Reviewed by Andrew Wooding

Batman Begins
Director: Christopher Nolan (2005)
Distributor: Warner Brothers 
Certificate: 12A

Spoiler notice: If you read on will become aware of how the film ends.

Growing up in the 1970s, I was a Marvel Comics snob. None of that old-fashioned Superman/Batman stuff from DC Comics. I only read and collected the adventures of Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, The Hulk and even Howard the Duck. (I still have the complete set of Howard the Duck comics on a bookshelf in my bedroom!) That all changed in the early eighties when Frank Miller released the four-part graphic novel, The Dark Knight Returns, which was a bold, fresh, exciting new look at the Batman character (and which inspired Tim Burton to make his first Batman film). When this came out I had to totally reassess the Batman character, and I even went back and read some of the old comics, including the very first issues reprinted in a nice glossy hardback which cost me a fortune!

Out of all the DC Comics characters, Batman is arguably the most fascinating. For a start, he is a superhero who doesn’t have any superpowers. He doesn’t have super-strength, doesn’t have X-ray vision and he can’t fly. He is just a human being on a mission to clean up Gotham City from crime, and he will do anything he can to achieve that mission. The mythology of the Batman character is right there in those very first issues of the comics from the 1930s and 1940s: a young boy who sees his parents gunned down in cold blood grows up wanting to avenge their deaths and stamp out crime; he doesn’t have any superpowers, but he works out a lot, learns how to fight and wears an intimidating bat costume to strike fear into the hearts of criminals. In those early comics he even acted as an executioner.

If I have a problem with the Tim Burton movies, it’s that the villains always got the best lines. In Batman Begins, Christopher Nolan has placed Bruce Wayne/Batman at the forefront, and (quite rightly) Batman is the scariest character. If his job is to intimidate criminals, then it certainly worked. I was scared quite a few times when he appeared on the screen, and the villains (the Scarecrow and Ra's Al Ghul) pale in comparison.

One other thing: I saw this film a few days ago, and certain disturbing images have stayed with me. This film fully justifies its 12A certificate, and is definitely not for children – not just for the horror, but because children might be bored rigid by the explorations into the human psyche in the first half of the film (which personally I loved as it provided so much insight into Bruce Wayne and his motivations). At the heart of the film is the intense fear caused by a hallucinogenic gas inflicted on innocent residents of Gotham City. We see what they see, and their images of Batman and the Scarecrow are particularly gruesome.

Being a comic book fan, I preferred the stylishness of the Tim Burton movies and Frank Miller’s series of graphic novels. However, I applaud this more realistic and cerebral take on the Batman legend. It deserves to do well and I, for one, would be very happy indeed if there is a long series of sequels.

THROUGH THE LENS OF CHRISTIAN FAITH 

Some key themes: Justice vs. revenge; if God is a God of justice, what part (if any) should humans play in executing that justice?

“My friends, do not try to punish others when they wrong you, but wait for God to punish them with his anger. It is written: ‘I will punish those who do wrong; I will repay them,’ says the Lord. But you should do this: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink. Doing this will be like pouring burning coals on his head.’ Do not let evil defeat you, but defeat evil by doing good’” (Romans 12 v 19-21).

Bruce Wayne’s father was an idealist and a humanitarian. He was a top doctor and businessman in Gotham City who invested millions in humanitarian causes. He wanted to stamp out crime and poverty in Gotham City by doing good. The young Bruce Wayne understood this, and yet he saw with his own eyes his parents gunned down by just the sort of person his father was trying to help. To Bruce, the biblical principle of “defeat[ing] evil by doing good” seemed not to have worked.

After the death of his parents, Bruce grew up with a different mission. Bruce wanted to defeat evil by understanding evil and then using its methods against itself. He studied all the best fighting techniques, used Wayne Enterprises to supply him with the best in state-of-the-art weapons technology, and used extreme fear tactics on his enemies (director Christopher Nolan shows this very effectively in the film – Batman scared me half to death!).

Bruce Wayne does do some soul-searching, however, and realises that for him the fine line is between revenge and justice. He won’t go as far as seeking revenge, but he definitely wants justice to be done, and he will use fear and intimidation to achieve that. He also chooses to work outside the law, but the main reason for that is this most of the city’s police are in league with (or have been paid off by) the crime lords of Gotham. The main exception to this is Sergeant Gordon, Batman’s one and only ally in the police force.

So, if you were in Bruce Wayne’s shoes, what would you do? Would you forgive your parents’ killer (easier said than done) and continue your father’s work by building great hospitals and making sure that all the homeless and starving are fed? (Bruce Wayne’s father firmly believed that this was the answer to Gotham City’s crime.) Or would you act as an agent of justice, using fear and brute force to get rid of crime on the streets?

Yes, God is a God of justice. But what about his people? Should they play their part in bringing about justice in the world (by instituting such things as the death penalty), or should they just leave everything to God? For the sake of argument, imagine a country where the leaders are completely corrupt and keep their people in poverty and ignorance and maybe even torture them. What would be the most biblical and godly way to stand up to and defeat this injustice? Would you send in aid workers and food packages, or would you fly in soldiers with bombs and bullets to capture and maybe even kill the corrupt leaders? Or would you do both?

How, as a Christian, would you tackle injustice? Is there ever a time for brute force and strong-arm tactics, or should Bruce Wayne have followed the example of his father? There are Christians who believe in both of these options. What would you have done?

Discussion questions....

· Who is your favourite on-screen Batman: Adam West, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney or Christian Bale?

· Have you ever wanted to take revenge on someone? If so, why, and what eventually happened?

· Is there ever a situation where it is acceptable for Christians to use violence, or even to carry out the death penalty?