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Batman Begins - Page 3

© James C. Hess

Add to this the faithful servant, Alfred (Michael Caine), who is presented as never presented before. He is a gruff, often mean-tongued sort who is not quick to give out compliments, but is seemingly always at the ready with criticism and concern. He is Bruce Wayne's conscious when Bruce is preoccupied with love and loss, but at the same time he is the even to Wayne's uneven view of the world.

Which brings me to Batman. That he is not presented visually until the second third of the movie is a clever and rather curious turn in the narrative, and goes to demonstrate what a wonderful story this actually is, owing much to the storyteller behind it. (More on him shortly.) Batman here, then, is not presented as spit-and-polish, tempered with certain perfection. Instead he is brought forth slowly, in a clumsy fashion, by way of human mistake and error, and a bullheadness and stubborness on the part of Bruce Wayne. In doing this, in slowly revealing Batman, the audience comes to understand just how flawed and human Batman really and truly is.

I mentioned a moment ago the storyteller behind "Batman Begins". His name is Christopher Nolan, and his previous works include the haunting, unsettling, and very disturbing "Memento" and "Insomnia". At first glance there seems to be no reason or rationale as to why he was given the task of directing "Batman Begins", but look carefully and see that each film is actually a continuation of the previous, and are part of one another.

A continuation, a part, that goes to form and present Bruce Wayne/Batman, and answer questions mused by Alfred: Strange injuries and a nonexistent social life. What does Bruce Wayne do?

What he does is to present a public face, a high profile as a millionaire playboy who readily gets drunk and causes scenes, alienating and disappointing Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes), a friend since childhood and now an assistant District Attorney, and Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman is a good performance), apparently the honest cop in Gotham City, who are otherwise busy with a local crime syndicate led by Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson).

But what takes place by way of this crowd is nothing when compared to the going-ons of the very corrupt psychiatrist Dr. Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy), who has a habit of locking up anyone who disagrees with him.

That Crane is actually a beast of a creature called 'the Scarecrow' goes to present more about the secrets and truths of Bruce Wayne/Batman.

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