Batman Begins

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Jordan, Amberly

Christopher Nolan begins his take on the Batman saga. foregoing the hilarious camp of the Adam West era (still one of my favourite films) and the heavily comic book stylised design of the Tim Burton films, instead opting for a more real world approach, something tangible and almost believable, striving to flesh out the characters psyche with a depth the previous films lacked in varying degrees. 

They also had Scarecrow as a villain, he was always one of my favourite. Especially excited when they cast Cillian Murphy but unfortunately we don't really get that much time with him as the scarecrow. And like most of Nolan's incarnations of the character they only resemble the characters I know and love in smaller ways, to fit in with his realistic vision. 

So right off the bat, not pun intended, we have a characters that has been interpreted in many different ways over the years. With this very dark, serious, realistic tone we lose any of the fun comic book style quips, the more fantastic elements and overly stylised world with which to put it in. A breath of fresh air at the time. 

They amassed a great cast to play iconic roles. And of course being a Nolan film, the tech specs are impeccable. I still have qualms about a musical theme for a character being only two notes, especially when it took two great composers to come up with, probably one note each, but in truth it really works for the film and it's a great score. 

The fanboy in me cries foul play every time I get to the climax and Batman won't kill anyone but "chooses not to save" the villain. That's a cheap cop-out and something I still think goes against his character but I guess it's a small gripe, like many I have with Nolan's take. In general I'm extremely happy with adaptation. It has great characters, the structure is well planned, the action is great and it introduces this new version well and establishes the tone of a world where the fantastic so subdued that it is almost believable.