The Muppet Christmas Carol

If I had to choose my favorite entertainer from my childhood I’d have a lot of trouble choosing between Dick van Dyke & The Muppets. Strictly speaking, I <3 Jim Henson and still miss him. So it should be no surprise that The Muppet Christmas Carol is one of my favorite holiday films. How could it not be? I mean, Michael Caine plays Scrooge and Gonzo is Charles Dickens.

What makes this movie so special, is the same thing that makes any Muppet movie so special – the Muppets. These characters are serious, quirky, grumpy, hysterical and perfect in the extremes each one represents and even though they are inanimate objects, they feel as though life has been breathed into them and they would exist on their own outside of the worlds they inhabit despite what logic would tell you. The Muppets have a humor and method of storytelling that is uniquely their own and I want desperately for it to be presented to a new generation who can treasure them the way my siblings and I do.




Director: Brian Henson


Rizzo the Rat: Boy, that's scary stuff! Should we be worried about the kids in the audience?
Gonzo: Nah, it's all right. This is culture!

Batman Begins

Batman Begins (Christopher Nolan, 2005)
Originally uploaded by puppetmister

So you know by now, that I think this is the movie that re-invented the hero movie. There’ just no way around it; Bryan Singer started to make the comic book film legit with X-Men but Christopher Nolan made the genre solid, and realistic in Batman Begins.

Even if I wasn’t a rabid fan, I don’t think many people could disagree with me that Christian Bale is the perfect choice to play Bruce Wayne. In the prior Batman film incarnations Bruce Wayne was played by good actors, but many had issues with the dual role; Michael Keaton played a great Batman, but didn’t look the part of Wayne, Val Kilmer looked great in the suit and as Wayne but just lacked a connection with either, and George Clooney Played a great Wayne but didn’t connect with Batman – not that the latter two were helped by the stories they were given. Bale however, connects with the entirety that is Bruce Wayne and Batman. He manages to pull of the two faces of Bruce Wayne – the batman, and the billionaire forced to live outside the batsuit. The difficulty with playing this character lies not in his dual identity, but the fact that if Wayne had his way, he’d never take off the suit; once he creates batman he becomes batman, and Bale captures that process in a very graceful way.

Christopher Nolan is living proof that creativity and studio blockbusters can go hand in hand.

Inception

Originally uploaded by there'snotime

For me, there are few things like the experience of a good movie in the theatre, it’s one of the reasons it’s my desire to make films for audiences. A great film is hard enough to do, but if you as a filmmaker can make a great film and suck the audience into its world to the point that the theatre comes under the films control – well there’s nothing like experiencing that. To this day I still remember what it was like when I first watched Jurassic Park and felt that dinosaurs were real, sat in Seabiscuit and realized audience members around me were cheering for a horse onscreen, and I know that the collective gasp and gleeful astoundment that came with the credits of Inception will stay with me as well.

I can’t tell you much about the actual plot of Inception, both because it’s so beautifully complicated I wouldn’t know how to begin, and because the film deserves to be watched for the first time with the freshest eyes you can, so that you too can be completely caught in the wonder. By saying the film is beautifully complicated does not mean it does not make sense, this is a film that is the complex, exquisite brainchild of master craftsman Christopher Nolan.

I do not throw the word auteur around much as I believe film is a collaborative process and auteur limits the results to one man’s contribution, but upon seeing this film I believe Christopher Nolan deserves the title of auteur. Inception could not be made without him completely involved in every aspect of the film – it reeks of an auteur’s hand.

With every film Christopher Nolan seems to be getting better. Even though the man makes giant films that make money hand over fist, I would in no way call him a commercial director, and I mean that as a compliment. Nolan makes films that achieve worldwide attention, steal the top stop at the box office, and gain critical recognition, yet they are by no means simple. Christopher Nolan has mastered the art of being able to tell a worthy, intricate tale in a compelling and entertaining way, getting the best performances possible out of his actors, and trusting the audience to come into his world instead of making his films fit into theirs. This is a balsy approach in a filmmaking era where tentpole films are generally more flash than substance and the audience leaves happy, but rarely thinking about what they actually watched for anything more than the adrenaline that it pumped through them. This is the reason it’s my desperate dream to have Christopher Nolan as a directing mentor – there could be no better hands to sit under and study.

Inception is worthy of all the critical praise it has received and I hope that it continues to surmass more critical and audience praise as it continues down it’s theatrical journey. I for one and excited to see what the visuals will look like on the IMAX screen, as they are already astoundingly visual on the standard screen. I can’t wait to go down the rabbit hole again and begin dreaming with Christopher Nolan one more time.

Director & Writer: Christopher Nolan
Cobb: Leonardo DiCaprio
Arthur: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Ariadne: Ellen Page
Eames: Tom Hardy
Saito: Ken Wantanabe
Yusuf: DiLeep Rao
Robert Fischer Jr.: Cillian Murphy
Browning: Tom Berenger
Mal: Marion Cotillad
Maurice Fischer: Pete Postlethwaite
Miles: Michael Caine
Mash: Lukas Haas

Cobb: You're asking me for Inception. I hope you do understand the gravity of that request.

Children of Men

If I made a list of the most perfect films ever made Children of Men would be one of the films on that list. In 2006 I truly believe that the best film of the year was not even nominated for Best Picture.

Forty years into the future a dystrophic society has emerged; Brittan is forcing immigrants out of the borders, distributing suicide kits to the public and insisting that while the rest of the world has fallen apart they are soldiering on. However, the fact that the human race is now infertile is the ticking time bomb weighing on the mind of the global society, unless it can be fixed humanity will just die out with a sigh, and so far no one can do anything about it. After the world’s youngest person dies Theo is approached by his ex-wife to help in getting a young refugee across the border so that she can meet up with the Human Project, a group of scientists that are working against the destruction of society. On the way Theo’s ex is killed and Theo discovers what is truly at stake – Kee, the refugee is pregnant & she needs to get to the Human Project because this baby could save the human race.

Alfonso Cuaron is one of the best directors working today and Children of Men is his masterpiece. There is not a single thing that does not awe me about this movie; the acting, script, camera work, cinematography & even the costuming is brilliant and completely immersive. This is one of the single most impressive films I’ve ever seen. Part of what Cuaron does to draw you as an audience member in is to build organic sequences that can last for 3-5 minutes or longer without a single edit; in a MTV world this is alarmingly subtle because while the shots stand out when noticed they are so expertly done that they draw you in and have so much energy and movement to them most people don’t know there are no edits.

I also have to say that for the first time in watching a movie with Julianne Moore I enjoyed her character and performance, in fact I was actually upset that she wasn’t in the film more. What can I say? I know she’s a good actress, but Jurassic Park 2 rubbed me the wrong way and she’s annoyed me ever since. Julian is a smart, independent, driven character and Moore was the perfect actress for the part.

I want Cuaron to make another feature film, but I don’t know how his next feature can top Children of Men. I truly don’t think anyone but Cuaron could have made this film, and that if even one element had been changed it would not be nearly the film it is. This is a text book example of a perfect film.

Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Writers: Alsono Cuaron, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby
Theo: Clive Owen
Jasper: Michael Caine
Luke: Chiwetel Ejiofor
Julian: Julianne Moore
Kee: Clare-Hope Ashitey

Miriam: As the sound of the playgrounds faded, the despair set in. Very odd, what happens in a world without children's voices.

Batman Begins

The Cast
Originally uploaded by Matt Garland

Batman Begins does not get old.

While I loved The Dark Knight I have to say that I will probably watch Batman Begins much more. Nothing against The Dark Knight, it’s just that Nolan’s first installment fits my own thematic outlook much more. While it is never a bright and cheery movie the tone and characters in Batman Begins are much more hopeful and optimistic than the follow-up film.

In the light of Natasha Richardson’s recent death I found myself paying much more attention to the performance of Liam Neeson. When I first heard Neeson was playing the films villain I wasn’t sure what to think about it. Nolan managed to trick us all into thinking it was in fact Ken Watanabe playing Ra’s Al Ghul instead of Neeson so when it was revealed that he was in fact the immortal Al Ghul was Neeson it was quite a surprise. He was a perfect Ra’s Al Ghul.

Nolan has proven time and again that he can make great movies. Like Bryan Singer before him, he took a comic book movie and made it a movie that transcended what other people would have seen as limitations.

Alfred Pennyworth: It's a problem with the graphite, sir. The next 10,000 will be up to specifications.
Bruce Wayne: At least they gave us a discount.
Alfred Pennyworth: Quite. In the, uh, meantime, Sir, may I suggest you try to avoid landing on your head?

Miss Congeniality

Miss Congeniality is the tale of Grace Hart, an FBI agent who is less than a girlie girl. When the Miss United States Pageant is threatened the FBI decides to get involved by putting an agent into the pageant; Grace becomes Gracie Lou Freebush and is forced to become the pampered, pulled together girl she never thought she could be to try and find the terrorist. Along the way fellow agent Matthews, pageant consultant Victor and the pageant contestants make Grace realize perhaps she can be more than she thought.

First and foremost my favorite character in this entire movie is Michael Caine’s Victor Melling. Not only does Victor have the best lines in the film, but Caine is utterly convincing as a prissy, uptight gay man who cares more about posture and hair flips than finding a criminal. Caine is absolutely perfect. I would also be remiss if I didn’t comment on the entire supporting cast. William Shatner is Stan the pageant host, Candice Bergen is Kathy the pageant runner, Ernie Hudson is the FBI Assistant Director, and Benjamin Bratt is Agent Matthews. Every character is unique, quirky and utterly memorable.

Sandra Bullock is perfect as Grace Hart. So many actresses could not pull off the transformation of unrefined to super model in one film but Bullock does it, and her comedy timing is perfect. I honestly believe that the movie rides on Bullock’s shoulders and from her serious moments to pratt falls she excels.

While I doubt the sequel is worth seeing the first Miss Congeniality is incredibly entertaining.

Director: Donald Petrie
Writers: Marc Lawrence, Katie Ford, & Caryn Lucas
Gracie Hart: Sandra Bullock
Victor Melling: Michael Caine
Eric Matthews: Benjamin Bratt
Kathy Morningside: Candice Bergen
Asst. Director McDonald: Ernie Hudson
Stan Fields: William Shatner
Cheryl Fraiser: Heather Burns

Victor Melling: In place of relationships, you have sarcasm and a gun!
Gracie Hart: Oh, I have sarcasm? When every word that comes out of your mouth is dripping with disdain?
Victor Melling: Ah! But that is because I am a miserable, grumpy elitist - and that works for me!

The Prestige

The Prestige
Originally uploaded by Vincent Yeh ©

I have waxed poetically about The Prestige before – but that doesn’t stop me from doing it again. This is a great movie. Quite honestly I cannot find a single flaw in it no matter how hard I try. “Are you watching closely” is the motto woven throughout the film and I can say that I have been watching closely and I still get as much satisfaction out of The Prestige as I did the first time I saw it.

I see a lot of movies, as a result it takes a very unique movie to cause a real jump, fright or tension in me – I recognize the signs and everything that is put into that moment on film so it’s hard to catch me by surprise. No matter how many times I see The Prestige it still makes me tense. This is a story about two rival magicians whose rivalry becomes violent; these men do some really dastardly things to one another until it’s so out of control that they couldn’t stop if they wanted to and every time they do something new to one another I still cringe in anticipation. For me this means Christopher Nolan did his job well.

This is a movie driven by two very powerful actors, two actors that people love and respect but somehow it still doesn’t seem that they truly get the recognition they deserve. In The Prestige Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale manage to do the impossible – they both manage to remain a dominating presence on screen without letting either actor steal the picture. They are amazing to watch and absolutely entertaining to their very core.

One person that I seem to inadvertently ignore every time I write about a movie that has him is the phenomenal Michael Caine. In this film Caine plays Cutter, the man behind the magic tricks, the man that makes all of the magic happen. As always he is witty, charming and capable of assuaging the audiences fears or driving home the gravest of messages. Michael Caine is truly talented and needs more than the one Oscar he has.

Perhaps my absolute favorite aspect of The Prestige is the fact that no matter how many times I watch it I come up with more questions about the film. When I watch so many movies on a constant basis having a film enthrall me and make me question what I’m seeing is the equivalent of a trip to Disneyland for someone that never gets to go, it’s a special treat that I absolutely adore.

Cutter: Now you're looking for the secret. But you won’t find it because of course, you're not really looking. You don't really want to work it out. You want to be fooled.

Iron Man

Iron Man
Originally uploaded by anglekyra1

I think it is fitting that I ended my 2008 and began my 2009 with Iron Man. I cannot make a resolution to watch this movie less because I think that it is a perfectly crafted piece of cinema and I can learn from it endlessly. Honestly, this along with The Usual Suspects goes on the list of movies that I want to do a shot-by-shot shot list of so I can study how they are constructed.

One of my favorite little flourishes in this movie is Jarvis, Tony Starks “home computer” who is voiced by none other than the phenomenal Paul Bettany. This piece of hardware has its own personality and while is nowhere near as cool as Michael Caine’s Alfred, Jarvis is a close second. Jarvis is a cheeky machine who very nearly talks back to Stark and definitely likes to remind Stark of his rash decisions and past mistakes. If bodiless character were not imbued with the personality and voice of Paul Bettany it might be an annoying character instead of a great little piece of witty banter and comic relief when needed.

I’ll try not to watch this movie again for at least a few weeks but no promises. When you enjoy a movie so thoroughly you can’t help but to keep watching it.

Tony Stark: A little ostentatious, don't you think?
Jarvis: What was I thinking? You're usually so discreet.
Tony Stark: Tell you what. Throw a little hotrod red in there.
Jarvis: Yes, that should help you keep a low profile.

The Prestige

The_Prestige08
Originally uploaded by earlyshen

The Prestige was on one of the movie channels last night and I accidentally tuned into it – and I could not turn it off. I forgot how brilliant The Prestige really is; it is an enthralling film filled with brilliant performances, a great cast and an amazing sotry.

I cannot tell you that the story behind The Prestige is simple as I do with some of my other reviews, nor can I tell you all about it as that would spoil the surprise. What I can tell you is that this film improves with every viewing because more layers of the story become clear to the viewer.

My favorite thing about the film is actually how it is structured; the film is structured like a magic trick. One of the characters sets up this structure at the beginning of the film; every magic trick contains three parts, the pledge where the magician shows you something ordinary but of course it isn’t ordinary, the turn where he takes the ordinary object and makes it extraordinary, and finally the prestige where the pay off of the magic trick is revealed - without the prestige the trick is worthless.

The pledge in this film seems so very ordinary; Cutter, Alfred, Robert & his wife Julia work for a magician and the Robert & Alfred have aspirations to become magicians in their own right. While performing a trick they have done hundreds of times something goes wrong and Julia is killed. Distraught, Robert blames Alfred for Julia’s death and both men leave their positions seeking to better the other as the world’s best magician a rivalry fueled by Robert’s anger at Alfred. Alfred and Cutter join forces to help bring Alfred’s magic to the public.

The turn is the middle of the film; Alfred has lived up to his word and created what appears to be the world’s greatest magic trick and no one can duplicate it. Alfred becomes massively popular and eclipse's Robert’s glory; the two men begin to compete even more than before and each forsee’s the other’s next step. Angered even more, Robert seeks to discover how Alfred’s illusion is managed and finally has Alfred stopped from performing his trick by having him arrested and tried for murder.

The prestige is what I cannot reveal, but it truly is the point in the movie where Christopher and Jonathon Nolan take what seemed to be an ordinary rivalry and turn it into something you never expected and a masterful bit of writing that makes the entire movie that precedes it more worth the viewing. Just like promised, the prestige of this film makes the entire movie worth watching again and again.

When I tell you that this movie is different I am not exaggerating. The story is more complex and layered that I can explain here without ruining everything for you. I think that this movie surprises and confuses people, but it is so worth your time.

Director: Christopher Nolan
Writers: Christopher and Jonathon Nolan
Alfred: Christian Bale
Robert: Hugh Jackman
Cutter: Michael Caine
Julia: Piper Perabo
Olivia: Scarlett Johansson
Tesla: David Bowie
Sarah: Rebecca Hall

Cutter: Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called "The Pledge". The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course... it probably isn't. The second act is called "The Turn". The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it, because of course you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn't clap yet. Because making something disappear isn't enough; you have to bring it back. That's why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call "The Prestige".

The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight - Kara Şövalye (18)
Originally uploaded by divxplanet

Once again I saw The Dark Knight. I have to say that the more I see it the more it holds together as a perfect movie.

One of the things I loved most about the first film was the dialogue between all of the characters, but most importantly between Alfred and Bruce. The Dark Knight has the same banter that I love so much.

Seriously, go see this movie. I think you will all love it.

Alfred Pennyworth: I suppose they'll take me in as well, as your accomplice.
Bruce Wayne: Accomplice? I'm going to say the whole thing was your idea.

The Dark Knight

Batman - The Dark Knight - Trailer #3 - 10
Originally uploaded by Lyricis

I told you I was going to, and I bet you all didn’t believe me. I saw The Dark Knight twice in less than 24 hours. That wasn’t originally my intention, but my friends kid begged me to take her and I thought it sounded like fun. On second viewing The Dark Knight is even better than the first time; I could sit back, pay closer attention and notice the details.

One of the things I didn’t have time to spend enough time noticing on the first viewing was the use of daylight in the film. Unlike Batman Begins, this film has a large chunk of activity taking place in the daylight. This underscores the fact that Batman and his activities are infecting more than the dark side of society; he’s begun to infect all of Gotham’s people not just the criminals. The citizens of Gotham are gaining strength, and the criminals are being forced into the daylight and out of the shadows they hid in. Sure everyone knew they were there, but they ignored them until Batman showed that they could be fought against. However, it is this change that makes the most dangerous of them all come out – the Joker.

What I also noticed was something that had the film school academic geek in me absolutely floored. What I assume some of you know, is that symbolically the left side represents evil, and the right represents good; when Tow Face is created it is the left side of Harvey Dent’s face that is permanently scarred and in the process of getting that scar (the actions that led up to it) begin the act that brings to darkness out of Harvey Dent and start the chain reaction that turns him into Two Face. Once the scars are caused it’s quite obvious; more subtle however, is how Dent is lit in all the scenes prior to his turn as Two Face. During every shot I noticed, no matter how subtle Dent is always lit with the major light source illuminating the left side of his face so that the right “good” side of his face is always in somewhat of a shadow, no matter how slight. Thus creating the foreshadowing that Dent will lose his good side and be taken over by the dark natures he has strove to suppress.

This is a summer movie that subtly defies all the rules of summer movies; it is dark, brooding and in essence the good guy doesn’t win. As Christopher Nolan is the masterful filmmaker behind Memento, The Prestige and Insomnia I know that the more I watch The Dark Knight the more layers I will be able to strip away and grasp the deeper meaning behind this film, just like Batman Begins.

The Joker: Where do we begin? A year ago, these cops and lawyers wouldn't dare cross any of you. I mean, what happened?
Gamble: So what are you proposing?
The Joker: It's simple: Kill the Batman.

The Dark Knight

Batman - The Dark Knight - Trailer #3 - 22
Originally uploaded by Lyricis

When the hype about The Dark Knight began I was skeptical. I knew after Batman Begins that everyone in the production was capable of making astoundingly good films, but I thought people were probably over-hyping Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker a bit as it was not a posthumous role, and that there was little chance that you could surpass a perfect film like Batman Begins.

I was wrong.

The Dark Knight deserves every bit of praise it has received and more. This is not a comic book movie, this is a crime epic that tells a tale of a hero who has to make impossible choices in the name of doing what is right and defeating villains that are so evil they cannot completely be defeated no matter what he does. It is the most real crime film in that sense since Godfather and it pits a clown and a bat against each other.

We pick up with Batman approximately a year after he has begun to reform Gotham. The right things are starting to fall in place: the police are slightly less corrupt, Gordon has been promoted and is working with the Batman, Harvey Dent has been voted the new DA and is cleaning up the city, the mob is running scared, etc. Batman is creating inroads to change that are now taking root on the social level – the people of Gotham are trying to change their city.

The problem is that as Gordon predicted at the end of the first film escalation has occurred. Batman has begun to clean the streets, but created a criminal so devious that no one can predict his actions – the Joker. He has hits the scene hard and is at first regarded as a crazy know-nothing by the entire criminal world and Batman but soon has the entire city running even more petrified than before; he’s trying to create chaos and sees no one he should side with even amongst the criminals. He just wants to see the anarchy he creates play out. Singlehandedly he has made Batman question his position as Gotham’s protector, and made the underworld terrified of not just Batman, but him as well.

This is an artfully layered story crafted by people that obviously know that the Joker is the embodiment of everything that Batman strives to quell. The Joker wants to create chaos for the sake of chaos and Batman wants to create order for the sake of peace. They are polar opposites and will forever remain in struggle as Batman will not kill the Joker as that would change what he stands for, and the Joker will not kill Batman because he’d lose the best thrill of his life.

The Dark Knight is the best film about that struggle between being the needed hero and the wanted ideal that has ever been made. Bruce Wayne struck out to be an incorruptible ideal, only to find that striving to be incorruptible, to have rules, has made him vulnerable to the people he is trying to fight against.

I am the first to admit that when Heath Ledger was cast as the Joker I doubted Christopher Nolan’s skills at casting. I could see so many other actors working better as the Joker than Heath – and I was wrong. When you watch The Dark Knight Heath disappears and the only person present is Joker and he is everything that ever terrified you about the Joker. He has no rules, he is brilliant and scheming, he would do anything, and his greatest joy is watching the anarchy he creates. The Joker is such a perfect character that I want to see him in another Batman film, but I don’t know how you can recast a perfect performance. While watching Heath, no one even thinks of comparing him to Jack Nicholson – there is simply no comparison.

Just as phenomenal is Aaron Eckhart as Gotham’s new, tough DA Harvey Dent. Eckhart steps perfectly into the shoes of the man who dances around the line he upholds until he tragically takes the path of Icarus and flies too close to the sun…and plummets into the darkness he was fighting against by becoming Two Face. No one can blame him for his turn –he has lost everything, but by letting his pain take over he further destroys everything he stood for as Harvey Dent. It’s not an easy role, to go from being lauded as the white knight of Gotham to the criminal that decides the fate of his victims on the flip of a coin, but Eckhart makes it natural and just dark enough that we know that Dent is not coming back.

However, Christian Bale cannot be ignored in this film. His performance as Batman/Bruce Wayne is still why the movie remains so believable. He is able to take the character from brash playboy to lurking superhero in only a few minutes of screen time. The audience can see Bruce Wayne’s conscious lay heavier on him with every act that the Joker perpetrates.

The only detractor to this film for me is that it was shot in Chicago and you can tell. Gone is my beautiful yet-unlike-the-real-world Gotham and inserted is Chicago. I don’t know why they made this artistic choice and it is forgivable as most of Gotham is destroyed in Batman Begins but I miss it.

To wrap up my review I have only one thing to say. If I were on the Oscar committee Christian Bale, Robert Downey Jr., Aaron Eckhart and Heath Ledger would all be nominated for various Oscars – yes, for “comic book” films.

Director: Christopher Nolan
Writers: Christopher Nolan & Jonathan Nolan
Bruce Wayne/Batman: Christian Bale
Rachel: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Joker: Heath Ledger
Harvey Dent/Two Face: Aaron Eckhart
Jim Gordon: Gary Oldman
Alfred: Michael Caine
Lucious Fox: Morgan Freeman

Bruce Wayne: People are dying. What would you have me do?
Alfred Pennyworth: Endure. You can be the outcast. You can make the choice that no one else will face - the right choice. Gotham needs you.

Batman Begins

batman
Originally uploaded by Hot Rod Homepage

Growing up in my house it was a DC world, and Batman & Superman reigned supreme. I knew a lot about Batman, but was never a huge fan; I’m a Superman girl. Not that there’s anything wrong with Batman, I just couldn’t blend the Adam West, Tim Burton, & Joel Schumacher versions with the comic books I knew in my head. In 2005 that all changed when I found out that Christopher Nolan was taking over the flagging franchise with the superb casting of independent tour de force Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne.

Batman is by nature a dark tale of a decaying city, and a calloused idealist who genuinely holds onto his life’s hope that he can aid in bringing his beloved city back to the people who dwell in it and away from the crime that corrupts it. He is a man devoid of super powers that pushes himself to become more than human, he wants to be the fear in the hearts of those that prey on the fearful; but more than that Batman is the great detective who uses his position as Bruce Wayne and talents as Batman to undermine and search out the corrupt whenever he can. Bruce Wayne is a hero that realizes he does not want to be Bruce Wayne any more, he is Batman but must keep the Bruce Wayne disguise on to protect his real identity.

This is an incredibly complex character who has been dragged through the mud over the years. I don’t need to say much about the Adam West version except “POW!”; Michael Keaton got the darkness but nothing else; Val Kilmer looked great in the suit; George Clooney looked great in the tuxes. On top of the people entrusted with the character over the years I was never a fan of Burton’s super dark and twisted out-of-reality version of Gotham and from the purple and green lighting thrown into the background of almost every shot it was obvious that Schumacher didn’t get the world either (I won’t even mention the atrocity of Batgirl becoming Alfred’s niece instead of Commissioner Gordon’s daughter).

But with the news that Christopher Nolan, David Goyer & Christian Bale were teaming on a new Batman movie that would ignore the previous films the geeks began to murmur. We had a hope that possibly this pairing would not only restore the Batman franchise to a watchable series, but perhaps take it a step closer to the comic book we remembered.

Casting news began to leak. There was Michael Cain as Alfred, Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox – we were excited. The story was going to harken back to Batman Year One about the origins of creating the character – we were excited. Ra’s Al Ghul & the Scarecrow where going to be the villains. We all began to doubt David Goyer’s prowess at writing a Batman script. How do you make two of the more marginal villains in the Batman pantheon the villains and explain them? Bruce Wayne’s love interest was going to be played by Katie Holmes – we all began to doubt. We were now on the edge of the geek precipice; we wanted to believe so bad that Batman Begins would be great, but we thought there were cracks in the plan. We were wrong.

Aside from the superb cast, and talent of Nolan the reason Batman Begins is (at least for now) the best adaptation of the character to date is the story. By using two lesser known villains in the Batman pantheon Goyer was able to concentrate on what was truly important: the transition of Bruce Wayne into Batman and the slow decay of Gotham that led to the corrupt void that it now is. For the first time Bruce Wayne’s parents were not just story devices, but characters and the audience could understand Bruce’s loss and how hard it must have been for Alfred to raise him; we saw the flawed young man he became that was so desperate to make a difference and didn’t know how and how this led him to become Batman. And this is how we finally understood how Ra’s Al Ghul was the perfect villain to be placed in this story line.

In this Batman Ra’s was not some idle villain known for the League of Shadows and his knack at immortality, but the man who put Bruce on the path to becoming Batman, and another person he trusted who would ultimately betray him and the first person who would test Batman in how close he would dance along the rules he so carefully set up to control his actions as Batman; namely would he kill to save the day.

We saw the beginning of the relationship between Batman and future Commissioner Jim Gordon begin to flourish. We saw Alfred fret over the damages Batman would do to Bruce Wayne and come to realize that the man and alter ego are a necessary thing. Wayne Enterprises was just as important to Bruce Wayne as it was to his family before him. We saw the world of Batman become real.

This Batman is dark, moody, and idealistic at the same time. He battles not just a major villain but the dark forces of an entire city – the average criminals, the crime lords, corrupt police, super villains in the making (Scarecrow), and super villains that have been in this world longer than Batman (Ra’s Al Ghul).

What makes Batman Begins most unique though is the logical progression that the filmmakers were able to place upon the world they created. This was best exemplified by the end of the movie; not only was it a nod to what the geeks were waiting for, but it exemplified the problems of a world with heroes that walk the line between vigilante and dutiful citizen. It is then that we geeks (and film scholars) knew beyond a doubt that the people behind this film understand Batman and would not let the franchise go astray any time soon.

At the end of the film newly promoted Jim Gordon installs the bat signal and uses it for the first time. Gordon begins a conversation with Batman about escalation: cops use semi-automatics, criminals get automatics, cops get Kevlar & the criminals get armor piercing rounds – and now Gotham has Batman. At this point he tells Batman that another costumed freak has been causing mayhem & killing people…and leaving his calling card, a joker. Batman gets his first true homegrown super villain and the person most widely considered to be his arch nemesis.

In the end there is not one element that made Batman Begins a successful adaptation of Batman, there were dozens of elements. This film shows such care and craftsmanship that there is no doubt that it was artfully constructed by everyone involved from those above the line like Nolan and Bale, to the very last grip and PA below the line. The strengths of Batman Begins make The Dark Knight one of the most anticipated films of this summer movie season.

Director: Christopher Nolan
Writer: David Goyle
Bruce Wayne/Batman: Christian Bale
Alfred: Michael Caine
Rachel Dawes: Katie Holmes
Henri Ducard: Liam Neeson
Jim Gordon: Gary Oldman
Dr. Crane/Scarecrow: Cillian Murphy
Carmine Falcone: Tom Wilkinson
Mr. Earle: Rutger Hauer
Ra’s Al Ghoul: Ken Wantanabe
Lucius Fox: Morgan Freeman

Bruce Wayne: [as Alfred opens the curtains] Bats are nocturnal.
Alfred Pennyworth: Bats might be, but even for billionaire playboys, three o'clock is pushing it. The price of leading a double life, I think. Your theatrics made an impression.
[shows the newspaper to Bruce]
Bruce Wayne: Theatricality and deception are powerful weapons, Alfred. It's a good start.
Alfred Pennyworth: If those are to be the first of many other injuries to come, it will be wise to find a suitable excuse. Polo, for instance.
Bruce Wayne: I'm not learning polo, Alfred.
Alfred Pennyworth: Strange injuries and non-existent social life, these things beg the question as to what exactly does Bruce Wayne do with his time and his money.
Bruce Wayne: And what does someone like me do?
Alfred Pennyworth: Drive sports cars, date movie stars, buy things that are not for sale... who knows, Master Wayne? You start pretending to have fun, you might even have a little by accident.