Batman Begins

Review by Richard Lee

Warner Home Video / 2005 / 140 Minutes / Rated PG-13
Street Date: October 18, 2005

Specifications:
-DVD-Video
-DVD-9
-Region 1

Aspect Ratio:
-2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen

Audio:
-English 5.1
-Francais 5.1 (double au Quebec)

Subtitles:
-English
-Francais
-Espanol
-Off

Main Menu:
-Play
-Scenes
-Features
-Languages

Features:
Disc One:
-Theatrical Trailer
Disc Two:
-covered at end of review

In an attempt to keep the Batman franchise alive, Warner decided to try something shocking! - to actually stay truer to the spirit of the Dark Knight DC Comic series. We have seen Batman in many forms - from Adam West’s leotard-clad interpretation which came across more like a camp clown, to Tim Burton’s vision with Michael Keaton, which many regard as the best Batman to date, and Joel Schumacher’s return to the camp silliness with his feeble attempts starring Val Kilmer and, completely out of his element, George Clooney. These latest big budget incarnations, though attractive in appearance, said almost nothing about Bruce Wayne’s tortured soul who finds himself constantly battling his demons brought forth by the anger and guilt that he harbors regarding the violent deaths of his parents when he was still a lad. Tim Burton came close, but his Batman was overshadowed by flamboyant villains who were given bigger showcases than the actual hero himself - witness Jack Nicholson stealing the show as The Joker in the first of the big budget Batman movies; Bruce Wayne’s past is all but lost amid the frenzy of Nicholson’s performance and the shameful and god-awful music tie-in with Warner recording artist Prince - ugh! Though the movies had a promising start, we saw their decline at the hands of Schumacher who seemingly destroyed the franchise never to return. But one would be a fool to under-estimate Hollywood who, in their eternal longing to line their pockets with movie-goer’s hard-earned money, still manages to keep the franchise corpse alive with this attempt to resurrect the Dark Knight, a superhero without super powers. At the time of this writing, Warner is also making another stab at the Superman franchise, seeing the popularity of the original superhero as popular as ever with TV shows such as Smallville offering the best of what’s on the tube these days. In the director’s chair this time is Christopher Nolan, whose previous efforts include the chronologically out-of-whack “Memento” and the Al Pacino thriller “Insomnia”. You’d be hard-pressed to anticipate how Nolan could pull off such a huge gamble with a comic book hero known to so many.
As the title suggests, the movie begins with Bruce Wayne, played by Christian Bale, flashing back to his youth and how he came to have such a phobia with bats. But then we are quickly shot forward to his present state, where he is self-imprisoned in some Asian gulag where Bruce relishes at kicking the crap out of the criminal population there-in. You see, Bruce is so tormented by the death of his parents, which he believes he is responsible for, that he has gone so far as to exile himself to the remotest correctional facility where no one would know that he is the heir to the Wayne fortune, amassed through the applied sciences enterprise that his father founded. After what seems like repeated interventions by the prison guards to save the inmates from Bruce, because he is such a kick-ass, enter Henri Ducard, played by Liam Neeson, in what has to be the only sort of role movie producers see him as now, the fatherly mentor who is an expert in the martial arts and sword-wielding. He proceeds to induct Bruce into a ninja academy called The League of Shadows headed by an enigmatic schoolmaster Ras Al Ghul, played by The Last Samurai’s Ken Watanabe. Fueled by his desire to combat criminals and evil in general, Bruce learns the ways of the ninja and surpasses all the other members to become head of the class. But when forced to become executioner in a rite of passage, Bruce balks and proceeds to dispatch Al Ghul and set ablaze the ninja temple and all its members. Having burnt down his master’s temple, Bruce returns to his home in Gotham City and establishes his alter-ego as a caped crusader in the persona of that which brought so much fear to himself as a boy. Assisting Bruce in his battles against crime is his faithful servant Alfred, played by Michael Caine, a weapons developer at his father’s company Lucius Fox, played by Morgan Freeman, and the only good cop on the force James Gordon, played by an oddly against-type Gary Oldman. With these individuals in tow, Bruce sets up the foundations of what will come to be known as The Bat Cave, The Bat Mobile, The Bat Suit, The Bat Utility Belt, The Bat Signal, etc. As Bruce Wayne, Bale’s delivery is almost never above a whisper; as Batman, he lets loose the fury of his character and roars every line. Some have found this laughable but it is in stark contrast to Keaton’s Clint Eastwood-like approach. 
Batman’s first case has him coming to the rescue of his childhood sweetheart and now assistant DA Rachel Dawes, played by Katie Holmes, who is held captive by The Scarecrow who uses a hallucinogenic toxin to induce its victim’s worst fears and bring them to life. Batman soon learns that the plans include releasing the toxin into the city’s water supply and employing a weapon to vaporize the water so that the entire populace would breathe in the deadly substance. Little does Batman know who is really behind this dastardly plot to destroy Gotham City. When I first heard that a new Batman film was being done, the tendency to be skeptical was understandable; after all, how could the franchise be saved after Schumacher reduced it to a tiresome cavalcade of guest superstars taking their turns at being arch nemeses? Then after learning that Nolan was directing, my anticipation sank even lower having not been a fan of his “breakout” film “Memento”. But with expectations lowered to the point of sub-zero temperatures, I was nonetheless surprised to find that I rather enjoyed the different albeit more accurate approach to the Dark Knight; the main reason being the top-notch cast. Christian Bale conveys tortured soul quite believably; witness his expression when he learns the true identities of those who murdered his parents. Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman all bring their seasoned acting expertise to the forefront with winning characterizations of those who would be substantial in creating the myth and mechanics behind the Caped Crusader. Even Katie Holmes, whose presence some regard as a detriment because of her tabloid escapades with publicity manipulator Tom Cruise, does an okay job as the love interest and damsel in distress. Regarding the villains, Scarecrow, played by Cillian Murphy whose creepy façade reminds me of a Thunderbirds marionette come to life, and Carmine Falcone, an Italian mob boss played by British actor Tom Wilkinson, the filmmakers were smart in underplaying the roles with non-superstar actors. After all, this movie should be about Batman and not about the villains. I found myself getting all caught up with how the Bat Cave came to be and the science and mechanics behind the weaponry that our hero, or rather anti-hero, would use at his disposal. All in all, a fine job at recreating the myth that is Batman and for creating the hope for a sequel that promises to be even more engaging with the closing scene of Detective Gordon showing Batman a particular villain’s calling card which can be found in any deck of cards. I put this Batman on par if not slightly better than Tim Burton’s and that’s saying a lot.

Picture Quality:

Having devoted disc one’s dual layers almost entirely to the movie, the video transfer is, in a word, superb. Little or no artifacts are noticeable during scenes of fast action or when multitudes of bats are swarming around. Colors are rich and pure, from the icy blues of the snow scenes to the darker earthy shades of the urban landscapes. Black levels, and there are a lot of them, are very deep creating exceptional contrasting. Even during scenes of darkness, detail is still sharp and well-defined. The anamorphic widescreen image is perfect for this type of action spectacle.

Audio Quality:

Unfortunately, no DTS track is available, but had there been one, the video transfer may have suffered due to the less space that would have resulted. Nevertheless, the Dolby Digital track is totally immersive and all-encompassing. The LFE definitely gets a workout with this one, especially when the Batmobile, here named the Tumbler, revs into action. With the right woofer, this vehicle will have your bones vibrating and floors and walls rumbling. I thought the scene in “Gone in 60 Seconds” when Nicolas Cage starts up Eleanor was awesome; the Tumbler puts that one to shame. The training sequence on the ice serves up interesting sonic effects as the ice shifts and cracks underneath the characters. Directional use of the surrounds is very evident when bullets or bats are flying while the hand to hand combat scenes have the listener feeling the impact of each and every punch. 

Scenes for Demonstration Purposes:

1. (38:30) – Defying Ras Al Ghul. 2. (46:00) – Defeating the Inner Demons. 3. (57:00) – Test Driving the Tumbler. 4. (60:45) – The Batman Cometh. 5. (87:00) – Rescuing Rachel. 6. (92:40) – The Tumbler Tours Gotham City. 7. (107:15) – Burning of Wayne Manor. 8. (118:25) – Climactic Battle.

Special Features:
Disc Two

I don’t know who designed this disc, but it has got to be the most user-UNfriendly one I have ever come across. After choosing whether to view the features in English or French, we get several pages of a Batman comic dealing with his encounter with The Scarecrow. There is no menu to choose featurettes as far as I know; so you have to skip forward through every comic page until you eventually get to a series of fact sheets dealing with Batman’s allies, then his enemies, his cache of weapons, and finally a gallery of U.S. and international posters. The only way I was able to view mini-documentaries of any kind was by doing a direct title search. Not being sure that I was able to find everything, I had to resort to the internet in hopes of finding someone who was able to locate everything. So here it is:

“The Journey Begins” covers the initial ideas that Nolan and David S. Goyer had and how they came up with the final script. We learn of the bogus script that was formulated to throw off internet snoops. They talk of coming up with the perfect cast and praise Christian Bale for being one of the few actors out there that could have encompassed the complexity of Bruce Wayne and Batman all in one.

“Cape and Cowl” is a look at the new Bat Suit. Costume designers Lindy Henning and Graham Churchyard detail the creation of a more supple and flexible combat outfit and how it had to be constructed from a full-body cast of Bale. We see some cape tests and learn that apparently the memory fabric really exists. 

“Gotham City Rises” details the design of this more realistic looking city; unlike the spires and gargoyles of Burton’s Gotham. We learn that much of the construction was crammed into one airship hanger and that real bats were used before the producers decided to go with CG bats instead.

“Paths of Discovery” deal with the sequence filmed in the snow and ice. They considered filming in the Himalayas but opted for Iceland instead. We see Liam and Christian discussing the hazards of filming on a frozen lake as the ice beneath them was really cracking. Apparently, the ice thawed into a lake the very next day.

“Shaping Mind and Body” deals with the fighting style of Key-Si that was used by the ninjas. It offers lots of great footage of this tight and tremendously aggressive discipline. Unfortunately, the final theatrical version edited the fight sequences so closely, that we can’t really see them. The pole fight on the wooden stilts could’ve been incredible but we only see a few seconds of this.

“Genesis of the Bat” covers the sixty years of Batmandom through the comics, his origins, the mythology, and enduring popularity. Nolan and Goyer mention how important it was to them to cover the time Bruce Wayne is in Asia doing his soul searching and learning the fighting style that would ultimately define his alter ego.

“The Tumbler” deals with the all-terrain vehicle that would come to be known as The Batmobile for this fifth big-budget outing of the Caped Crusader. This covers the transitional design work, the FX, and the final look. We see the cast excited to witness the vehicle actually doing most of the stunts we see in the film, except for the big gravity-defying jumps, of course.

Easter Eggs, known as “Finders Keepers” on this disc are short one to three minute featurettes and there are three of them. They deal with Goyer on the lengths that some fans went to in order to gain info on the making of the film, a “Spot the real from the CG Batman” moment and some snatch ‘n’ grab rehearsals of wirework, ice fighting, and Tumbler tumbling.

This information on disc two is based, I repeat, on internet information; personally, I wasn’t able to find all these features and am pretty mift that I didn’t. These features would’ve been much better served as one long documentary rather than a bunch of short ones scattered about the disc that you have to hunt for; and where’s the feature commentary? Perhaps coming on a yet to be announced super deluxe edition? If that’s the case, reconsider putting the special features on an easy to find menu screen rather than wasting our time.