving at a fancy hotel in a Lamborghini Murciélago. The word murciélago is Spanish for "bat".
- The track listings on the soundtrack are all named after different bat species. The first letters of tracks 4 through 9 spell out "BATMAN".
- Chinese actor Vincent Wong plays a bit part, as an old prisoner in this film. He also played a crimelord in the 1989 Batman film.
- Characters in the movie pronounce Ra's as "rahz." Previously, his name was often pronounced as "raysh," as on the popular television program Batman: The Animated Series.Image:BatmanBeginsTumbler.jpgThe Tumbler, the Batmobile used in Batman Begins
- The Batmobile is a working vehicle. For the street scenes there were four Batmobiles, two of which being special in that one was the "flap version," with hydraulics and flaps for the close-ups when the car is flying, and the "jet version," with an actual jet engine mounted onto the back for the scenes where the jet was necessary. Each of these cars cost around $250,000 to build. For the scenes that required the inside of the car to be filmed, there was another vehicle equipped with the hydraulics and decorations necessary to give the feeling of reality. There was also a small electric motor that allowed the car to drive, which was necessary for the slow driving scenes. Finally, there was a miniature version, which was around 6 feet long and able to fly for the scenes that required it except for the scenes where the car jumps and the scenes where the Batmobile enters the Batcave. [4]
- Its running time is 140 minutes, making it the longest Batman film to date.
- There were a large number of actors auditioning for the lead role. The list includes Henry Cavill, Jake Gyllenhaal, Joshua Jackson, Cillian Murphy, Hugh Dancy, Christian Bale and Billy Crudup. Although Bale got the part, Nolan enjoyed Cillian's audition so much that he persuaded him to play The Scarecrow.
- Chris Cooper turned down the role of James Gordon.
- Anthony Hopkins was offered the role of Alfred, but declined.
- On the set, costumed Christian Bale constantly had two people trailing him to keep the Batsuit smudge-free.
- While shooting on the streets of Chicago, a man crashed his car into the Batmobile. The driver was apparently drunk, and said he hit the car in a state of panic, thinking the vehicle to be an invading alien spacecraft.
- The calling card The Joker leaves is a replica of the Joker card from the 1989 graphic novel "Batman: Arkham Asylum".
External links
- Batman Begins official web site
- Template:Imdb title
- Batman-On-Film
- Batman Begins and the Comics (scene-by-scene annotations of film)
- Batman Begins Video Game
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- Picture of Christian Bale in Batman costume
- Batman Begins at BYTB
- Batman: Yesterday, Today, & Beyond
- Review by Roger Ebert
- PopMatters Review
- Batman & Sobbin': Village Voice Review
- Batman Begins' reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes
- Batman Begins review by Graham Barnfield
See also
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