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Batman Begins

Oscar winners define a year in movies for the cinephiles, but it's summer movies that define our special memories. I couldn't tell you who won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1986, but, for me, that was the summer I went to the Cineplex at the mall and felt "the need for speed" after watching Tom Cruise become Top Gun (or the need to have Kelly McGillis ride my motorcycle, it's all a haze of hormones and Orange Julius, so my memory can't be relied upon). We've had plenty of new movies, but this summer will be remembered for three special ones - Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, War of the Worlds and this week's big release, Batman Begins.

Christian Bale stars as Bruce Wayne - the troubled, brooding millionaire still suffering from the brutal murder of his philanthropic, beloved iconic parents at the hands of a lowlife mugger. As he grows older, Bruce abandons their ideals and searches for vengeance, while brooding, but loses this opportunity and becomes enemies with Gotham City's leading crime lord, Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkerson).

Suddenly, Bruce mysteriously leaves the city he loves to travel across the world and learn about criminal behavior, brooding and hoping all the while to return to Gotham City to exact justice and clean up her mean streets. Along the way, he becomes involved with an ancient Chinese organization known as the League of Shadows, and learns from a knowledgeable tutor, Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson), who makes the troubled, brooding young man into a powerful fighter, while drawing out the Batman inside of him.

Can Batman save Gotham City from crime and evil, or is the city rotten to the core? Has Falcone's grip on Gotham become so strong that the once great city is lost forever? Will Bruce/Batman realize a more sinister plot has been put into motion? Can he stop brooding?

Forget everything you have ever learned about Batman in the first four movies and the campy 60's television show because this Batman has risen from the ashes to begin again, just when we need him most. All the bad ideas like Robin, Batgirl, Mr. Freeze and the Bat Nipples are gone (Sorry, Clooney. You took one for the team with that costume), only to be replaced by awesome ideas and lots of brooding.

Director/writer Christopher Nolan and co-writer David Goyer have come up with a movie ready to satisfy the faithful as they show the very cool origins of the Bat Cave, Batmobile, Bat Signal and the inventor behind all of the toys, Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman). More importantly, the two re-establish the history and foundation of Batman including his relationship with one of Gotham City's few honest cops, Sergeant Gordon (Gary Oldham), a different take on Bruce Wayne's trusted butler/guardian Alfred (Michael Caine), and the all-important internal struggle that both drives and destroys our hero. Nolan and Goyer brilliantly roll out each piece of the puzzle in a very subtle, smart and believable way, while making it clear how a guy in a Batsuit can get himself such great toys without attracting a lot of attention. Although, Batman Begins feels like it is succeeding in spite of itself.

The writing team provides lots of funny one-liners to alleviate the tension and brooding, but Batman Begins is very light on dialogue and those one-liners come off as overly glib and inappropriate at times. Aside from the jokes, almost all of the dialogue plainly serves to move us to the next fight scene or explosion, while only sometimes shining light on the characters and their motivations, but never achieving the highest and most impressive of levels. However, Nolan and Goyer create a story that sucks us in with every twist and turn.

Batman Begins' story is one of the most compelling in movies today. After starting slowly and painstakingly explaining Bruce Wayne's past, his fears and training, it all, miraculously, pays off. Little do we know this long opening act establishes everything we need to know to make the later part of the movie make sense to us and thrill the audience as the plot jumps into second gear. We have to have this information to understand why Batman acts the way he does or makes the decisions he makes.

Best of all, Batman Begins becomes an epic morality tale of one man trying to do what is right when everyone around him is succumbing to wrong, and focuses on the ultimate battle - the battle each of us fights for our soul. Nolan and Goyer wonderfully capture the picture of a man fighting his own fears to become a stronger person when society needs him; a man trying to hold on to hope for basic humanity and goodness when surrounded by evil; a man trying to do the right thing when darker emotions and hate may be consuming him; and a man facing the disappointment of the woman he loves when she disapproves of the playboy charade he puts forth as his life, all the while knowing she would be deeply proud of what he does in secret, if only she knew. That's the kind of stuff that will make you brood.

Ultimately, Batman Begins crescendos into a fantastic climax that makes you want to come back for more, and sets up future sequels in an extremely satisfying, if not tongue-in-cheek, way. While Nolan often films the fight scenes in a manner that makes them difficult to follow, the final fight scene and action sequence are great. I just wish each villain got more screen time, or their own movie to battle Batman (a disappointing theme with almost all of the Batman movies). Falcone and Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) each could have been better developed, which would have given Wilkerson and Murphy more time to show us their immense ability, but they have to fight off a massively talented ensemble for screen time.

Caine makes Alfred a central, important character by giving the man a very loving, but determined personality that serves the character well as surrogate father for a troubled, brooding young man, and keeper of the Wayne family flame as Bruce struggles with his future. I can't remember seeing Alfred take such an important role in any previous Batman incarnation, but Caine is a treat to watch. Surprisingly, Katie "Tom Cruise Kinda Likes Her" Holmes, who looks so young, gives Batman's estranged girlfriend, Rachel Dawes, great strength and purpose as an Assistant District Attorney trying to battle crime in the courtroom, while Batman fights crime in the streets. It's a wonderful parallel, and one that creates an exciting dilemma between the two that will surely be explored in future movies.

Surprisingly, I felt Bale was just OK as Bruce Wayne/Batman. He has to loosen up and have some confidence in himself. Bale often comes off stiff, even when playing Bruce Wayne "the playboy" who isn't supposed to have a care in the world. I can understand he is trying to express to us that Wayne is emotionally damaged (and brooding), so this stiffness could be on purpose. I look forward to his take the second time around, once people accept him as Batman.

Batman Begins is the start of a new, exciting and thrilling franchise. Imagine how cool the next one will be now that we have established the brooding Batman universe.

3 Waffles (Out Of 4)

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