Batman Begins Re-Review

Batman Begins


Release Date: 16th June 2005 - Australia


Production Companies
Warner Bros. Pictures
Syncopy
DC Comics
Legendary Pictures (Uncredited)

Palatex III Productions Limited

Distribution

Roadshow Films

Genre: Action

Rating: M

Runtime: 140 minutes


Budget: $150,000,000

Box Office Gross: $375,404,836 (Worldwide)

Plot Summary
Having witnessed the murder of his parents as a child, Bruce Wayne seeks to avenge their deaths. In his travels, he learns many combat skills to fight injustice. When Bruce returns to the crime-ridden Gotham with the help of his old butler Alfred, ally Lucius Fox and rising cop Jim Gordon, he puts on the cowl as the masked vigilante Batman, who strikes into the mob's and criminals' hearts and uses strength, intellect and high-tech weaponry to rid the city of crime and corruption.

Cast
Christian Bale - Bruce

Wayne/Batman
Gus Lewis - Young Bruce

Wayne
Michael Caine - Alfred

Pennyworth
Liam Neeson - Henri Ducard
Katie Holmes - Rachel

Dawes
Emma Lockhart - Young

Rachel Dawes
Gary Oldman - Sgt. James

Gordon
Morgan Freeman - Lucius

Fox
Cillian Murphy - Dr. Jonathan
Crane/The Scarecrow
Tom Wilkinson - Carmine Falcone
Rutger Hauer - William Earle
Ken Watanabe - Ra's Al Ghul
Mark Boone Junior - Det. Arnold Flass

Larry Holden - Carl Finch
Colin McFarlane - Gillian B.

Loeb
Linus Roache - Thomas Wayne
Sara Stewart - Martha Wayne
Richard Brake - Joe Chill
Tim Booth - Victor Zsasz
Gerard Murphy - Judge Faden
Rade Serbedzjia - Homeless Man
Jack Gleeson - Little Boy

Alexandro Bastedo - Gotham Society Dame

Matt Miller - Gotham Car Cop #3

John Nolan - Fredericks (Cameo)

Lucy Russell - Female Restaurant Guest (Cameo)

Jeremy Theobald - Younger Gotham

Water Board Technician (Cameo)

Crew
Screenplay/Director - Christopher Nolan

Batman Creators - Bob Kane

and Bill Finger (Uncredited)
Characters: Alfred Pennyworth &

Dr Thomas Wayne - Jerry Robinson (Uncredited)
Story/Screenplay - David S. Goyer
Executive Producers - Benjamin Melniker

and Michael Uslan
Producers - Larry J. Franco, Charles Roven,
Emma Thomas and Lorne Orleans (IMAX Version)
Casting Directors - John Papsidera
and Lucinda Syson

Production Designer - Nathan Crowley

Storyboard Artists - Martin Asbury

and James Cornish

Supervising Art Director - Simon Lamont

Supervising Art Director: Cardington -

Steven Lawrence

Senior Art Director - Alan Tomkins

Art Directors - Peter Francis, Paul Kirby,

Dominic Masters, Su Whitaker and

Shane Valentino (Uncredited)

Art Director: Chicago - Patrick Lumb

Standby Art Director - Stuart Kearns

Assistant Art Directors - Stephen Morohan

and Sloane U'Ren

Set Decorators - Andrew Hodgson,

Paki Smith and Simon Wakefield

Property Master - Ty Teiger
Costume Designer - Lindy Hemming

First Assistant Costume Designer - Guy Speranza

Costume Supervisor - Dan Grace

Prosthetics/Bait Suit Consultant -

Nick Dudman
Makeup & Hair Designer - Peter Robb-King

Director of Photography - Wally Pfister

Aerial Photography - Hans Bjerno

"A" Camera Focus Puller - Clive Mackey

First Assistant Camera: Vista Vision, Chicago -

Wayne Baker

Unit Production Manager - Nigel Gostelow

Production Managers - Suzie Wiesmann

and Sam Breckman

Unit Manager - Steve Harvey

Location Managers - Joanna Beckett,

Robin Higgs, Tom Crooke and Mark Somner

Location Manager - James McAllister

First Assistant Director - Cliff Lanning

Key Second Assistant Director - Matthew Sharp

Stunt Coordinator - Paul Jennings

Assistant Stunt Coordinator - Sy Hollands

Assistant Stunt Coordinator: Chicago Unit -

Rick LeFevour

Fight Arranger - David Forman

Fight Consultants - Andy Norman

and Justo Dieguez

Horse Master - Daniel Naprous

Aerial Coordinator - Craig Hosking

Action Vehicle Coordinator - Darren Litten

Special Effects Coordinator - Chris Corbould

Special Effects Workshop Supervisors -

Kevin Herd, Paul Knowles, Roy Quinn and

Andrew Smith

Visual Effects Supervisors - Dan Glass,

and Janek Sirrs

Visual Effects Supervisor: Double Negative -

Paul J. Franklin

Visual Effects Supervisors: MPC - Rudi Holzappel

and Andrew Morley

Visual Effects Supervisor: BUF - Stephane Ceretti

Visual Effects Supervisor: The Senate VFX -

Sean Farrow

Visual Effects Producers: Double Negative -

Hal Couzens and Ellen Walder

Miniature Unit Supervisor: Model VFX Unit -

Steven Begg

Art Directors: Supervising Models,

Model VFX Unit - James Hambidge and

Michael Lamont

First Assistant Director: Model VFX Unit -

Simon Emmanuel

CG Sequence Supervisors: Double Negative -

Pete Bebb, Graham Jack and Alex Wuttke

Sequence Supervisors - Jody Johnson

and George Zwier

Compositing Sequence Leads: Double Negative -

Chris Burn, Matthew Twyford, Jody Johnson,

Jeremy Hattingh, Victor Wade, Andy Lockley,

Steve McKee and George Zwier

2D Supervisor: Double Negative - Charlie Noble

Film Editor - Lee Smith

First Assistant Editor - John Lee

Sound Effects Design - Jimmy Boyle

and Andy Kennedy

Supervising Sound Editors - David Evans

and Stefan Henrix

Re-Recording Mixers - Lora Hirschberg

and Gary A. Rizzo

Foley Mixer - Ed Colyer

Foley Artists - Andi Derrick and Peter Burgis

Music - James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer

Additional Music - Ramin Djawadi and Mel Wesson

Music Programmer - Lorne Balfe

Score Coordinator - Becky Bentham

Music Recordist - Geoff Foster

Awards

2006 Academy Awards
Best Cinematography - Wally Pfister (Nominated)


Review

Widely seen as an exceptional reboot of the titular character, BATMAN BEGINS was a breakthrough in Chris Nolan's career, which has been uphill since a few films, like Memento and Insomnia, came out as critical achievements. After viewing BATMAN BEGINS, I thought it was a great movie. I have re-watched it several times and now revised my opinion that the feature was spectacular. Although its successor, The Dark Knight, was a more popular film in its hype, this is the first instalment, which brought together a whole trilogy. Still dark and tense, the movie re-tells the origins of how Bruce Wayne became the dark-winged avenger through a painful childhood experience. Many comic-book fans were sceptical of this movie in its pre-release before it opened, and it was a huge surprise to win them back for its return to the dark atmosphere. It still maintains the tone that Nolan conspicuously uses in his spectacles, though it contains psychological themes unseen in a Batman movie for a long time.

Christian Bale was an ideal actor to portray the dark knight, and before Ben Affleck, he was still the greatest that ever lived. I liked how his performance displayed determination and physical prowess, which proved integral to his character. His predecessors like Adam West, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, and, to a lesser extent, George Clooney have nothing against the lead actor who replaced them. He has two movies to go before the saga reaches its climactic finale, with The Dark Knight Rises as his last. Other actors like Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman, and Cillian Murphy were understated and well-privileged in their performances.

One actress I had forgotten to mention in my older critique of the movie, Katie Holmes, was a bit inexperienced as Bruce's love interest, Rachel Dawes, and for some reason, she may not be a natural for the role that suits her. The music score by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard was brilliant in over-perfection. It accompanies the movie in its serious setting.

BATMAN BEGINS has evolved from the Batman movies of my youth. It's an amazingly uptight start of a trilogy, and though it was the best movie, it's second only to The Dark Knight. It is now my third personal favourite Batman movie. Those who have seen the film before will enjoy it with its later two entries in order of its continuity.

Star rating: (10/10) Best Movie Ever

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