message in the movies By Rev. Bruce Batchelor Glader

          
Batman Begins   Rated PG-13
Directed by Christopher Nolan. Starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine

Photo © Copyright Warner Bros.
If it weren’t for childhood neuroses, there would hardly be any superheroes to save the day (with the exception of Superman – natch -- who was raised in a loving home).  Batman Begins gives us the “story behind the story” of the caped crusader. Bruce Wayne (Bale), born into wealth, first has a traumatic childhood experience with bats and then witnesses the murder of his parents shortly thereafter.  Obsessed with guilt and anger, he is raised by the family’s loyal servant Alfred (Caine).  When the man responsible for the killing is set free years later, a chain of events leads Bruce Wayne out of the country, first to explore the mindset of the criminal underworld and then to receive training by the leaders of a group called the League of Shadows, a secret society created to fight evil around the world.  Wayne eventually has a falling out with his mentors and returns to Gotham City to begin to create the Batman persona.  And that’s just the first third of Batman Begins, an incredibly entertaining and complex action film, with good guys and bad guys galore, a cool new Batmobile (that is more like a jet-powered tank) and just a touch of a budding romance between Wayne and a childhood friend (now an assistant D.A. and a crimefighter in her own way).  Christian Bale plays Batman seriously, with a deep sense of moral conviction, and the all-star cast is superb.  Gotham City is depicted as an urban cesspool, but not beyond saving, if the right symbol can inspire the good people to do the right thing.  If only we could get people to get this pumped up over Jesus! This is a dark, exiting, and sometimes frightening film, but it is refreshingly idealistic and a big change from the cynical Tim Robbins movies of fifteen years ago (which were interesting in their own way).  I would have preferred a few more quiet moments – your senses are driven into overload by this film – but this summer movie is the real deal, an intelligent adventure fantasy for the entire family (as long as the kids are 10 years old and older).

Pitchfork Rating: Three halos. (A hyperactive, loud, but very entertaining superhero movie, with a moral conscience.)  Two pitchforks. (Brutal and violent fights, a couple of mild cuss words, but way too scary and confusing for young children.)

 

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