I use Lando as my picture because he's the only dude I saw with a cape.

And it's a pretty sharp cape, at that...

(And, as folks have been eager to mention, B.D. Williams also happened to star in films with a similar name to this.)

In any case, yesterday saw the release of another "summer blockbuster" film from another popular franchise. Batman Begins, directed by Christopher Nolan (Memento, Insomnia) and starring Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman, is not a "prequel" in any way, shape or form.

Batman Begins is exactly as advertised, the beginning of the Batman story. Many have believed that this film is the precursor to the 1989 Tim Burton Batman, starring Michael Keaton in the lead role, which was followed in 1992 by Batman Returns. Thankfully, this new movie has no such ties to either of those films, nor to Joel Schumacher's horrendous films Batman Forever and Batman & Robin.

Just a note of warning, if you have not seen this film, and do not want to be spoiled, DO NOT READ the rest of this review...

This new Batman film, co-written by Nolan and David S. Goyer, is a new beginning for a franchise that seemed to be adrift since the disaster that was Batman & Robin. The story focuses on the journey of Bruce Wayne, following the death of his parents outside a theater as a child, as he struggles to accept his anger and misplaced guilt. After trying to confront his troubles with little direction to guide his path, Bruce gives up his name and identity and stows away to Asia, where he is imprisoned and where the story begins.

Flashbacks tell the story of Bruce's past, beginning with a traumatic fall down a hole where he is greeted by thousands of bats. His father, Thomas Wayne (played by Linus Roache), rescues the boy and mends him, teaching him that we fall "so that we can learn how to pick ourselves up"; a lesson that Bruce would take heart to in the future. Another flashback takes Bruce and his parents to the opera, which slightly deviates from the traditional story (in which they go to see "The Mark of Zorro") but which makes sense in context. When Bruce is frightened by the actors portraying bats on stage, he convinces his father to leave the theater, where they are confronted by Joe Chill, a mugger who murders Bruce's parents. Bruce's father, before dying, tells his son not to be afraid.

In the few scenes featuring Thomas Wayne, you get to really feel that this man cares deeply for his family and especially for young Bruce. While other interpretations don't focus upon Bruce's relationship with his father, and some completely gloss over it entirely, the bond between father and son plays an extremely important role in the foundation of his Batman personae.

In the police house after their murders, Bruce is comforted by a young beat cop named Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), who tries to tell him everything will be alright, but even he can't believe that. The commissioner, Loeb, dismisses Gordon and tells Bruce that they've caught the killer. The flashback moves to Wayne Manor, where his parents funeral has ended and he's been greeted by many of his parents' friends and associates. Mr. Earle (Rutger Hauer), who is the chairman of the Wayne Enterprises Board of Directors, tells the young heir that the 'empire' will be waiting for him when he returns. Upstairs later, Bruce finally breaks into tears and is consoled by his father's faithful butler, Alfred Pennyworth (played very convincingly by Michael Caine).

This portion of the film deviates slightly from the comics, where the killer of Bruce's parents is never caught (at least, not immediately afterward). In fact, Joe Chill has been written out of the current Batman continuity altogther thanks to a crossover entitled Zero Hour. But that's for my next blog...

Years later, Bruce returns from Princeton in order to speak at Chill's release hearing. He and Alfred have a disagreement about the legacy of his family, and his future, though Alfred remains loyal to his employer. While unpacking, his true motivations for being at this hearing are revealed--he plans to murder Chill as Chill murdered his parents.

This is a defining point for the character, and the time of the film in which this flashback is placed underscores the importance of this act. How this affects his future makes sense in the next few scenes.

Bruce reunites in the Manor's kitchen with Rachel Dawes (played surprisingly freshly by Katie Holmes), his old childhood friend-turned-assistant District Attorney (which is definitely more plausible than it sounds, and makes absolutely perfect sense when you remember that Denise Richards played the part of a nuclear physicist in a James Bond film). It is the DA's office that is supporting Chill's release because of what he knows about the city's leading mob boss, Camine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson). In court, the DA and Chill lay out their case before Judge Faden, who calls on "a member of the Wayne family" to speak. However, Bruce walks out, and Chill goes free. When Chill comes out of the courtroom, Bruce is waiting, with his gun hidden carefully in his jacket. However, he's unable to take his vengeance as Chill is gunned down by a woman sent to silence him.

The poigniancy of this moment is cemented when Rachel tries to take Bruce away from the scene, but he insists that he has to be there to see the man die. Many of the reviews of the film that I've read refer to a "smoldering" Christian Bale behind the Batman mask. But this scene really cemented the truth of Bale's characterization for me, that this is a man who is deeply troubled, without a center, and in need of serious guidance.

When Rachel learns of Bruce's plans, she's disappointed, and he lets himself out of her car. They had made their way into the less savory quarters of Gotham (though much of the city could be described that way), to the doorstep of Carmine Falcone's club. Bruce walks down to the docks and promptly tosses his unused pistol into the waters, and returns to Falcone's place. He's patted down inside, and takes a seat at the mob boss's table. Wilkinson plays the part of the crooked gangster measuribly well here, with an arrogance and twisted sense of power that cuts Bruce. Falcone shows Bruce that he has most of the city in his pocket, even Judge Faden and several of "Gotham's Finest". Falcone tells him that he'll never know how to take down the likes of himself because he's too rich and powerful himself. After sufficiently insulting the young man, his hoods beat him up and throw him to the curb. At his lowest point, he makes his decision: giving his coat and his money to a homeless man, he burns his wallet and stows away aboard a cargo ship to Asia. There, he makes his way about the land by trying to bring down the criminal element, while having to steal food himself at some points. But when he's caught at the scene of a crime (ironically, the real criminals are stealing from Wayne Enterprises), he is sent to a prison camp, which is where the story picks up.

After beating a few thugs senseless, Bruce is locked in solitary and meets a mysterious man named Ducard (Liam Neeson in an incredible performance), who has arranged for his release from the prison, and asks Wayne to come with him and join the League of Shadows, an organization led by the enigmatic Ra's al Ghul. Bruce makes his way through the mountains to the League's monastery, picking up a rare blue flower, as requested by Ducard, on the way. Upon completing the treacherous climb, he's met by Ra's (Ken Watanabe) and Ducard, who fights him even though Bruce can barely stand. Ducard gets the better of him, but realizes that this man does not fear him...

Fear is the greatest undercurrent that runs through this film. It is the goal of Batman to make the criminal element of Gotham City fear him. The villains of the film rely upon fear to drive their schemes. And it is fear that Bruce Wayne must eventually overcome to drive himself to become Gotham's Dark Knight.

Wayne trains with Ducard and the League for some time, learning their methods, becoming more focused, channelling his anger and focusing his guilt. During his time there, he even comes to think of Ducard as a friend. His final trial is an impressive scene; using the blue flower that he had picked earlier, Ducard mixes it with chemicals to create a psychotropic halucinogen through which Bruce must fight Ducard. It's an eerie scene, and it explores the theme of fear, while also displaying the intelligence and power of Bruce Wayne, who has transformed himself from an animal of rage into a finely-tuned machine set to root out injustice. Ra's is impressed with the display, and is ready to bring him into the League of Shadows. He plans to have Bruce lead the League to Gotham, for the true purpose of the League is to redirect society back to their path by destroying the pinnacle of civilization and bringing down the corruption that plagued it. Bruce thinks that Gotham can be saved, if they give him time. Ducard tells him that his last test to join the league involves him bringing justice--by executing a murderer. Bruce has none of it, and knocks a hot poker out of Ra's hands which ends up in a pile of explosives. Big battle between Ra's and Bruce, lots of explosions, but Ra's ends up on the wrong end of a big pile of debris. Bruce picks up the unconscious Ducard, carries him and they are nearly killed, but survive.

Now, the whole League of Shadows training was interesting, and compelling, but I was still initially disappointed that it wasn't dealt with more. I mean, Ra's isn't supposed to die! And what about the Lazarus Pits? But then I realized "this can't be it"... boy was I right.

So, after this Bruce returns to Gotham with Alfred, where he's been assumed dead for seven years (partly because if Alfred had to do so or Mr. Earle would have taken full control of all Wayne properties). He tells Alfred of his plans to make the criminals fear him, and help bring justice back to the streets. Meanwhile, Rachel is trying to convict a mob murdered, Mr. Zsasz, but Arkham Asylum psychologist Dr. Jonathan Crane (creepily played by Cillian Murphy) has him moved to the Asylum and committed, as he's apparently done with several of Carmine Falcone's hired hands.

Now yes, Katie Holmes playing a criminal prosecutor is a bit of a stretch, but again, we've endured Denise Richards as a nuclear physicist, so by comparison it makes plenty of sense. Plus, the wholesome naïvete that Holmes posses helps provide a sense of her righteousness and her moral commitment to Gotham's well-being. It helps, plus her chemistry with Bale helps make it more paletable for those who may have had some misgivings about her casting. She probably is the weakest link in the supporting cast, but considering who else is among that cast, it's not entirely unexpected. Still, she does quite well all things considered.

Bruce returns to Wayne Enterprises to the surprise of Mr. Earle and the rest of the board, but the company is going public, and Bruce isn't trying to stop that. Instead, he wants a job... in the Applied Sciences division of Wayne Industries. That division is overseen by Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), who is a long-time member of the Wayne Enterprises family, and who used to be on the Board. He introduces the young billionaire to an assortment of gadgetry, much of it having been developed for the military and later deemed unnecessary. Grapple guns, high-tech utility harnesses, and an armor suit that's functional and imperivious to most attack. When Fox asks what Bruce plans to do with it, he gives the veiled answer of "splunking"... which is true, since he's transforming the caves he discovered under the Wayne Manor grounds into his base of operations.

One of my favorite things about this movie is that all of Batman's gadgetery is explained. There is a reason for everything in his arsenal, from his cape to his cowl to the wrist flaps that were previously just fabric in other Batman films. Everything has a purpose, and that's the way it should be. If we don't know why something is there, then why is it necessary that Batman has it?

For instance, the bat-cape: one of Bruce's first goals is to rally the good people of Gotham (people like Rachel, Jim Gordon, etc...) together behind the city's new protector. Bruce, not yet with his mask and cowl ready, sneaks into Gordon's office and tells him how to bring down Falcone, and who to trust in the DA's office. When Bruce leaves the office, Gordon chases him along the police station roof, and Bruce jumps to the next building, but injures his arm in the process. He goes back to Lucius the next day (or whenever, since the time frame is not that important) and asks if he's got any lightweight fabrics for "basejumping". Lucius finally comes out and says that if Mr. Wayne doesn't want to tell him what he's really doing, then he doesn't have to, but not to take Lucius for an idiot. He shows Bruce a material that is ordinarily easy to move around, lightweight, et. al., but that, when an electric current is run through it, becomes rigid and could be used as a glider...

So, you figure, we're this far through the movie and we havne't seen Batman yet... why the heck is the movie called Batman?! Good question!

Something big is going down at the docks. Carmine Falcone is receiving a shipment of drugs, which are being supplied to Dr. Crane and shipped to an area of Gotham known as the Narrows. Sergeant Gordon's partner, Detective Flass, is on Falcone's payroll and arrives at the docks as additional support for this shipment. Some of the mobster's thugs are walking around, guarding the shipments, when one of them is quickly and mysteriously pulled into a dark crate. The others quickly panic, and the black figure begins taking them out one by one. Flass hears what's going on and suggests that Falcone leave the area. Flass high-tails it, but Falcone needs to see for himself what has happened. Rounding a corner, he sees his muscle being beaten by a... giant bat! He runs back to his car, where his driver has been knocked out. He loads his hidden gun, asking who this guy is, when he's pulled out the sunroof of the car.

"I'm Batman" is the response before Batman headbutts the crime lord, knocking him unconscious. When Gordon and GCPD show up, all the thugs are tied up; Gordon doesn't think they'll confess to working for Falcone, but then he sees Falcone himself tied up to a spotlight, and the image the spotlight makes looks verrrry familiar...

Ok, this scene was fantastic. The thugs are pulled out of the shadows, knocked out the frame, and we barely see Batman at all until he finally takes on eight of the guys at once. Then we get a good look at the new batsuit when Falcone is pulled from the car; I must say, I was impressed with the design. It makes sense, it's wearable, and it'll hold up against a lot of punishment. Well done.

So, moving on, Batman's made his first move against the criminal element of Gotham, but he has to find out where these new drugs are going. For that, he tracks down Detective Flass, who tells him the shipments were being sent to somewhere in the Narrows. Meanwhile, at the city's lockup, Falcone is on suicide watch and Dr. Crane pays a visit. Falcone's ready to fess up to Crane's scheme to get out of jail, but the good doctor has an ace up his sleeve... well, actually, it's his weaponized fear-gas. And here we see the first glimpse of the Scarecrow, the personae developed by Crane to torture his inmates. With Falcone truly certifiable after seeing the horror of the Scarecrow, Crane's plot is safe...

Oh, but wait, there's that pesky Batman again! He finds his way into the Narrows, and tracks down Falcone's shipment. Unfortunately, he gets there at the same time as Crane, who blasts him with fear gas and lights Batman on fire. Batman calls for Alfred to come pick him up, and comes very close to losing his mind. But, thanks to the work of Lucius Fox, he's saved by an antidote to the gas.

The fear toxin again plays on the major theme of the film, that fear is what drives us. Fear drives the Batman to hunt down the criminal element, fear is what the criminal element of the film use to take control. Gotta love the psychological twists!

So, Bruce reawakens on his birthday (I'd say this was a bit clichéd, but it worked, especially in a scene where he has to clear a room of guests) to find that Rachel's headed to Arkham to confront Dr. Crane about moving Falcone to the Asylum. Once there, Dr. Crane shows her his secret plan (as all good villains do; and it's a good one--he's dumping his airborne nerve agent into water... huh? Just wait, it's explained), but hits her with a concentrated form of the fear toxin, which will end up killing her if not reversed. That's when Batman shows up, and where Dr. Crane pulls a fast one: he calls the cops! Batman is able to defeat Crane and his thugs, and doses Crane with his own fear toxin, driving him pretty darned crazy. Meanwhile, the good ol' Blue Boys show up, and Batman's trapped in the nuthouse with a girl who's got only minutes to live.

This part was pretty danged creepy, especially how Scarecrow viewed Batman while under the influence of his fear toxin. This is definitely Christopher Nolan work at its' best.

Jim Gordon rushes into the Asylum, followed not long after by S.W.A.T. But Gordon is there to help, and ushers Rachel out of the Asylum while Batman's backup--millions upon millions of bats--is able to provide him with cover to escape to the new Batmobile. We have a nice, compact chase scene with some pretty good one-liners ("What's the color and model?" "It's a black... (pause) ... tank?"), and the reason for the Batmobile is quite clear here. Of course, there's really no suspense in the "will Batman save Rachel" department, because we know they ain't gonna kill the female lead before she and Batman have one last heart-to-heart. That's the only thing that bugged me, there. Of course Batman's gonna save her. We know that. But it could've been a bit more stressful. Just a bit.

In any case, Bruce arrives on time for his party, even though he doesn't care. Alfred gives him a quick lecture on upholding the family name, something that Bruce still doesn't want to make time for. At the party, he talks to Fox, and finds out that he's been fired by Earle for asking too much about a missing military device (none of the Batman arsenal...), but Bruce needs him to manufacture more of the antidote for the nerve agent (Fox had made four vials; one for Bruce, one that was given to Rachel, one that Batman has Rachel give to Jim Gordon, and the fourth for Gordon to have mass-produced). As Fox leaves, a female guest introduces Bruce to a very special guest: Ra's al Ghul.

But wait! Ra's was actually Ducard all along. Ducard/Ra's had been playing Wayne the whole time, and this time Wayne's compassion for his enemies had backfired. (At this point, I'm referring to Liam Neeson's character as Ra's, just so everyone's clear). Ra's threatens to have all his guests killed on the spot, to which Bruce cleverly acts drunk and insults all of his guests in order for them to leave. This leaves Ra's and the League of Shadows behind to deal with Wayne. Ra's has come to destroy Gotham, and he's going to do it himself. He has the League set Wayne Manor aflame, and incapacitates Bruce.

This was an interesting twist, and I'm glad I didn't know about it. It made up for all the fanboy complaints that Ra's wasn't supposed to be Asian (which is complete BS, it would have made sense, but now it doesn't really matter), etc... But I still want Talia, the Ubus, Whisper A'Daire, and the rest of the League of Assassins. Ah well, it's a new telling of the story based on the comics, not a retelling of the comic stories. And this isn't a complaint, because I liked this twist a lot.

In any case, the League has infiltrated every corner of Gotham, including the police, and they release all of the Arkham inmates, including the psychotic Scarecrow. The police try to cordon off the Narrows, and send in all the S.W.A.T. and backup they can muster to track down the escaped inmates. Rachel goes to find Gordon in the Narrows to give him the antidote given to her by Batman, but is trapped in the Narrows when the city raises the bridges to the island so that they inmates can't escape.

But guess what: the police forgot about the trains. And here's the thing: the League planned all of this. Ra's had the WayneTech device stolen which, when activated, pressurized all the water within range of the device and vaporized it... and since the Scarecrow had dumped all of the toxin into Gotham's water supply, vaporizing the water would lead to mass panic and fear among all of Gotham's citizens, and would tear the city apart just as the League had intended. Really, it's quite an ingenious evil plot, as far as those things go.

Back at Wayne Manor, Alfred comes to the rescue, and he and Bruce barely escape to the Batcave before the Manor itself is burned to the ground. There, he motivates Bruce, who has lost quite a lot of faith, not to give up, and to keep fighting; soon, the Caped Crusader is back in action, and heading for the Narrows.

Leaping across the river, Batman meets up with Gordon, who he gives control of the Batmobile so that he might go after Ra's himself. Rachel is nearly assaulted by the Scarecrow, but uses her tazer to turn him away. Batman flies in and rescues her (and a little boy he'd met earlier), and basically gives himself away as Bruce Wayne.

Oh course he does. That always happens. But here, it makes sense. And it was a nice piece of dialogue. In fact, I liked all of the scenes that tied dialogue from earlier in the movie to the end, it felt more complete that way.

In any case, the big finish arrives, and I won't spoil that. It's a fun fight scene, and a very open way of ending this part of the story. And it leaves room open for future possibilities, however unlikely they may be.

The last ten to fifteen minutes of the film really sets up what are sure to be the next films in the series. First, we have Lucius Fox assuming the role as the new Chariman of the Board for Wayne Enterprises, replacing Mr. Earle. Secondly, we end the "on-again, off-again" romance subplot, which was never really there to begin with anyway. There were hints of attraction throughout the film, and they ended that subplot neatly, leaving Bruce and Rachel friends, but nothing more. And finally, and this was probably one of my favorite parts, we have the last scene of the film.

The Batsignal is flashing up into the sky, with Gordon looking out over the city. Batman knocks on the signal to get his attention; Gordon quips that he couldn't find any mob bosses. They have a discussion about the recent events, and Gordon remarks that something has started, and that even if Batman can make his presence known, the criminals will always try to come back with something new. And as an example, he points out a new case: double homicide, guy with a flair for the dramatic (like Batman)... and he leaves a calling card. I'll give you one guess...

And so ends Batman Begins. A great revitalization of a franchise that needed fresh life on film. I'm glad to have already seen this twice, and I'm sure I'll see it several more times. Lemme finish with this:

I love Star Wars. I loved Revenge of the Sith, and I plan on seeing it several more times as well.

But pound for pound, I think Batman Begins was a better film. Everything worked in this film, and it will forever reshape how comic book movies are made. This is the future of comic films, and it Begins today!

Just as a final note, I'll be doing a much shorter companion blog comparing the events of the film to what takes place in the comics (the Modern Age comics). Look for that this weekend!

~JTS