Batman gets new life
2005-05-17 13:15
Paris - Batman, the caped crusader who was in danger of seeing his legend snuffed out following a couple of widely panned movies, bursts back on to the big screen with a vengeance in a new film that has wowed critics worldwide.
Batman Begins, starring Christian Bale and directed by Christopher Nolan, is headed for blockbuster status but, unusually for a big United States studio movie in what is frequently a silly season of mindless action flicks, it makes the effort to put story and character at the forefront.
"I thought it would be interesting to present the story in a grounded fashion," said Nolan at a Paris press conference on Tuesday to launch the Warner Bros film.
Plausible presentation
The British writer/director, who made a big impact with his first feature Memento, has used his knack for psychological drama to invest Bruce Wayne/Batman with dimensions lacking from the previous four films, the last two of which — campy disappointments helmed by Joel Schumacher — almost killed off the lucrative franchise for good.
Instead of over-the-top fights and action set pieces, Nolan has gone for a more plausible presentation of the Dark Knight while drawing on the inspiration of the comic books and graphic novels that fleshed out the superhero in the seven decades of his existence.
Stellar cast, genius director
A top-notch cast including Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman and a deliciously sinister Cillian Murphy helped, while props such as the baddest Batmobile ever seen are relegated to serving rather than dominating the film.
"This is character-driven blockbuster moviemaking. Usually you have plastic figures to drive you from one explosion to the next," said Caine, who added he would jump at the chance to play Wayne's butler Alfred in another Batman movie by Nolan.
One of the director's biggest touches of genius was in casting Bale — perhaps best known up to now as the urbane sociopath in the stomach-churning American Psycho as the conflicted hero who is driven by revenge and fear rather than nobler instincts.
Bale said he has signed on to do three Batman films in total because of Nolan's quality approach to the franchise that differed so much from its predecessors.
Reviewers have been surprised and almost universally enthusiastic.
The Hollywood Reporter trade magazine for the US movie business said Nolan's rescue job on a character headed for an ignominious end was nothing short of remarkable.
Batman Begins opens in South Africa on June 24.