Batman Begins

Director: Christopher Nolan

Screenwriters: Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer

Released: June 17, 2005

Method of Screening: Blu Ray

It’s been a few days – the Easter holidays and a serious cold got in the way of me doing this one, but I finally managed to find the time to pull out the old Begins and give it a watch. This begins one of my favourite trilogies – one I will admit I am somewhat of a fanboy of, even if Rises was disappointing in a lot of ways.

Cast

Bruce Wayne / Batman – Christian Bale

Ra’s al Ghul – Liam Neeson

James Gordon – Gary Oldman

Alfred Pennyworth – Michael Caine

Rachel Dawes – Katie Holmes

Dr. Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow – Cillian Murphy

Lucius Fox – Morgan Freeman

BEGINNING

ACT 1

Bruce and Rachel are introduced in the past – as children, showing their playful relationship and displaying how long they’ve been friends. Bruce snatches an arrowhead from Rachel, but ends up falling into a boarded up well, landing in a cave, surrounded by bats. At which point, we transition into the present – Bruce is locked up in a prison, dreaming of a life more innocent. He ends up getting into a brawl with a bunch of inmates, incapacitating six of them on his own. We’re right off the bat (pun intended) introduced to who Bruce is, and we know his physical strength – within three minutes.

Plot Point 1 – INCITING INCIDENT (~5 minutes in)

After being tossed into solitary confinement, a mysterious man named Ducard reveals himself as part of the League of Shadows, and offers Bruce the means to train himself. To become “more than just a man, something else entirely. A legend.” In five minutes, Bruce’s word is turned upside down by this man who can offer him the means to fight injustice.

Plot Point 2 (~14 minutes in)

Once Bruce arrives at the League of Shadows headquarters, we flash back to his childhood, where he remembers the night his parents were murdered in front of him. At Bruce’s insistence, he and his parents left the opera, and Joe Chill – a homeless criminal, robbed and murdered them. Now we know the reason why Bruce wants to fight injustice.

*It’s worth noting that some may see this as the inciting incident – it’s what turns Bruce’s life upside down and leads him down the road to eventually become Batman, but the reason I don’t is because I consider the true story of Batman Begins to be the present timeline – while this is all background information. Bruce’s goal for the film is to strike fear into the hearts of criminals – when Ducard shows up, that’s what allows him to begin working that way.

Plot Point 3 (~28 minutes in)

In another flashback sequence, we see Bruce watch Chill die. This is the reason why Bruce felt powerless – he wanted revenge, and he could never get it. He planned to kill Joe Chill, but Falcone beat him to the punch. And when Rachel finds out Bruce was planning that, she tells him that his father would be ashamed of him – prompting Bruce to run away from Gotham, and vow to never kill (demonstrated when he tosses the gun into the water).

Plot Point 4 – KEY INCIDENT – End of ACT 1 (~37 minutes to ~40 minutes in)

After passing his training, Bruce is ordered to execute a criminal by the League of Shadows, and finds out that they plan to destroy Gotham City and kill millions. Bruce, remembering his promise to himself, turns on the League, and destroys their fortress (although in my opinion, I’m fairly certain he killed a LOT of League Members here, including “Ra’s al Ghul”). He saves Ducard though. And now, he’s ready to go home.

ACT 2

Plot Point 5 (~42 minutes in)

While on a plane with Alfred, Bruce explains his plan, knowing that as Bruce Wayne he’s useless – destructible. But as a symbol, he can be indestructible – something terrifying, something elemental. We now know his plans.

Plot Point 6 (~46 minutes in)

After seeing a Bat in the grounds and finding the old cave, Bruce climbs down into it with a light. As if the fates are calling him, a horde of bats surround him, and rather than cringe in fear as he had in the past, he embraced them, facing his fear – turning his fear into his weapon.

Plot Point 7 (~54 minutes in)

After a few other scenes introducing us to Bruce’s methods of obtaining weaponry and vehicles (via Lucius Fox at Wayne Enterprises), Bruce uses some of that tech (but not quite in Batman garb yet) to break into James Gordon’s office, and holds him at gun-point – er, stapler point. Gordon is able to give Bruce some intel on the docks shipments, and Bruce escapes by jumping off the roof. This begins the uneasy relationship between Gordon and Batman (although it gets easier).

Plot Point 8 (~1 hour, 3 minutes in)

“I’m Batman”. The iconic moment where our masked vigilante finally reveals his face. After taking out a bunch of mobsters, he hands Falcone to Gordon on a silver platter – that is, on a giant spotlight, forming a “Bat signal”. Batman’s and Gordon’s alliance gets a little easier – as Gordon sees that this guy’s actually here to help. Batman is now known among the city.

Plot Point 9 – MIDPOINT (~1 hour, 10 minutes in)

I consider the moment where Bruce bumps into Rachel outside the hotel the midpoint of the film. It’s at this point that Bruce sees that their may be consequences to his actions, as his playboy persona begins to affect his real relationships – especially the relationship to the girl he loves. She tells him that “it’s not who you are underneath, but what you do that defines you”

Plot Point 10 (~1 hour, 18 minutes in)

Batman investigates an apartment in the Narrows, finding out that that’s where some of the drugs were going. However, Dr. Crane / Scarecrow, from Arkham Asylum (who we know by this point is involved in this whole thing) is also there to burn some evidence. When Bats makes his move, trying to take them out, Crane sprays him in the face with a weaponized gas – a hallucinogen with similar effects as a gas the League of Shadows made him inhale. Bats is lit on fire and barely escapes. This moment is where Bruce and Alfred realize how vulnerable Bruce still is, and we see that these villains may be closer to each other than we thought.

Plot Point 11 – END OF ACT 2 (~1 hour, 26 minutes in – ~1 hour, 38 minutes in)

After Bruce is healed by Fox and Rachel informs him that Falcone was transferred to Arkham by Dr. Crane, Bruce suits up. However by the time he arrives, Crane has already gassed Rachel, and when Batman interrogates him, Crane reveals that he’s working for “Ra’s al Ghul” – who Batman believes to be dead. After summoning a horde of bats to back him up (a callback to Frank Miller’s amazing Batman: Year One) Batman saves Rachel with the help of Gordon (although he nearly kills about 200 cops on this way to the batcave. When she awakes, he gives her the antidote concocted by Fox to get to Gordon.

ACT 3

Plot Point 12 (~1 hour 43 minutes – 1 hour 48 minutes)

At Bruce’s party, Ducard appears, revealing to Bruce that he is actually Ra’s al Ghul, and that the League of Shadows is still planning to destroy Gotham. The League burn down Bruce’s home and Ra’s leaves Bruce for dead.

Plot Point 13 (~1 hour 57 minutes in)

After the League unleash their plan (to vaporize Gotham’s water supply using a microwave emitter, releasing Crane’s fear toxin driving everyone violently mad) Batman swoops into the Narrows, where Arkham is, and saves Rachel from near death. At this point, he repeats to her something she said to him at the hotel lobby – “It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me”. She knows who he is.

Plot Point 14 – CLIMAX (~1 hour 59 minutes – 2 hours, 4 minutes)

Batman and Ra’s al Ghul get into their final confrontation on the elevated train, as the microwave emitter vaporizes water along the way. Meanwhile, in the Tumbler / Batmobile, Gordon blows out the final supports on the train. Batman defeats Ra’s, but instead of killing him, he chooses not to save him, and flies out of the train – allowing the train to plummet to the earth and explode, killing Ra’s al Ghul and saving Gotham.

Ending

Concluding a side plot, Bruce takes over his company again, and meets with Rachel at the burned down Wayne Manor, where they express their love for one another, but Rachel knows that as long as Bruce needs Batman, they can’t be together. Meanwhile, Bruce and Alfred devise plans to rebuild the house, brick for brick – and perhaps upgrade some spots, specifically in the south-east corner, where the cave lies.

In a stinger, Gordon and Batman meet on top of the GCPD, where Gordon now has a batsignal set up – confirming their trusting relationship, and Gordon hands Bats an evidence bag – with a Joker card. Batman says “I’ll look into it” and soars off into the night.

—

I think it’s safe to say that I love this film and have since the day it was released. It restored my faith in a theatrical Batman, and similar to Batman ’89 – it paved the way for serious super hero films again (I honestly don’t think that the Marvel Cinematic Universe would be in the place it is had Begins not been made.) And it started one of my favourite trilogies.

Script

I could only find an undated script online, and it seems pretty accurate compared to the film, albeit containing some differences, specifically:

Some of Ra’s al Ghul’s awesome dialogue is not there (ex. “If you devote yourself to an ideal, you become something else entirely” is not in it)

A scene shows that Bruce used Rachel’s car to hide his gun while Joe Chill’s proceeding occurred, and he goes back to get it after (kind of explains how he could have a gun in a courtroom… he simply doesn’t have it yet) I’m not sure if this was shot… Nolan is kind of notorious for never releasing outtakes or deleted scenes.

Bruce meets Falcone outside the club, after attempting to bribe a bodyguard

Rachel’s name is not Rachel Dawes, but rather Rachel Dodson.

In the film Bats gives Rachel photos of the judge and a hooker as leverage – in the script we actually see Bruce get these photos.

It’s the Judge that Batman takes out of the limo when he first shows up – not Falcone, because he’s in a nearby office with Crane and Flass. Crane is present during the Docks takedown scene. Then, rather than save Rachel from thugs on the train, Batman visits her at her apartment to give her photos and such.

The District Attorney isn’t the one who’s killed finding the microwave emitter, but rather some random customs agent.

A bunch of dialogue changes

SCRIPT (undated)