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New 'Batman' finds strength in the fear factor
By Jeremy Wilkins
June 24, 2005 | What is your greatest
fear? What is it deep-down, within you, that scares
you most, that physically, emotionally and mentally
paralyzes you?
Did you find it? Oh, there it is. Now, EMBRACE IT!
This immense fear is what guides the new spinoff of
the ever-so-popular Dark Knight. And, boy, did director
and co-author of Batman Begins, Christopher
Nolan, embrace the concept of fear to give his audience
a movie with feeling and dark excitement.
Nolan (Memento, Insomnia), takes us somewhere
we have never seen The Caped Crusader go in cinematic
form: to his tycoon youth and into his troubled, confused
and angry young adult years, showing us the evolution
of young Master Wayne to Bruce Wayne to the dark and
mysterious hero we know as Batman.
By going backward and seeing Wayne's youth we learn
how he developed a deep-rooted fear of bats and see
how he witnessed the murder of his parents (which is
strikingly similar to the first Batman movie portrayal
of it, yet with more depth), spawning his undying hatred
for injustice. This Batman, played by a convincing Christian
Bale (American Psycho), seems to show more
emotion than prior efforts have proved able to do. However
it's no wonder Bale is able to be at his best considering
he is surrounded by an amazing cast including the likes
of Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Gary
Oldman and Katie Holmes.
Jumping out of the cartoonish nightmare that Joel Schumacher
dived head-first into, and into a rougher, more "realistic"
take on the superhero whom DC Comics made popular, is
the best thing Nolan and co-author David S.Goyer could
have done.
Those who go into the movie expecting to see hero and
villain action from start to finish will be shocked,
but not at all disappointed. This fresh beginning allows
the viewer to see the complete creation and evolution
of Wayne's character and his alter-ego Batman, which
by no means takes anything away from actual "Batman
time," but adds to the purpose and meaning behind
it.
Once Wayne is able to embrace his greatest fear (bats!)
we are informed enough and are able to understand how
the bat-man came to be and why he is such a powerful
force for good and fighting the injustices of his trodden-down
Gotham City. Bale, Nolan and the rest of the cast and
creators of the film should give themselves a pat on
the back for bringing Batman out of obscurity and helping
the Dark Knight re-emerge.
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