Blown Away By Batman Begins!

 

“Wow”… That’s the first thing I said when the movie ended. Batman Begins is probably the best movie I’ve seen in years. If it doesn’t do better than the latest Star Wars in overall sales (I don’t mean opening weekend), I’ll be surprised to say the least.

Yesterday, a friend surprised me with free passes to see the sneak preview to Batman Begins. I was looking forward to the movie, and jumped at the chance to see it early. Now, I was very skeptical that people had been saying that Bale would be a better Batman than Michael Keaton. After seeing the movie, I’d have to say… they were right! As much as I loved Keaton’s performances as Batman, Bale just took this movie to a whole new level.

Of course the supporting cast was excellent. Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, and Gary Oldman couldn’t have been better cast. Michael Caine portrayed Alfred, a wonderful foster-father-figure and friend. Morgan Freeman played the smaller role of “Fox,” an inventor and employee of Wayne Enterprises. Gary Oldman, of course, played the incorruptible Sergeant Gordon, and we get to see the beginnings of the relationship between he (the future Commissioner) and Batman. Look closely, and you’ll catch a glimpse of a crying baby, Barbara (aka Batgirl/Oracle) Gordon. Cillian Murphy played a wonderfully creepy villain, Scarecrow/Dr. Jonathon Crane. Bruce Wayne’s mentor and martial arts trainer, a complex character, was played by the great, Liam Neeson. Katie Holmes even did a pretty decent job as Bruce Wayne’s childhood friend who becomes a District Attorney of Gotham. All of the other minor roles were also cast very well. I could go on and on about them. Thankfully, they’ve already snagged Oldman and Bale for the next sequel. I’m hoping for Caine to return too.

The story was exceptional as well. The movie begins with Bruce Wayne in a prison in Asia, and we see flashbacks to his younger years, and the story develops as to why he’s there. The story is complex, but not to the point of being confusing. Gotham is headed for destruction, and is overrun with corruption and criminals. The story is how Bruce Wayne comes to the decision of fighting for his city, and overcoming his fears. We see the events and decisions that he makes that change Bruce into Batman. And how “Bruce Wayne” becomes the façade, and Batman the real persona. While this movie is darker than the other Batman movies, there are brief elements of humor as well.

Gotham itself was an amazing product of special effects. They really outdid themselves in that area too. Now, since this was the story of how Wayne became Batman, not a lot of FX were needed the first half of the movie. But what they did with Gotham and Batman’s gadgets were outstanding. Like I said, I could go on and on about this movie.