Movie | Batman Begins

So this is the real Batman, all the previous movies were a waste of time, and their existence has now been wiped away. At least that’s what my understanding of this movie was before seeing it.

I’ve never been a fan of Batman movies – far too cheesy for my liking. In fact until X-Men, I never really gave Superhero movies a chance. So what was my reason for going to see Batman Begins? A friend was shouting me and it was the movie they wanted to see. Ok, so I figured it would be a couple of hours away from the kids, if nothing else!

To be brutally honest, there were times in BB that I wished I’d stayed at home and helped put the kids to bed and all that domestic bliss. But when the action kicked in, it got exciting. The action scenes were similar to that of the Bourne Supremacy; fast, blurry and hard to know what was going on. It seems to be a new form of cinematography that mimics real life. Instead of being a spectator to a set piece ala the Burly Brawl as see in Matrix Revolutions, we’re invited to participate. At least that’s what it feels like.

The story line was good. It managed to set up Bruce Wayne’s character, give him a reason to do what he does, and the means to do it. There was even some humour courtesy of both Michael Cane and Morgan Freeman.

Not being a comic book fan, I don’t know why Batman choose to become a bat, but BB gives very good reason.

This is a dark and brooding movie, it’s set in a Gotham that I could believe in. A little futuristic in a 1960’s kind of way at times, but the darkness of total corruption and no hope was a compelling background for a superhero to be born into.

The mysterious character played by Liam Nelson made for an interesting plot, and again gave credence to the skills that Batman uses, and the reasons why he uses them.

So all in all, BB was a well constructed, thought out and produced movie. It did of course suffer from the bane of all Hollywood movies, and in fact Superhero movies: you knew how it was going to end before it started.