Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Batman Begins
Majestic Bay, July 2005
Christopher Nolan, 2005
Score: 8
As strong of superhero movie as I can recall, with the exception of Spiderman II. As an added bonus, this version of Batman exceedingly conservative (in the Burkean sense). He is Gotham's true natural aristocracy; they're his people to take care of, and the imperialists who think they can and should run the world can go to hell. It came out at precisely the correct time for my Burke lecture in my Summer course. Aside from such conveniences, what I like most about Nolan's film is his knowledge about which genre conventions of the comic book film to remain faithful to and which to jettison. Nolan and Bale make the psychological dimension of this film work very well, and the gadgetry and action are all secondary to that, which makes all that stuff more satisfying than they otherwise would be. A pleasant surprise for Nolan after his pointless, dreary remake of Insomnia.
Christopher Nolan, 2005
Score: 8
As strong of superhero movie as I can recall, with the exception of Spiderman II. As an added bonus, this version of Batman exceedingly conservative (in the Burkean sense). He is Gotham's true natural aristocracy; they're his people to take care of, and the imperialists who think they can and should run the world can go to hell. It came out at precisely the correct time for my Burke lecture in my Summer course. Aside from such conveniences, what I like most about Nolan's film is his knowledge about which genre conventions of the comic book film to remain faithful to and which to jettison. Nolan and Bale make the psychological dimension of this film work very well, and the gadgetry and action are all secondary to that, which makes all that stuff more satisfying than they otherwise would be. A pleasant surprise for Nolan after his pointless, dreary remake of Insomnia.