Review for Batman Begins (2 disc set) (UK) (Review)
Tuesday, 17th August 2010, 17:02

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Extras
Two discs in an Amaray case, with one disc on a central hinged panel. I got a whole load of inlay guff in mine, none of which is of any use. Even the heavily Batman artwork covered leaflet was full of adverts and absent of anything remotely useful, not even a chapter list.

Both discs get the animated menus, while the only extra on disc one is the theatrical trailer. Note that disc one also autoplays with one of those pesky unskippable antipiracy trailers.

Everything else is on disc 2, presented as one giant Easter Egg hunt. The menus are presented as a Batman comic, with the various featurettes and links hidden within the panels and text, and you'll have to go searching to explore the disc properly. It's a neat and fun way to do things if you are in the mood, but a damned annoyance if you lack the patience. Fortunately, on the last page of the comic with the credits, there's a simple link to a menu screen where you can access all the featurettes without any hassle, although the (genuine) Easter Eggs on the disc aren't listed.

The Journey Begins lasts 14 minutes, and has director Christopher Nolan, writer David S. Goyer, and production designer Nathan Crowley talking about the creation and genesis of the film, and the casting of Batman/Bruce Wayne.

Cape and Cowl lasts 8 minutes, and looks at the creation of the iconic Batman costume.

Gotham City Rises lasts 13 minutes, and explores the creation of the city, the massive sets that were constructed, and the building of the Batcave.

Path to Discovery focuses on the pre-Batman sequence in the film, taking us behind the scenes of the shoot in Iceland, doubling for Bhutan. This lasts 14 minutes

Shaping Mind & Body lasts 13 minutes, and looks at the specific fighting technique used by Batman, and how it was chosen to represent the brutality of violence, instead of opting for the ubiquitous wire-fu that so permeates Hollywood action these days.

Ripped From The Pages lasts 15 minutes, and looks at those Batman stories that directly inspired this film, taken from the previous 70 years of literary heritage.

The Tumbler is a 14-minute featurette investigating the new look Batmobile designed and created for this film, again coming from a realistic perspective, it also shows how the designers built and crafted a robust vehicle that stood up to all the punishment that the filmmakers could throw at it.

Finally for the featurettes there is Saving Gotham City, a 13-minute featurette that looks at the climax of the film and how it was accomplished with one eye on realism.

You'll also find an Art Gallery that looks at the promotional imagery used for the film in all territories, as well as a glossary of terms that looks at Batman's Allies, Enemies and Gadgets. Of course there are several Easter Eggs to discover as well, but given that they are just as obscured as the listed featurettes, it's perhaps more appropriate to call them mini-featurettes that were left off the DVD sleeve.

There is plenty of input from the director and crew of the film, but the only cast members to contribute to the featurettes are Christian Bale and Liam Neeson, which given the illustrious weightiness of cast in this film is a little disappointing. Also disappointing is the absence of an audio commentary.

There is also some DVD-ROM Interactual content on disc 2, but since I swore never to touch that registry assassin again, you'll have to find out what it is for yourselves.

Conclusion
So Batman gets yet another reinvention, this time with one eye on realism, under the aegis of director Christopher Nolan. And you know something? It doesn't half work! This Batman is a splendid, entertaining, tour de force. It's a revolutionary take on the comic book franchise, which not only appeals to the die hard comic book fan, but can also be appreciated by those who have come to turn their nose up at such fare, who think of comic books as juvenile and beneath them, and who refuse to listen to those who know better. This Batman has the suit, the gadgets, the stunts, the action and the style. But it's primarily a character and plot driven piece. This isn't about the crash, bang and wallop, but what motivates such people to indulge in the crash, bang and wallop. As a smart, comic book movie, it's up there with the original Blade, the first X Men, and the granddaddy of them all, Superman: The Movie in terms of how it handles its characters and plot.

Where this film becomes unique is in relating those characters and its story to the real world. Up till now, the best comic book movies would have you leaving the cinema afterwards, wishing that you lived in a world where such fantasies were possible. Batman Begins leaves you with the suspicion that you already do. Of course in reality Batman just wouldn't be possible, there are too many checks and balances in society to prevent such vigilantism, and also to allow for such rampant criminality. We live in a CCTV Big Brother world, and if you start giving Batman Begins any serious thought, you can pick holes in its plausibility with ease. The film works by actually tweaking its world so that it is almost recognisably ours, but sufficiently different to allow for its worldview. Top of the list is that Gotham is practically an independent state. How else could such corruption thrive in its police force, such criminal activity go without punishment, if external authorities like the federal government are unable to act within the city? Only in such a situation can vigilantism be seen as a viable alternative, and only in such a situation can the Caped Crusader arise.

It also has to be a reality where vigilantism can be seen as acceptable in some way. There has to be a tacit acceptance, both by the citizenry, and by those in authority that it is acceptable to turn a blind eye to an independent police force. There has to be a collusion of sorts in the authorities and the press, to agree not to investigate the identity of the Batman with any energy or commitment. In the real world it would be far too easy to follow paper trails and evidence to eventually ascertain the crime fighter's true identity. But perhaps it's less of a tweak as it is a turning back of the clock. Watching Batman Begins, I'm strongly reminded of The Untouchables, when the Mob ruled Chicago, corruption was rife, and the US Government had to send in Elliot Ness to root out the criminality in the city.

What makes Batman Begins really work for me is that it's not about the guy in the suit at all. It's about Bruce Wayne. As the title states, this is about the genesis of the Batman, and there's no point in going into the man beneath the cowl if you do not know the man in the first place. So we get the first half of the movie devoted to exploring the Bruce Wayne character, to explaining his motivation, his search for his identity, and his need to make sense of a world that left him orphaned and angry, looking for someone to blame. We follow his search for answers to the eventual understanding and realisation of what his crusade is. By the time he eventually dons the cowl and cape, we are totally invested in Bruce Wayne. The costume is just that, a costume, a mask, just another facet of Bruce Wayne, and that is the character we are invested in. This isn't just a movie where we bide our time through the talky bits, waiting for the costume and the action.

Much of the strength of Batman Begins comes from the quality of the cast, with Christian Bale resplendent as Bruce Wayne/Batman. The real joy is in the relationship he has with his butler Alfred, played by Michael Caine. Morgan Freeman is synonymous with gravitas, and as Lucius Fox he's the perfect Q to Bruce Wayne's Bond. Gary Oldman as Gordon, Tom Wilkinson as Carmine, Cillian Murphy as Crane, Rutger Hauer, Linus Roache, it's a filmmaker's dream. I have to admit that I love Liam Neeson as Ducard, which almost seems like a twisted Dark Side take on Qui-Gon Jinn, again his relationship with Bruce Wayne is by parts paternal mentor, by parts nemesis, by parts ally, and he received dimension and nuance in a way unprecedented for comic book adaptations. If there is a weak point in the cast, it's Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes, a character whose only real contribution to the plot is in Bruce's formative years, but otherwise comes across as poorly written, and underused.

This Batman is as radical a departure as Tim Burton's take was fifteen years prior. But somehow its more realistic take on the characters, and the thoughtful and considered plot means it will probably endure a whole lot longer. It may not be the definitive comic book movie, but Batman Begins is a comic book movie with a whole lot of smarts, catering for fans of the Caped Crusader, and the intelligentsia alike. You can move this film from the guilty pleasures shelf, to the DVD shelf that you show off to guests and visitors.

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