A Warner Bros. release
Story - $10.50
Acting - $10.50
Directing - $10.50
Production Design - $10.50
Special Effects - $10.50
Score/Music - $10.50
*"REEL" VALUE - $10.50 = BATMAN BEGINS is the adventure of a life time that takes you on the most thrilling ride of 2005 and awakens your belief in the possibility of a meager man’s ability to become a superhero!
SYNOPSIS: His personal guilt and anger are the demons that feed his revenge and his need to honor his parents who were gunned down before his eyes on the streets of Gotham City. It was a night that changed his life forever. This disillusioned “prince” vanishes and he attempts to lose himself by traveling the world.
Can one man change the world?
In his quest to educate himself in the ways of the criminal mind, Bruce Wayne (BALE) is mentored by a mysterious man called Ducard (NEESON) in the ways of physical and mental disciplines that will empower him to fight the evil. However, Bruce finds himself the target of the recruiting efforts by the League of Shadows, a powerful, subversive vigilante group headed by enigmatic leader Ra’s al Ghul (WATANABE).
Bruce finally returns home to find Gotham devoured by rampant crime and corruption. Wayne Enterprises, his family’s former bastion of philanthropic business ideals, now rests in the hands of CEO Richard Earle (HAUER), a man more concerned with taking the company public than serving the public good.
Bruce’s close childhood friend Rachel Dawes (HOLMES) is now an Assistant District Attorney. She is unable to secure a conviction of the city’s most notorious criminals because the justice system is deeply polluted by the crime boss Carmine Falcone (WILKINSON). It doesn’t help that prominent Gotham psychiatrist Dr. Jonathan Crane (MURPHY) bolsters insanity defenses for Falcone’s thugs in exchange for “favors” that serve his own Machiavellian agenda.
Aided by his trusted butler Alfred (CAINE), detective Jim Gordon (OLDMAN) – one of the few good cops on the force – and Lucius Fox (FREEMAN), his ally at the Wayne Enterprises’ Applied Sciences division, Wayne unleashes his awe-inspiring alter-ego: Batman, a masked crusader who uses strength, intellect and an array of high tech weaponry to fight injustice and turn fear against those who prey on the fearful, and seek to destroy Gotham.
REVIEW: Unlike any of the previous Batman films, director Chris Nolan’s fully explores the tragic events that transform Bruce Wayne into Batman. By revealing his past through flashbacks, Nolan adds layers to the character of Bruce Wayne as he confronts his memories and fears. Haunting Wayne the most among all of these psychological triggers from his troubled past is a psychology Achilles' heel that screenwriters, Nolan and David Goyer, have skillfully woven into the tale – a fear of bats. At each turn in the plot the writers confront Wayne with choices, and by making his choice he accepts the responsibility for his actions and tempts fate. It may seem a bit too serious, but I think it should be! The screenwriters have centered this tale by utilizing the framework of classic Greek or Roman myth. BATMAN BEGINS is about Bruce Wayne’s quest, about becoming a man, and taking responsibility. In an entertainment market, from computer games to animation, where we our constantly confronted by fast cars, sex, violence and hardly any consequences for actions, Nolan and Goyer deliver a story that sends a proficiently grounded message, a more classic concept than what George Lucas was able to accomplish when he asked Joseph Campbell to help him create the first “Star Wars” film.
This brilliantly constructed screenplay pushes Wayne’s romantic interest to the background, as well as the secondary villain, the Scarecrow. For all the film’s eye-candy, it is Wayne’s personal drama and his relationships with the people in his life that elevates the story to an amazingly compelling tale. It is obvious that Nolan and Goyer are true fans of the Batman franchise as orchestrate little touches throughout the story that references other aspects of the Batman universe. Still, they approach the material with as much seriousness as reverence. From the comics, the serials, the television series, and the movies… forget what you know about Batman! BATMAN BEGINS redefines the boundaries of the superhero mythology and with as much passion and devotion as Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
A brilliant screenplay is only as good as the director and the cast. Director Chris Nolan, who gave us the highly acclaimed “Memento” and “Insomnia,” plays with these themes and adds shadows to create a film as equally as moody and atmospheric as his previous features. Much of the film’s atmosphere can be attributed to the exceptional casting. Christian Bale is able to portray the three faces of Bruce Wayne, and in one scene he moves through all three of them before the camera. There is an edge of intensity to Bale’s Batman that can only be described as controlled madness. Gary Oldman makes a great Gordon, the last honest cop on the Gotham Police Force. Morgan Freeman is Batman’s answer to James Bond’s Q. Liam Neeson is so good in this film that I felt almost compelled to have a few words with George Lucas about how underutilized Neeson was in “The Phantom Menace.”
Like “Spiderman 2,” BATMAN BEGINS uses the city of Chicago as a backdrop to visualize the fictional Gotham City. The most fantastical rendering of a city yet, I also noticed a few other influences in the architecture, such as the works of Fritz Lang and H.G. Wells. The film is ripe with some many other great locations, especially the exotic ones in the beginning, that when you combine them with the visual effects - thankfully not Industrial Light & Magic – it gives BATMAN BEGINS a truly epic feel. And from the wirework to the prosthetics, the gadgets and the batmobile, the special effects army required to bring Batman’s universe to the screen go to vast lengths to ensure that you’ll never encounter any element of the film that disrupts your suspension of disbelief. In fact, the IMAX transfer team has diligently reformatted the film for the medium to guarantee that this summer the most magical place on earth will be the IMAX theaters playing BATMAN BEGINS.
Of all the films that I’ve reviewed over the last ten-years, BATMAN BEGINS is the only film that reunited me with the wonder and magic of what it was like to be kid at the movies. With all the hype and boasting about all the films that will come to you theater this summer BATMAN BEGINS far exceeds any words that might attempt to describe the epic nature, wonder, and magic of this film.
CREW: Director - Christopher Nolan; Screenplay - Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer; Story - David S. Goyer; Producers - Charles Roven, Emma Thomas, and Larry Franco; Based upon characters appearing in comic books published by DC COMICS; BATMAN created by Bob Kane; Director of Photography - Wally Pfister, A.S.C.; Production Designer - Nathan Crowley; Music - Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard; Visual Effects Supervisors - Janek Sirrs and Dan Glass; Costume Designer - Lindy Hemming; Special Effects Supervisor - Chris Corbould; Armourer - Richard Hooper; Prosthetic Effects - Nick Dudman; Models – VFX; Senior Batmobile Modeller - Greg Morgan; Visual Effects - DOUBLE NEGATIVE, CUTTING EDGE, THE MOVING PICTURE COMPANY, RISING SUN PICTURES PTY LTD, BUF, THE SENATE VISUAL EFFECTS, and JIM HENSON'S CREATURE SHOP.
CAST: Bruce Wayne/Batman… CHRISTIAN BALE; Alfred… MICHAEL CAINE; Ducard… LIAM NEESON; Rachel Dawes… KATIE HOLMES; Jim Gordon… GARY OLDMAN; Dr. Jonathan Crane… CILLIAN MURPHY; Carmine Falcone… TOM WILKINSON; Earle… RUTGER HAUER; Ra's Al Ghul… KEN WATANABE; Flass… MARK BOONE JUNIOR; Thomas Wayne… LINUS ROACHE; Lucius Fox… MORGAN FREEMAN; Finch… LARRY HOLDEN; Judge Faden… GERARD MURPHY; Loeb… COLIN McFARLANE; Martha Wayne… SARA STEWART; Bruce Wayne (age 8)… GUS LEWIS; Homeless Man… RADE SHERBEDGIA Rachel Dawes (age 8)… EMMA LOCKHART.
* Based on the regular $10.50 ticket prices of a Manhattan theater.
Reviewer: Joseph B. Mauceri
Score:
Related web link: BATMAN BEGINS Warner Bros. Site