Shippey

How quickly in Hollywood has the term 'reimagined' become a cliché? With a heavy does of jade in my mind, I went to a preview screening of Batman Begins. When I left, I realized I had left that jade back in the theatre. Did I go back for it?

Not this time.

Batman Begins is fantastic.

Christopher Nolan has come back to form, awakening a sense of awe in contemporary cinema under the guise of genre. Working from a script he co-wrote with David Goyer, who himself penned the seminal modern genre film Dark City, Nolan takes a blank canvas and shows us he understands how to resuscitate a franchise that has been driven into the ground by conventionality and bombast. You don't just change actors, or art directors, or even writers: you must wring the very fabric of story dry of what pervaded the earlier films. There is no dark carnival of Tim Burton to be found here. What he develops now is a para-realism that hearkens to the writing style of Frank Miller, adding a realistic, emotional weight to the Dark Knight (ninja?). Christian Bale convincingly portrays Bruce Wayne as lost soul who possesses the will and the strength to fight the good fight, but not the direction. In his journey of discovery, we see Batman in a new light: he is now part Everyman.

There is an almost quiet majesty about this story. Have no fear, this does not mean this is not an action film, only one that one that does not alienate a thinking person. Nothing happens in the film without giving the audience a sense of understanding. Yes, this Batman is not about a black and white morality; rather, it is about trying to synergize a coda of that with a more mundane world. Yes, there are super villains, including a wonderful turn by Cillian Murphy as Dr. Crane, aka The Scarecrow, but here they are possessed of twisted motivations, but not outright villainy or malefaction. Theirs is the evil of blind ambition and a purity ethos that moved nations to global war in the past century in our world. Gotham is in peril beyond the decay of years now, thanks to this ambition.

In further distancing the film from its predecessors, Nolan brings in moody elements of horror and noir. Batman operates by instilling fear into his adversaries. We now witness this, from the discovery of the Bat Cave, to the stalking of drug smugglers at the docks. This is not four-color territory: this is pulp as if Hemmingway would have seen it.

The whole cast is wonderful, especially Michael Caine as Alfred, who becomes Bruce's compass to his memory of his slain parents, and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, who becomes both weapons master and key support who complements Batman's burgeoning enterprise. Gary Oldman gives his most understated, yet organic performance to date as Lt. Jim Gorden, a good cop who sees Batman as an ally that we all know will last a lifetime.

After seeing the plethora of origin stories, not the least of which concluded the Star Wars saga, finally we have a refreshing take on an old character, as well as on a summer blockbuster. This film is a fine achievement that deserves a wide audience. We have a beginning that should have been the start of it all. This is a must see for the summer of 2005 and beyond.

I just came back from an advance screening of Sin City, and I can tell you this is one salient reel of pitch of a film. Think of it as film noir amped up for a post modern century. It comes across like most of Frank Miller's writing, modestly fantastic for the comic environment, but steeped long and hard in the tradition of the underground crime writers of the '40's. Visually, the juxtaposition of the rich B&W with digitally-hued Technicolor makes it hard to take your eyes off the screen. This film was tailor made for most of the people who have been following Miller's writing for the past twenty odd years, brimming with many of his trademark elements and visual style that he, along with Messrs. Rodriguez and Tarantino, capture brilliantly. Not for more sensitive or under aged souls, Sin City will burn like a fire that you have to watch for everyone else.