Movie Review | DVD Review

Editor’s Note: This review was written after Batman Begins came out on DVD and assumes that most people reading this review have already seen the movie. Thus there are several spoilers.

What do Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher both have in common? Each was a director of two Batman live action movies and each director’s vision and execution pale in comparison to Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins.

What makes Christopher Nolan’s vision of Batman and Gotham City so incredible is that he took a realistic and believable approach to virtually everything he did in the movie Batman Begins. The audience doesn’t have to guess as to how Batman came upon his Batmobile, Batsuit, and martial arts ability. Nolan explains this in believable and detailed terms, thus making Batman Begins more believable for the audience.

I’m always bothered when I see Tim Burton’s Batman because he likes to create many scenes that throw believability out the door, thus making his vision more fantasy-based. And don’t get me started on Schumacher’s scene with the rocket ship and Robin “surfing” in the sky. Such scenes devalue a movie because the audience doesn’t buy into the believability. On the other hand, when you make everything believable, it becomes more real to the audience, thus creating a stronger impact.

Here’s a case in point. In Tim Burton’s Batman, he has Batman in his Bat Jet flying towards the Joker. Batman launches missiles and machine gun fire and doesn’t even come close to hitting the Joker (even though his Bat Jet is so technologically advanced). So the Joker pulls out a gun, fires one shot, and brings down the Bat Jet. Yeah… right. When you ruin the believability of a movie, you ruin the impact it has on the audience. The Matrix was a huge hit because the movie was believable. People started believing we were living in a matrix. Religions were started and Matrix cults were formed. The impact of the believability is what made the movie such a resounding success.

That’s why Batman Begins is such a great movie. From the beginning, the producers, writers, and Nolan wanted to make believability the root of this Batman film. And with the exception of the Tumbler jumping from rooftop to rooftop, they greatly succeeded.

Batman Begins follows the story of Bruce Wayne from childhood to adulthood. It tackles the issues that other movies never explain – why bats as Batman’s theme? How did Batman get the Batmobile (or in this case; the Tumbler)? What gives villains their power? How does Batman get his powers? What is Batman’s business life as Bruce Wayne like? How does Batman deal with his childhood trauma, directed inward and at the person who killed his parents? What makes Bruce Wayne truly human?

Batman Begins is a very human movie. Because of its believability, you can somewhat relate to (and thus care about) what’s going on. The humanity of Batman Begins is what makes it far superior to the visual effects laden or just plain “quirky” aspects of many of the other Batman movies. But what’s also good about Batman Begins is some of the bold moves they made… like The Tumbler.

As a huge Batman fan, when I first saw a picture of the Tumbler appear online -- over 10 months before the movie’s release – I lost a lot of hope in this movie. How could they mess with something as iconic as the Batmobile? After all, you wouldn’t put Batman in a bunny outfit to fight villains. It wasn’t until I saw Batman Begins that I came to truly appreciate what they were doing. The Tumbler was rooted in reality. It was never intended as a Batmobile – it was created as a prototype for the military. And the vehicle, although it looks ugly, is intimidating. It creates fear and that is what this Batman is all about – instilling fear in his enemies.

Unfortunately, it’s also the Tumbler that creates the only major disappointment in Batman Begins. The directors, writers, and producers were so cautious about rooting everything in reality. So where were they vacationing when the chase scene with the Tumbler was written and filmed? Do they really expect the audience to believe that a vehicle so heavy, that it just rolls over cars, won’t crash right through a rooftop that it is “jumping” onto? And was Nolan missing from the editing room when the final cut of the movie included the scenes of the Tumbler jumping from rooftop to rooftop? Why would you go through so much trouble to root the movie in reality then throw reality out the door for a temporary thrill? It’s like someone on a drug – get that temporary thrill even though it is moves their life backwards instead of forward.

Now, getting back to reality. Not only does Batman Begins explain the gadgets, costumes, and philosophical debate of characters, it also roots its battle with villains in reality. For example, this version has the Asylum (where all the crazy people are locked up) play a big role in the movie. And in the end, the crazies all escape, but not all of them are captured. Now you have set up a realistic base for where many of the villains from future episodes come from – they were escaped loonies from the asylum in the “first movie”. Smart.

Overall, Batman Begins is a valiant effort with near flawless execution. The acting is great, the set designs are great, and the story doesn’t take a back seat to visual effects (something Lucas forgot in making Star Wars 1, 2, and 3 and something the Matrix directors forgot when making the sequels). This new Batman franchise will flourish as long as the crew remains committed to preserving reality in each new installment.

Batman Begins is rated PG-13 for “action violence, disturbing images and some thematic elements”.

To read the DVD review, click here.

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