Future Classic Movies: BATMAN BEGINS (2005)

by Javier Vargas

The summer of 2005 was a typical movie season for the most part. It had its hits, and its misses (quite a few of them). However, in my estimation it was a year that also marked both the end and a new beginning of an era in film. Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins was a clear hit that summer gaining both critical and commercial success. In my opinion though, the things that make this film special have nothing to do with box office revenue or critical praise, but rather it's the sweepingly epic yet intimate scope of the film that entice me to revisit it time and time again. Now, thanks to my dear friend Paula, I've been given the opportunity to participate in what she has termed the “FCM Blogathon” ( http://wp.me/p243hv-dT ). The intent of this piece will be to make my case as to why I believe Batman Begins should be regarded as a "Future Classic."

So, what constitutes a "Classic?" In my opinion, there are two facets to every classic. The first, that there is a great ambition, clarity and uniqueness that went into the making of the film; everything from story development, production design, casting, etc. The second would be that all this hard work actually shows up on the screen and sets an example for its contemporaries. When a film has a very clear and perhaps even bold story to tell and delivers it in a way that makes us ponder on it well after having seen it? That to me is the groundwork of a classic, and the team of writers David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan proved to be a fitting match for the endlessly inspirational hero of Modern Mythology: Batman. 

| David S. Goyer, Christopher Nolan |

The general public for the most part are familiar with the basics of Batman's origin, but the aspects of the character which are the main focus of Goyer and Nolan's story steer more towards the psychological torment of Bruce Wayne and examine realistically what would drive a man to dress up as a Bat and fight crime. Prior to Batman Begins no other film had attempted to present a realistic portrayal of a superhero before, and additionally many of those films spent very little time on the origin of their title character which ultimately made the films feel a bit forced. 

This duo of writers though wanted to do something dramatically different. In addition to co-writing the script for the film, Christopher Nolan also served as the director, and it's quite clear that Nolan had a very specific vision for Batman and his sensibilities as a storyteller with a camera are what gave this character the new-found cinematic life it so desperately needed at the time. Christopher Nolan is also well known for his mantra of shooting as much of his films as possible using real, practical effects and turning to computer-generated effects only as a last option. This discipline as a director gave the film a scope that made it stand out from every other movie released that summer. 

  | Top: Linus Roache, Gary Oldman, Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson |   
| Bottom: Rutger Hauer, Michael Caine, Katie Holmes, Tom Wilkinson, Cillian Murphy |

Another solid contribution to the film was the quality of the cast, namely Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Michael Caine as Alfred. Bale gives an absolutely engaging and memorable performance as Bruce and brings a threat level to the character of Batman that was never there before in the other cinematic incarnations of the character. Between the two though, his portrayal of Bruce is really the highlight from both a dialogue and story perspective. Michael Caine's Alfred is warm, fatherly and very much the heart of the film. His humor is also a great counterbalance to the more dark and psychological undertones which encompass the majority of this story. 

The other performance I find myself glued to each viewing is Linus Roache as Bruce's father, Thomas Wayne. I think a lot of times this character is overlooked but Roache added some great substance to the film regardless of having a smaller amount of time on screen. Another standout would be Gary Oldman as Gordon. First off, the man looks completely identical to his comic book counterpart and more importantly gave a terrific performance and on occasion delivers the other half of the humor in this dark tale. As for the rest of the cast, they are pitch perfect, and together culminate into a major reason why this film will age well. No actor tries to overstep their bounds and each talent collectively contributes to the bigger picture: The Story.

I wouldn't be covering the major achievements of this film if I failed to bring up the elephant in the room: The Tumbler. "A cross between a Lamborghini and a HMMWV (Humvee)" - that was Nolan's description when he approached his crew about what his Batmobile would look like and how it would function. The keyword is function though, he wanted a vehicle that would actually be able to perform and not just be part of the backdrop when Batman arrives at a crime scene. 

The extremely engaging design of the Tumbler was a product of an inspired collaboration between Christopher Nolan and his Production Designer, Nathan Crowley. They went through many designs until they reached the version displayed in the film, and then assembled a great crew of engineers supervised by Chris Corbould to reproduce a full-size version that would be able to accomplish every stunt the film required. This is definitely an aspect that will continue to intrigue audiences and newcomers to the film for a very long time. 

| Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard |

Lastly, I have to talk about the score for Batman Begins. This was an occasion where two titans of the industry came together to collaborate on the same score. Now, to my knowledge, in recent film history this has never really been a regular occurrence. The assembling of two masters to work on the same score? It hadn't really been embraced until they gave it a shot in this film. It 's a notion though that that has been duplicated since the release of Batman Begins with the very popular collaboration of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. 

The score for Batman Begins is one I will always treasure and hold as a favorite. Hans Zimmer has proven time and time again to be a master at scoring music to picture. This was the one part of the puzzle I was hoping would happen even before the involvement of Hans Zimmer was announced. So, this was a very special reality for me when Zimmer was confirmed to be involved, and to have James Newton Howard join him was a great surprise and serviced the film better in my opinion than if Zimmer had tackled the film on his own. Howard's and Zimmer's musical voice is one of the great gems of this movie.

When you have an experience like watching Batman Begins and reflect on the work achieved by these talented artists, designers, engineers... and appreciate these kind of movies as much as I do, you can't help but momentarily think to yourself, "That looks like a lot of fun." And in the grand picture, that's the kind of reaction that elicits the title: Classic. 

If you have any feedback please don't hesitate to leave a comment. Thanks!