Christopher Nolan's BATMAN BEGINS tribute thread 0

[Bosco685]

The movie that proved a practical design serious comic book production could reinvigorate a tired brand name.

How Christopher Nolan Changed The Game With ‘Batman Begins’

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Superhero films have firmly established themselves as a staple of modern cinema in the last decade or so – for better or for worse and certainly to varying degrees of quality. But there’s one film that is seldom acknowledged for its overall influence on the current status quo. One that shifted the entire narrative of superheroes in cinema, thereby legitimising an entire genre. That film was Batman Begins by Christopher Nolan.

 

With Batman Begins, Nolan introduced layers of realism to a fictional character that had firmly remained in a realm of fantasy. No longer were audiences watching an extensive Wikipedia entry of a person with endless skillsets, a convoluted history, and conveniently framed achievements a-ha his way out of ridiculous scenarios; against villains who elicited more eye-rolling than fear, no less.

 

Under Nolan’s direction, Christian Bale didn’t “play” Bruce Wayne/Batman – he became Bruce Wayne/Batman. We connected with the textured psychology of it all – his loss, anger, fear. We perceived the constructed universe of Gotham City and beyond as if it were our very own world with tangible consequences. A world involving hard decisions, nuanced morality, solutions that weren’t found in an impossible tool belt and virtually limitless funds, either – although let’s be honest, it helped.

 

Bale’s incarnation of Bruce Wayne/Batman had to learn how to fight, how to take a punch, how to fall, get back up again, practice and hone his tradecraft before our eyes, etc. He had his own flaws to overcome. He had difficult choices to consider. At the core of it all, he was a human being. A human being with an inhuman drive, sure, but human nonetheless. And there’s nothing more entertaining than watching a human become something more – overcoming the set obstacles with nothing but their own two hands.

 

 

[ThothAmon]

The few thousand Batman and Detective Comics I own thank Nolan for their guaranteed relevance for another couple generations. 

[Ken Aldred]

It’s actually my favourite of the trilogy. 

[Bosco685]

On 9/6/2024 at 4:41 PM, Ken Aldred said:

It’s actually my favourite of the trilogy. 

I really like the film a great deal. And all the characters that pop up in a relevant way throughout the story. I just had no idea how impactful it was beyond the Batman/Dark Knight franchise.

5 Ways 'Batman Begins' Changed Hollywood Forever

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1. It Elevated Superhero Movies as an Art Form

Sure, superhero movies have always been beloved just as superheroes have. However, they hadn't really been considered these great works of art worthy of Academy Award recognition until Batman Begins came along. The critical success of Batman Begins helped bring in the explosion of superhero movies a few years later, which we are still in the midst of today.

 

Batman Begins totally revolutionized the way a movie could tell a superhero's origin story. The earlier moments of the film are told in a much less linear fashion than other superhero movies, moving from Bruce's present in an Asian prison to the past of his childhood to the recent past of returning to Gotham after a stint at college within the first quarter of the film or so.

 

In that regard, Batman Begins took its title quite literally. The whole film is basically an origin story showing us how Bruce Wayne came to be the Caped Crusader we know and love. We don't even get to see Bruce do his thing as Batman until about an hour into the film. Even more importantly than that, Batman Begins showed us that a freak accident or the death of a loved one don't have to be the only catalysts for a hero's birth. Yes, Batman Begins shows us the trauma the death of Bruce's parents brought to his life. However, the Batman persona was really born out of Bruce's fears and a desire to conquer them, which is a running theme throughout the movie. Batman Begins showed us that superhero movies don't just have to be about costumes, fight scenes and special effects. There can be a deep psychological element to them as well.

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2. It Made Everything Darker

Before Batman Begins, superhero movies were flashy action-adventure romps that were generally seen as light-hearted fare. However, Nolan took Batman Begins into darker territory, rooting Batman's world in more reality, and a bleak one at that, with brutalist set design and muted, low-contrast cinematography.

 

Of course, Batman Begins wasn't the only film around that time to help bring a more melancholy vision of comic books to the big screen. Frank Miller's Sin City released that same year and James McTeigue's V for Vendetta the following year helped usher in a darker, more brooding and more cynical view of the world on film.

 

However, Nolan's style has most often been cited by future filmmakers tackling other big-budget films, and not just superhero ones either. In fact, movies such as X-Men: First Class, Casino Royale and Terminator Genisys have all taken inspiration from Batman Begins. The upcoming Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, directed by Zack Snyder, even looks like it's going to try to capture the same essence as the Dark Knight trilogy. Nolan set a new standard for what a Hollywood blockbuster can be today to the point where every franchise reboot is expected to have the same level of grittiness and complexity as Batman Begins.

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3. It Rebooted the Reboot Craze

Batman Begins wasn't the first movie reboot, but it was one of the earliest to get really big, serving as inspiration for movie studios to churn out the countless reboots we see hit the silver screen these days. Batman Begins struck the perfect balance between keeping the flavor of Batman's legacy while still having enough of its own unique style to stand completely on its own. Few franchise reboots since have been able to capture the same level of quality and prestige as the Dark Knight trilogy, but they'll sure continue to try in the foreseeable future.

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4. It Revived the Character of Batman

Batman Begins was hardly Batman's first appearance on the big screen, although we've been trying to forget about 1989's Batman, 1992's Batman Returns, 1995's Batman Forever and 1997's Batman & Robin ever since they premiered. Tim Burton's Batman was probably the most successful out of this quartet, but they all have that element of camp of the iconic 1960s Batman television series, which, by the time Batman & Robin came out, made the superhero just seem like a joke.

 

With a film universally deplored by fans as Batman & Robin was, you might think no studio would want to risk making a movie about the Dark Knight ever again. However, Warner Bros. bet on the right director and star with Batman Begins. Nolan's verismo and morose style coupled with Christian Bale's nuanced performance as a more troubled and vulnerable superhero breathed new life into Batman and redeemed the character after those cinematic missteps. Batman Begins showed us a Batman completely different from what we had ever seen before, making us fall in love with him onscreen all over again.

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5. It Put Christopher Nolan on the Map

Before Batman Begins, Nolan was a respected filmmaker, having written and directed 2000's Memento, but he was nothing like the auteur and box office juggernaut that he is today. Batman Begins gave Nolan an outlet to showcase his talent and distinct point of view, providing a launchpad for a career that would later give us The Prestige, Inception and Interstellar, in addition to the final two movies in the Dark Knight trilogy. Batman Begins put Nolan on the world's radar, and we've been curious to see what he will think of next ever since.