Throwback Thursday - Batman Begins (2005)
Hey guys, Chuck here. Today for Throwback Thursday, I wanted to talk about my favorite superhero as a kid: Batman. Whether it was the popular animated series from the 90's or the movies that were on the big screen, Batman was everywhere. And in 2005, exactly right years after the epic failure of Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin, Warner Bros. would release the first entry of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy: Batman Begins.
Okay, so of course the movie focuses on the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne, leaving their son Bruce in the care of the family Butler, Alfred. Years pass, and Bruce is seeking a way to end the injustice in Gotham City. It is here that he meets Henri Ducard, who is a member of the League of Shadows. The League, led by Ra's al Ghul, trains Bruce in the art of combat, theatricality, and deception. Bruce, however, turns on the League, and fights Ra's, as Bruce doesn't believe in the League's methods of extreme justice. Ra's dies in the midst of the destruction of the League's base. However, he rescues Ducard and then returns to Gotham to fight injustice in his own way.
Bruce utilizes his resources at Wayne Enterprises to put together some equipment, and works to set up a network of allies that includes police officer Jim Gordon, as well as Bruce's childhood friend Rachel Dawes. Rachel, it turns out, works for the DA's office, and is constantly thwarted in putting mob hitmen behind bars by Dr. Jonathan Crane, who instead declares them insane and has them placed into his care at Arkham Asylum. Bruce, using equipment acquired from Lucius Fox in Wayne Enterprises' Applied Sciences division, brings down several mobsters, including mob boss Carmine Falcone, in the first appearance of Bruce as Batman.
Soon after, Batman runs afoul of Crane, who is using a combination of a burlap mask and a lethal and potent fear toxin to experiment on the inmates of Arkham as the Scarecrow. Crane and his men have also been dumping the toxin into Gotham's water supply. Fox manages to develop a serum to counteract the effects of the toxin, and Batman gives it to both Rachel and Gordon. Crane, it turns out, was working alongside the League of Shadows, and Ducard, in fact, was the true Ra's al Ghul. Ra's burns Wayne Manor to the ground, leaving Bruce behind.
Using a WayneTech microwave emitter, Ra's and the League vaporize the water supply in the Narrows, and the fear toxin is unleashed. Batman soon arrives and fights off members of the League. Catching onto the train with Ra's and the microwave emitter on board, Batman hops on board and fights Ra's, with Gordon driving the Batmobile, to stop the train from reached Wayne Tower, which would vaporize all of Gotham's water supply. Batman fights Ra's, and hops off the train, thus leading Ra's to die. Though the Narrows is lost, and Crane and his Arkham inmates were roaming free, Gotham was saved, Gordon gets a promotion, and Batman prepared to do what is needed to bring Gotham back from the brink, even looking into a criminal who leaves a calling card behind: a Joker card.
Batman Begins has a lot of elements that I like. First of which being how all of Batman's equipment is explained and is grounded in a sense of reality. I also like the new Batmobile, called the Tumbler in this movie. I think that it's a bit of a gamble in its design, but I still enjoyed it. I absolutely loved the casting of both Michael Caine as Alfred and Gary Oldman as Gordon. Both were much better than the actors from the Burton/Schumacher era Batman films. Christian Bale definitely does a good job as Bruce Wayne here, and the path his character takes in the film is pretty good. I also enjoyed both Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy as the two villains of the film: Ra's al Ghul and Scarecrow. Both delivered great performances, but I will admit, their goals did require suspension of disbelief, which can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your perspective. However, there are some things I didn't care for, and one of them is Katie Holmes as Rachel, but more because of the character and less because it's Katie Holmes. I just feel that Rachel could have been written just a little better, and a lot of other people have the same opinion as I do with this one. Another thing I didn't care for, and this is more of a nitpick, was how Batman's ears curved in. I kind of like it more when the ears stand straight up, but again this is just nitpicking and a personal preference, so it's not a big deal. However, what I think is the film's strongest suit is that it was made as a movie, and not as a comic book adaptation. Which, depending on your point of view, could be a good thing or a bad thing, but I find it to be a good thing. So, I'm giving Batman Begins a rating of 4.5/5. This is Chuck signing off. See you guys next time.
Okay, so of course the movie focuses on the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne, leaving their son Bruce in the care of the family Butler, Alfred. Years pass, and Bruce is seeking a way to end the injustice in Gotham City. It is here that he meets Henri Ducard, who is a member of the League of Shadows. The League, led by Ra's al Ghul, trains Bruce in the art of combat, theatricality, and deception. Bruce, however, turns on the League, and fights Ra's, as Bruce doesn't believe in the League's methods of extreme justice. Ra's dies in the midst of the destruction of the League's base. However, he rescues Ducard and then returns to Gotham to fight injustice in his own way.
Bruce utilizes his resources at Wayne Enterprises to put together some equipment, and works to set up a network of allies that includes police officer Jim Gordon, as well as Bruce's childhood friend Rachel Dawes. Rachel, it turns out, works for the DA's office, and is constantly thwarted in putting mob hitmen behind bars by Dr. Jonathan Crane, who instead declares them insane and has them placed into his care at Arkham Asylum. Bruce, using equipment acquired from Lucius Fox in Wayne Enterprises' Applied Sciences division, brings down several mobsters, including mob boss Carmine Falcone, in the first appearance of Bruce as Batman.
Soon after, Batman runs afoul of Crane, who is using a combination of a burlap mask and a lethal and potent fear toxin to experiment on the inmates of Arkham as the Scarecrow. Crane and his men have also been dumping the toxin into Gotham's water supply. Fox manages to develop a serum to counteract the effects of the toxin, and Batman gives it to both Rachel and Gordon. Crane, it turns out, was working alongside the League of Shadows, and Ducard, in fact, was the true Ra's al Ghul. Ra's burns Wayne Manor to the ground, leaving Bruce behind.
Using a WayneTech microwave emitter, Ra's and the League vaporize the water supply in the Narrows, and the fear toxin is unleashed. Batman soon arrives and fights off members of the League. Catching onto the train with Ra's and the microwave emitter on board, Batman hops on board and fights Ra's, with Gordon driving the Batmobile, to stop the train from reached Wayne Tower, which would vaporize all of Gotham's water supply. Batman fights Ra's, and hops off the train, thus leading Ra's to die. Though the Narrows is lost, and Crane and his Arkham inmates were roaming free, Gotham was saved, Gordon gets a promotion, and Batman prepared to do what is needed to bring Gotham back from the brink, even looking into a criminal who leaves a calling card behind: a Joker card.
Batman Begins has a lot of elements that I like. First of which being how all of Batman's equipment is explained and is grounded in a sense of reality. I also like the new Batmobile, called the Tumbler in this movie. I think that it's a bit of a gamble in its design, but I still enjoyed it. I absolutely loved the casting of both Michael Caine as Alfred and Gary Oldman as Gordon. Both were much better than the actors from the Burton/Schumacher era Batman films. Christian Bale definitely does a good job as Bruce Wayne here, and the path his character takes in the film is pretty good. I also enjoyed both Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy as the two villains of the film: Ra's al Ghul and Scarecrow. Both delivered great performances, but I will admit, their goals did require suspension of disbelief, which can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your perspective. However, there are some things I didn't care for, and one of them is Katie Holmes as Rachel, but more because of the character and less because it's Katie Holmes. I just feel that Rachel could have been written just a little better, and a lot of other people have the same opinion as I do with this one. Another thing I didn't care for, and this is more of a nitpick, was how Batman's ears curved in. I kind of like it more when the ears stand straight up, but again this is just nitpicking and a personal preference, so it's not a big deal. However, what I think is the film's strongest suit is that it was made as a movie, and not as a comic book adaptation. Which, depending on your point of view, could be a good thing or a bad thing, but I find it to be a good thing. So, I'm giving Batman Begins a rating of 4.5/5. This is Chuck signing off. See you guys next time.
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