New Beginnings

Christian Bale in Batman Begins.

Just last week, I commented on how much of a drag seeing Christopher Nolan's much-acclaimed Batman Begins was, saying that it was a complete bore.

I must now admit that I was wrong.

Looking to further develop my idea of the proper action hero, which I 'blogged about in a previous entry after seeing the film, I headed back as a means of occupying a boring summer day with something more artistic than Herbie: Fully Loaded. A half an hour into the movie, I realized what a mistake I made when I dismissed Batman Begins as a weak effort, just last Wednesday. What I saw today was a masterful, atmospheric opus of everything that I look for in a movie. The problem during my first viewing was that I was a tired mess when watching the film, with all of what accompanied the end of the schoolyear going on.

Every so often, I'll revisit a movie for whatever the reason, and my response to it will completely change. Last summer, this was the case with The Lizzie McGuire Movie, a film which I admittedly simply popped back into my DVD-player a second time because of a star-stuck crush on the beautiful Hilary Duff. When observing that film without any of the biases that I have towards pre-teen movies, I realized what wonder was to be found in director Jim Fall's work. It now ranks among my Top 20 Films of All-Time.

My updated reaction to Batman Begins wasn't quite as strong, but by being more aware and alert this time around (I was so zoned out the first time, out of overall tiredness, that I didn't even remember several scenes), I was able to embrace the way director Nolan masters a blend of playfullness and viscera, crafting a tormented, vengeful protagonist. The reason I wasn't sympathetic or empathetic for Bruce Wayne the first time I saw the movie was because I took no notice of the way Nolan allows the atmosphere to show the way in which the dark, brooding brutality onscreen affects the character. It's really very amazing--gritty and unrelenting, but still very much characteristic of a filmic spectacle. Christian Bale, even with his face half-covered by a mask, proves expressively deep, when viewed under these parameters.

The truth is: I walked in with entirely wrong expectations. I expected something I had seen before. This edition of Batman isn't especially narratively complex, but it requires complex observation. To not allow Nolan this is a crime; he has here fashioned complexity that is rarely found in mainstream cinema. Pre-conceived notions are everything when viewing a film such as this one. I thought I knew what I was going to see, but I didn't, and this uncertainly didn't settle well with my sub-concious, considering it was working on very little rest, at the time.

I suppose all of this draws to my ridiculous desire to see movies on the day they are released. I have never attended a midnight showing, simply because of the obnoxious audiences which are commonly attached to them, but I try to make it to films I'm excited for right away, no matter what. It's a stupid thing, considering the fact that I believe my reviews of films should be concentrated on more as a means of a given cinemagoer's reflection upon a movie, instead of their guideline to go see it or not. I have my taste and they have theirs, why should they listen to me? Sure, it maybe helpful in trying to avoid utter crap, but doesn't viewing the previews rat out the dead giveaways?

Long story short: I retract all that I have said before about Batman Begins; it's definitely a movie that I will cherish for a long while. In fact, it ranks among my favorites of the year, thus far. Hopefully, I will catch up on doing reviews for my website sometime soon, and I'll be able to refer you all to that. For now, keep seeing movies and stay cool. And don't go see them if you're tired; my experiences with Batman Begins are definitive proof that it's not a good idea. That is all.