Batman Begins (2005) is the second Christopher Nolan film I've seen from this scratch-off list. Inspired by the titular superhero of the DC Comics universe, the storyline of Batman Begins was the brainchild of Nolan and David S. Goyer. The film took pieces from the storylines of The Man Who Falls, Batman: Year One, and Batman: The Long Halloween. However, the movie's story is not based on one particular comic arc. Batman Begins is the first movie in The Dark Knight trilogy, followed by The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012). The movie's cinematographer, Wally Pfister, won a nomination from the Oscars for Best Achievement in Cinematography, and Batman Begins won a total of 13 awards from 2006-2013. In early 2003, Nolan approached Warner Brothers with the idea of making a new Batman movie based on the character's origin story. He wanted to ground the film in a world comparable to our reality rather than a comic book's fantasy, something that has not been done in by DC Comics movies in the past. Nolan wanted to give the film as much realism as possible, keeping the use of CGI to a minimum and relying on traditional stunts and miniature effects. Batman Begins was Nolan's most extensive project and first major success that could propel him into Hollywood and the 137th spot on IMDb's Top 250 Films list.
The movie stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman with the supporting cast of Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, the late Rutger Hauer, Ken Watanabe, and Morgan Freeman. Since Nolan wanted Gotham City to be recognizable to audiences, he chose to shoot the film in Chicago, London, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Essex, and Iceland, but (like The Matrix) he did not include any significant sights of the cities. The film centers around Bruce Wayne, who Henri Ducard trains from Bhutan's mysterious League of Shadows. Ducard reveals to Wayne that the League plans to eradicate Gotham City to eliminate all crime. This makes Wayne leave the League and return to Gotham to clean up the city on his terms: no murder. With Nolan's choice of rooting the film in reality, a lot of Batman and League of Shadows lore is "lost" or profoundly altered to fit this vision. How is Ra's Al Ghul's death in Batman Begins significant towards developing Christopher Nolan's vision of the DC universe and Batman's debut as Gotham City's guardian? Please note that I will be mentioning some scenes from the final movie in The Dark Knight trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises.
If you've read any DC Comics or watched Arrow from the CW, you know how significant the League of Shadows is. In Batman lore, Ra's Al Ghul has avoided the reaper's scythe countless times through the use of the Lazarus Pit, a naturally occurring 'bath' that can regenerate those who take a dip. Essentially, as long as the Lazarus Pit is nearby, Ra's Al Ghul will remain immortal. Obviously, this aspect is removed from Ra's Al Ghul's character to ground the film in reality as per Nolan's vision. Ducard, however, alludes to being immortal, though we have to assume he was speaking figuratively. Ducard meant that the idea of Ra's Al Ghul would never die. The idea is that there is a master of martial arts somewhere in the world who will do anything to rid the world of crime. Even if it means burning down a city and killing everyone in it. Think Light Yagami from Death Note. Ra's Al Ghul has the same idea. The idea that Ra's Al Ghul will never die is also repeated in The Dark Knight Rises (2012) when Ducard returns to Bruce in a vision asking, "did you not think I would return?" This pleasant exchange of words shows Bruce's abiding paranoia that Ra's Al Ghul may never indeed be dead – something directly inspired by the comics.
The vision tells Bruce that there are many different ways to be immortal. In the narrative, Bruce finds out that Ra's Al Ghul's immortality manifested in the form of a successor who shares the same abilities and ideals. This vision scene is Nolan's way of 'granting' Ra's Al Ghul's 'immortality' without making him a supernatural being with mystical powers. Ducard/Ra's Al Ghul died in the first film due to the train crash, but he rose from the grave through Bruce's hallucination to haunt Bruce. Just as in the comics.
As mentioned throughout this essay, Nolan's world is rooted in realism. There is nothing that exists here without logic. The science behind the costumes and the technology is questionable. Still, I'm not an engineer, so I can't comment on the realism of that aspect. Nolan actively chose to omit the Lazarus Pit to remove the knowledge of immortality in the universe of The Dark Knight trilogy. Ducard still lives on in Bruce's mind and deep subconscious, so is he really dead? This raises a more philosophical and possibly religious point that questions the permanence of death itself. People don't just forget about the dead because someone is physically dead. Their memory "lives on," much like immortals do.
As Ra's Al Ghul kneels and begins to meditate on the falling speed train, Batman flies above, refusing to save him. His action doesn't go against his no-kill rule. Ra's could have jumped behind Batman and tried to save himself; instead, he didn't. He accepted his death. Batman's debut as the Caped Crusader or Gotham's Guardian Angel comes to a close when he saves everyone from a deadly bio-weapon designed to wipe out the whole city. Batman didn't only save the rich and influential; he saved the people in the Narrows and those who no one would raise an eyebrow at otherwise. His introduction serves as a consolation for the people of Gotham. It lets them know that someone is looking out for them. Even though I'm not a fan of superhero movies or action movies in general, I'm glad that I rewatched The Dark Knight trilogy with a fresher perspective. This trilogy is about a lot more than just a guy dressed as a bat.
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