Chris Nolan’s first foray into full-blown summer blockbuster is a terrific if somewhat flawed affair that shows off the director’s talent for psychodrama but also shows his lack of action direction.
As far as a reboot goes (I think it can actually be called the first in what has now become a lucrative and somewhat depressing trend of rebooting franchises in Hollywood), it couldn’t be any further from the abominable shite of a film that killed the Batman franchise in the first place. For campy humour we have gritty psychology and for the neon lights of disco-tech Gotham we have the dirty streets of Chicago (standing in for Gotham). Whilst acknowledging it’s comic book roots it manages to make the outlandish concept of a man fighting crime dressed as a bat entirely believable as well as making the super villains (in the form of The Scarecrow and Ra’s al Ghul) a genuine threat. Whilst the action is a tad muddled at times it delivers the required thrills with aplomb.
Having watched this now after a two year hiatus, it has become apparent that the gap in quality between this and The Dark Knight is not as great as many claim. Whilst Knight is better, Begins is a far more contained and streamlined film and for what it lacks in terms of scope (something its predecessor has in spades) it makes up for in just being able to set up the new Nolan Batman-verse without falling into the trappings of most origin stories.
It’s still excellent, even after floundering in the wake of its sequel.
5/5
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