My life is about to undergo a significant change, so to mark the end of this current era I’m revisiting some of the media that means the most to me – watching the movies, playing games, and listening to the music I’ve experienced. has been the backdrop for important personal moments over the past 15 years.
Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, starring Christian Bale, was probably the last superhero series that got me excited – perhaps because it didn’t feel particularly compelling. super at all. Batman is a decent character, just a rich guy with a sense of justice and some cool gadgets, and that fits Nolan’s very grounded style perfectly.
With that in mind, I set aside one of my few remaining free days to watch all three films, starting with Batman Beginswhich aimed to establish Bruce Wayne’s character and lay the groundwork for its bigger-budget sequel.
Gotham’s symbol of justice
The film begins in usual Batman fashion, with the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents. He feels guilty that this happened after he convinced them to leave the opera early because the performance reminded him of his greatest fear: bats. This is the first of many examples of how tightly Nolan ties everything together in his films.
Over time, Wayne’s guilt turned to anger. He planned to kill his parents’ killer when he was granted parole, but someone got there first. On learning of his plan, his childhood friend Rachel says that it won’t help – mob boss Falcone is undoing all of his father’s good work in the city (we see later that even the monorail he funded is now massively vandalized and covered in graffiti).
Bruce seeks out Falcone, but is threatened and warned that people like him “have much to lose.” This theme is repeated throughout Wayne’s training with the League of Shadows – that he needs to be “more than a person” in the eyes of his enemies, “an idea.” It was from these beginnings and a desire to face his childhood fears – which indirectly led to the death of his parents – that he developed the concept of Gotham’s protector: Batman.
“As a man, I am flesh and blood. I can be ignored. I can be destroyed. But as a symbol… I am imperishable. I could be immortal.” – Bruce Wayne
A supervillain in the ordinary world
After leaving the League for refusing to kill criminals, Wayne returns to Gotham. Unbeknownst to him, Scarecrow (an early appearance by Cillian Murphy) uses his daytime role as a psychiatrist to move the city’s most dangerous criminals to Arkham Asylum and place them under his own supervision.
The really clever move here is that Scarecrow relies on hallucinogens to intimidate his victims. This has the triple effect of creating a truly terrifying villain in the universe, helping to further shape Wayne’s character as he hallucinates the bats he is so afraid of, and connecting to Batman’s origins – it’s later revealed that the compound is based on the same poisonous flower he sent to the League of Shadows to be deemed worthy of his training.
The scarecrow is eventually revealed to have been manipulated by the League of Shadows, who plan to poison Gotham’s water supply, evaporate the water to drug its citizens, and sit back and watch them destroy the city. This allows for a spooky ending when the Narrows is shrouded in mist, with madmen lurking around every corner and Scarecrows galloping by on horseback. This is the clearest indicator of the dark tone the series will take as it progresses.
Batman finds himself on a monorail his father built, hurtling along with his mentor-turned-enemy Ra’s al Ghul toward Wayne Tower, where we’re told chaos will spread across the city. A rare criticism I have is how exposition-heavy this section is, with a water engineer stating the stakes in no uncertain terms even though the villain’s plan has already been explained.
“The pressure moved along the power lines, blowing out all our pipes. And if that pressure reaches us, the entire city’s water supply will run out!†– water engineer
Kiss with a catch
Batman’s rules are put to the test, but he decides to compromise as the two drive towards the end of a track damaged by Jim Gordon. “I won’t kill you, but I don’t have to save you,†he says, jumping off the train moments before it crashes with the antagonist still inside – a statement that in itself could inspire a whole philosophical story. debate (and rightly so, in the case of the Good Samaritan law).
After saving the day as Batman, Wayne regains control of his company. Wayne Manor is being rebuilt after the League of Shadows burned it down, Gordon has been promoted and remains on Batman’s side despite the official stance of the police force, and Gotham’s criminal element is on the rise. All the pieces are set to support Batman’s status quo and escalation in the next two films.
Wayne even gets a kiss from Rachel – but there’s a catch. He says he has changed since his youth, that his guilt and anger have reached a level where he is more Batman than Bruce. Maybe once Gotham was in better shape, he could finally rest and he could be with her. But for now, the city needs him more than he does – to whet our appetite for series two, Gordon’s men have recovered the Joker’s calling card from the crime scene.
“This is your mask. Your true face is the face that criminals now fear. The man I loved – the man who disappeared – he never came back at all… Maybe someday, when Gotham no longer needs Batman, I’ll see him again.†– Rachel Dawes
The straight-faced savior
When it was released in 2005, Batman Begins wasn’t really on my radar. I once caught him on a train ride (though most likely asleep), but I really dove into this series Dark Knightand by my standards set by Heath Ledger’s Joker and its big set pieces, its predecessor always felt duller by comparison.
But I have to say, I now realize that I did a very disservice. Batman Begins starts at the beginning with a clear goal: to introduce the characters and their motivations and establish the elements and themes that will run through the trilogy. But more than that, I felt this film was more restrained and tight than the later films – there’s not a wasted moment, from the monorail that Wayne builds, to the hallucinogenic flowers, to the location of the Batcave, everything comes full circle.
Nolan brings art to a genre that is rarely applied now that superhero films have become a commodity. None of the bright colors, fantastical nonsense, or edgy satire found in modern Marvel is to be found here. The plot is taken almost as seriously as Oppenheimerit even ventures into some light political topics, and that’s as refreshing today as it was in its time.
Bruce Wayne’s character is inspiring not only because he fights crime, but because he is a flawed individual whose deeper morality and mission give him virtue even when his public image is damaged – sometimes intentionally, when his goals require it. Batman Begins establishes him as Gotham’s potential savior, but this is only the beginning of a journey that will involve much greater sacrifice.
4/5
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