Batman Begins

Finally, bats do have a dark side. A final look at one of this summer's hottest movies...

There are those comic-book fans who like Spider-Man. He's a geek who implausibly has a beautiful woman chasing after him, but whose gallant decision to protect her from his fight against evil means that they can never be together. Great.

These fans say he's more believable, because he's in a real city. Sorry? How many tough guys do you know who aren't a little rough; a little nasty. Exactly. Which is clearly why we're all on the edge of our seats waiting for the next bigscreen version of Batman.

And no we're not talking about Adam West and Burt Ward mincing around together in lycra. And we certainly don't mean the last Joel Schumacher debacle, Batman and Robin (which could have been a tribute to the 1970s series - it was that bad). We mean the upcoming summer blockbuster, Batman Begins.

Some recent comic book adaptations have made similar mistakes to the earlier Batman films. For example, the dark and troubles side to Wolverine in Marvel Comics is only flirted with in the X-Men series. Who wouldn't be angry with all that metal in your hands? And any new Superman film is going to be just as wholesome as the late Christopher Reeve's films. So, it's up to Batman and Bruce Wayne to express the psychological effects of seeing your parents murdered and the loneliness of anger, resentment and vengeance (as well as all that money). Batman doesn't make a chivalrous decision to keep his loves out of harm's way - his dark character pushes them away before he gets too close.

Many believe that Tim Burton's first two films, with Michael Keaton in the Batmobile's driving seat, were as close as the character could get to his dark side while achieving mass Hollywood appeal. They were good, and Keaton was undeniably better than Val Kilmer and George Clooney - but for such a layered character as Bruce Wayne, purists were only ever really going to be satisfied by going back to the beginning.

And so, set several years after he witnessed the murder of his parents by a young criminal (who was to become The Joker) in Gotham City, Wayne's detective work leads him to London on the trail of the shady international villain, Ra's Al Ghul (Ken Watanabe - The Last Samuri). Dr. Jonathan Crane, a.k.a. The Scarcrow (Cillian Murphy - 28 Days Later) provides a different sort of adversary for Wayne as he develops his disturbing alter ego.

Christian Bale (Reign of Fire) takes on the big role for this, the fifth movie. An interesting choice he certainly has the rougher element needed to carry such a part. Big names such as Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Liam Neeson provide what promises to be an exciting supporting cast, with Rachel Dawes (Dawson Creek's Katie Holmes) providing the romantic interest.

But while BB is set to contain disturbing images and sequences of violence, depicting the themes of mental trauma and emotional isolation that turn Wayne into Batman, it's still only a PG-13. However, Christopher Nolan's (Insomnia) experience in psychological thrillers will hopefully ensure that the original intention of reviving the series is not lost.

What's more, as with all the Batman films, the action sequences should work better without being laced with one-liners and over the top performances (yes Governor Swarzenegger, we're thinking of you).

This is the first action film we've genuinely craved for a while. To be honest, we'll be happy as long as it doesn't have Clooney thawing Gotham with a giant telescope.

John Gold
Staff Writer, Kikizo Movies