Since 2008, The Dark Knight has been praised as one of the greatest comic book movies of all time. This is understandable, as it blurs the line between superhero movie and gritty crime drama flawlessly. It seems that as soon as the movie was released, it overshadowed its predecessor Batman Begins. There are many elements of TDK that have Begins beat. For example, comparing the villains of Begins to Heath Ledger’s Joker performance almost doesn’t seem fair. Ledger’s Joker performance will forever be known as one of the greatest in a comic book movie of all time. However, when looking at the films as a whole, Begins might just barely win out.
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After the failure of Batman & Robin in 1997, making another film based on the Caped Crusader seemed like a bad idea. There were several continuations and even a few reboots in the pipeline, but these ultimately fell through. It wasn’t until films such as Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man blew up that DC decided it was time to return to Gotham City. Rather than continue telling stories in the Burton/Schumacher universe, it was decided to start fresh. What better way to start from scratch than by going back to the beginning?
Batman’s Story Begins
Warner Bros.
Bruce Wayne’s backstory was shown in passing in the previous films, but it was the basic version. Fans saw Bruce’s parents get gunned down countless times, but they had yet to see the steps young Bruce took to become Batman. Batman Begins set out to do just this, and in the process created the best look at Bruce Wayne as a person. That dark night in Bruce’s life changed him for better or worse. He didn’t just decide at that moment to dress up as a bat and fight crime when he got older. In many ways, Bruce himself died that night as well. This is one of the best aspects of Begins. It doesn’t just show Bruce as this flawless crime fighter. It shows a traumatized young man looking to use his fear for the greater good.
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The road between hopeless child to vigilante was a long one. In fact, Bruce’s first instinct was to kill the man responsible. This brief moment of weakness helped Bruce realize that becoming the thing he hated wasn’t going to help anyone. He had to become something more, and this journey he goes on is what drives the film. Even when he finally dons the cape and cowl, he is far from the hero fans love. He is still flawed and headstrong, and very much reckless. It isn’t until he has to finally truly face his fears that he begins the full transition into Batman.
Another aspect Begins does a bit better is the relationship between Rachel and Bruce. Rachel’s recasting aside, the relationship between these two seems to be written a bit more naturally in the first film. Viewers really get the feeling that these two have known each other for most of their lives. Rachel sees Bruce as a dear friend, and seeing him self-destruct while she is unable to help him is powerful stuff. When she learns his truth and rejects him, it is because she longs for the Bruce she grew up with, not this new persona he has developed. Rachel is great in TDK as well, but there she is relegated to a more “one who got away” role than a childhood friend.
The Importance of the Villains
As stated before, there is no use in directly comparing Heath Ledger’s Joker to anything in Batman Begins. Calling that Joker performance legendary is an understatement, and is unlikely to ever be forgotten. However, when people think of The Dark Knight, they think of Joker far more than Batman. However, when they think of Begins, they imagine the man himself. By this logic, Begins is more of a Batman movie than Dark Knight is. That isn’t to say the villains are bad in Begins, though; far from it in fact.
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Comic accuracy aside, the villains in this film are key in shaping Batman into the crime fighter Gotham needs him to be. Ra’s Al Ghul taught him to blend into his surroundings. To push his strength and intelligence to the limit and then push some more. Above all else, he taught him that not everything is as it seems. Cillian Murphy’s Scarecrow helped him realize that fear is not something to keep hidden; it also shouldn’t be used as a weapon, but as a tool. Joker may have proven to be one of his most formidable foes, but the criminals in Begins were the most important to the development of this incarnation of Batman. They may not elicit the same feelings in the viewer that Joker does, but they should be respected from a storytelling perspective.
The Best Batman Performance
While this is purely opinionated, many fans have begun claiming that Begins is Christain Bale’s best performance as Batman. Because so many different phases of Bruce’s life are shown, Bale must do more than brood, fight, and scream. He has to show vulnerability, desperation, anger, and finally compassion. The Bruce we see preparing to kill Joe Chill versus the one that is standing among the rubble of Wayne Manor is far from the same person. Everything from the line delivery to the way he carries himself is different, and Bale executes it all perfectly.
That isn’t to say Bale doesn’t do a stellar job in Dark Knight, it’s just that his performance in Begins has layers to it that the story in Dark Knight simply doesn’t allow for. Also, the elephant in the room regarding his performance is of course his voice. From the moment the first footage of The Dark Knight was released, people made fun of his overexaggerated voice. To this day when people want to make fun of Batman, Bale’s TDK voice is the one they go for. That isn’t to say his voice isn’t a tad silly in Begins, it is just a bit more restrained and makes some of his lines flow a bit better.
When it is all said and done, each film in The Dark Knight trilogy is fantastic in its own right. Each one certainly has flaws, but the highs of these films are incomparable. There is no denying that The Dark Knight is nothing short of a masterpiece, and will forever be known as such. Batman Begins may not be the better movie as a whole from a cinematic standpoint, but it may be the better Batman movie. Everything that makes the character who he is gets shown here and built upon. Christopher Nolan set out to bring the world of Batman into our world, and the first film excelled on all fronts. Batman Begins has been overshadowed by the success of The Dark Knight, and this is a shame. Regardless of a fan’s opinion on which Batman film is the best, one thing they can’t deny is the greatness of this version of the character.
