Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Film

Opens Wednesday: Will new Batman fly?

By STEVE PERSALL
Published June 9, 2005

	[Warner Bros.]
	Coming to a darkened room near you Some things old, a handful new, some borrowed plots and a bit of boo: Summer films again marry the proven and the preposterous to lure fans to the movie theater. (5/19/05)

The Batman movie franchise seemed deader than Bruce Wayne's parents after Batman & Robin was laughed out of theaters in 1997. Somebody at Warner Bros. should've guessed that Batsuit nipples, insinuated homoeroticism and production design apparently cribbed from the Broadway mess Starlight Express wouldn't fly with fans.

The studio is taking one more swing for the fences with Batman Begins (PG-13), treating the Caped Crusader's legend as if film and TV creators Tim Burton, William Dozier and Rudolph C. Flothow (the 1943 serial, recently released on DVD) never heard of the guy or his gadgets.

The new face behind the cowl belongs to Christian Bale (The Machinist, American Psycho). You'll recognize him when he's playing millionaire - or perhaps billionaire in today's economy - Bruce Wayne, whose parents are murdered by a criminal, sending him on a vengeful path in life. Yes, we'll have to sit through that turning point again. However, this time the crime follows the lead of Bob Kane's original comic books, with a petty thief named Joe Chill pulling the trigger.

After that, director Christopher Nolan (Memento) takes the Bat myth into new territory, explaining Wayne's physical prowess and, as the Joker wondered in Batman (1989), where he gets those wonderful toys. Nolan does have a wonderful cast on his side.

Oscar winners Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, respectively, play Wayne's trusty butler, Alfred Pennyworth, and scientist Lucius Fox, kind of like Q in the James Bond series. Liam Neeson portrays Wayne's mentor during an Asian exile, where ninja cult leader Ra's Al-Ghul (Ken Watanabe, The Last Samurai) teaches martial arts. With a little help from his friends (or maybe foes), Wayne is well-prepared to clean up Gotham City.

Since there must be a damsel in distress, Nolan hit the jackpot by casting Katie Holmes in the role, while she's getting plenty of publicity as Tom Cruise's new girlfriend.

Batman Begins opens in theaters Wednesday. A review will be published Tuesday in Floridian.

[Last modified June 8, 2005, 10:19:02]