Skip to main content

Batman Begins (2005)

For the first time ever, I have seen three films in one day at the cinema. I had seen two films in one day but there was a gap of a couple of hours between them. I have always liked the trilogy and saw them when they originally came out, but there was something about seeing them in one go that proved to irresistible to turn down.

The opening part of the trilogy is not as gritty as people think it is. It is gritty compared to the Batman films that have come before it but its not that gritty and perhaps feel more grounded than gritty. The film follows as Bruce Wayne goes away to understand the criminal underbelly to try and exact revenge on the person who killed his parents all while the corruption of the city tries to stop him and the League of Shadows tries to get Wayne to be one of them.

The horror of the neon campiness of the Joel Schumacher which nearly killed the franchise is consigned to the history books with a film directed by someone who has a vision and a plan for bringing this character back from the dead.

Good Points

Strong Central Performances

Christian Bale is very good as the caped crusader, we see him through all stages of grief and he is believable as Bruce Wayne and as Batman. This version of Bruce Wayne feels the most grounded out of all the versions that we have seen in the movie. Bruce Wayne in this movie has the playboy lifestyle that has always been there in the character but Bale makes it seem a facade and hiding his true character. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman are great as Alfred and Lucius Fox respectively and are as awesome as ever. Gary Oldman makes the character of James Gordon feel a bit more important than he has in the previous films.

Good Action sequences

Despite this being a more grounded version of Batman, there are still the action sequences which are all very good. Christian Bale never stuck me as an action star or someone who could do them but he manages to pull it off. This version of Batman is a more talkie incarnation of the character but it is still lends itself to the action sequences that cinema-goers would expect.

Visuals are good

We have the dark gritty version of Gotham in the Tim Burton films, the camp neon light version in the Joel Schumacher versions and now we get a better version in this movie. It has a futuristic feel and yet current. It does feel like it was film in a real street in a real city that is doubling as Gotham which is a nice middle ground from the two previous versions. 


Bad Points

Villain could have been stronger. Scarecrow was a better villain

I liked that there was some personal backstory for the character of Ducard but I would have liked to see more of Scarecrow because I think Scarecrow was a more traditional villain for Batman and he was played brilliantly by Cillian Murphy. Liam Neeson is great don’t get me wrong but I think that he was overshadowed by Murphy. 

Katie Holmes is not a great Rachel

Trying to be kind to Katie Holmes but she isn’t very good as Rachel. Rachel is suppose to be this form of support to Bruce and yet there isn’t that connection with Bruce Wayne that there should be. This was her only performance and it was a good thing. 

Overall

This is an underrated Batman movie, it’s the middle of the trilogy in terms of quality but it zips along at a good pace. This being the first part of the trilogy at the cinema. It has a story which it takes time to tell but doesn't feel like there is any padding or rushing at the end. An enjoyable film which even nearly 20 years later holds up and should be a film that people watch.



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Jurassic World Dominion (2022)

I really enjoyed the first Jurassic World film, yes some of the things were a bit silly and it was a bit of fan service but I still enjoyed it and thought it worked quite well. The second one took a bit of a dip in quality and the whole idea that there is a secret lab underneath a massive house did seem a bit silly. It did end with a cliffhanger and the potential for this final could have been about how we were dealing with the dinosaurs. This final part of the trilogy (whether it's the final Jurassic film is doubtful) was delayed because of the pandemic although how much of that is why this film was a huge disappointment is probably going to remain a mystery. The main problem with the film is that it feels like three movies in one. You have the Claire/Owen storyline then there is the original trio’s storyline with the return of Dodgson and then the meshing of the two. This means that it feels like they are throwing a lot at the wall to see what sticks. Dodgson is portrayed as some...
Post a Comment
Read more

Elio (2025)

Elio is a film that seemed like it could be a lot of fun based off the trailer which is a mistake as a trailer has more often than not made a film to look better than it is. The trailer didn’t suggest that Elio had lost his parents (deceased parents is such a typical Disney move) and he now lives with his aunt who works on an air force base. He gets interested in space and then wants to be abducted by aliens and gets his wish and ends up in the communiverse with a variety of different aliens. This includes a warmongering Lord Grigon. Elio is mistakenly thought of as the leader of Earth and soon finds himself trying to broker a peace with Grigon. In the middle of all this He makes friends with Glordon who is the son of Lord Grigon. Elio plans to use Glordon as a bargaining chip and when he comes to pick up fortis then things go wrong and that is when the plot really kicks in. The animation is your typical Pixar sort and it’s nice and can work in any type of story. It’s weird to think th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Hallow Road (2025)

Hallow Road stars Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys who are Maddie and Frank who are woken up in the middle of the night by their daughter Alice (Megan McDonnell) who has been in an accident and the movie is basically Maddie and Frank driving to the location talking to their daughter and it all takes place in the car.  The film is basically led by Pike and Rhys. Maddie wants to call the police and use a sympathetic police officer to help their daughter and yet Frank wants to take the blame and this leads to conflict between the two. One of the reasons why the film works in the way that it does is that these two work well together despite their characters being polar opposite. The fact that the film takes place inside the car apart from the opening couple of minutes and the final few minutes and still manages to be entertaining and gripping shows how good the performances were and also the writing. Credit has to go to director Batak Anvari for keeping things ticking along and never le...
Post a Comment
Read more