Batman Begins By Hervé St.Louis Jun 21, 2005 - 10:06:00 AM

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Batman Begins
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Produced by: Emma Thomas, Charles Roven, Larry J. Franco
Starring: Christian Bale, Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine
Running Time: 2 hrs. 14 min.
Release Date: June 15th, 2005 (wide).
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense action violence, disturbing images and some thematic elements.
Distributor: Warner Bros.

Late in the super hero’s movie game, Warner Studios have put their best effort possible in Batman Begins, a look at the origin of Gotham City’s capped crusader. Intended as a more mature and sinister portrayal of the stalwart DC Comics’ icon, Batman Begin had the added benefit of a young believable actor, Christian Bale. In this story, after thwarting a plot to destroy Gotham by Ra's Al Ghul, Bruce Wayne must become Batman to save the city he loves from itself.

Borrowing elements from the Batman Year One comic book is a sure way of making Batman believable on screen. Although the Scarecrow is one of the villains in this film, the filmmakers did not require viewers to suspend disbelief very much. They introduce Batman with finesse in the film and by the time he’s in, he doesn’t look camp. One problem of the film is choppy editing where instead of building a parallel story to tell Bruce Wayne’s history, the editor and the director throw ideas and scenes all over the place, confusing most viewers. Didn’t they attend Movie Editing 101 in college?

The imagery in this film is beautiful. There’s a brownish filter in several scenes that gives an almost old sepia look to this film. The Himalayan mountains with their beautiful cropped peaks are magnificent. Gotham City’s design, although quite different from the comic book’s familiar towers, is a believable super metropolis. Unfortunately, the best fight scenes are obscured with smoke and shadows.

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