Spoiler Warning (ie. don't read unless you've seen the film)
So we went to see the new Batman movie to see what all the fuss was about. And yes, it does live up to the hype. It's big names, big action and it goes a bit deeper and darker than most comic book thrillers. But in classic comic book style it was still good versus evil, the law versus the lawless, right versus wrong, the Batman (and the good cops/lawyers) against the Joker (and the bad cops/criminals) in a battle for Gotham's (civilization as we know it) soul.
Bruce Wayne is an ordinary man and a philanthropist who dresses up as a bat at night to do battle with evil. It seems people will still pay money for that! When his parents were murdered, he chose to dedicate his life, time and money to to fighting crime in the city of Gotham. While not as blatant as Superman there are shades of Batman as a messianic figure. He loves justice and loves his people. He works behind the scenes to protect people. He never feels the need to defend himself. At the end when the Joker seems to have won, in an act of grace and forgiveness, Batman sacrifices himself and his reputation for something greater. "That's the point of Batman," Alfred (Michael Caine) tells Bruce Wayne/Batman. "He can make the choice no one else can make, the right one." However, unlike other superheroes, he possesses no superpowers. So while he is fully superhero, he is still fully man and as such is a flawed hero. As a vigilante he is no stranger to committing acts of violence and his jealousy at times clouds his judgement. The shades of right and wrong become blurred. Is violence ok if protecting others from violence? What about using torture to protect lives? Given the right circumstances, does power always corrupt?
Batman's nemesis, The Joker is convincingly evil, has a wicked sense of humour and is completely mad (think somewhere between Hannibal Lecter and Jim Carey in The Mask. Like a comic book version of the movie Heat, The Batman and The Joker try to outmaneuver each other. A lot of hype has surrounded Heath Ledger's recent suicide but it has to be said that he plays 'The Joker' superbly. He has no regard for anything or anyone and is reckless (and interestingly also suicidal) in his quest to terrorise a city. He is an agent of chaos and a criminal mastermind and has an uncanny ability to always be one step ahead. This is a 'post 9-11' Gotham city which raises more dilemmas: Is democracy strong enough to protect a city against an enemy with no rules? Surely a city with Batman in charge, with his 'judge&jury' act and his 'ends-justify-the-means' ethics of torture and total surveillance would be safer? How can you fight against/ protect yourself from a man who has no regard for his own life or the lives of others and whose only goal is to bring terror (?a suicide bomber)?
On the other side Batman is quite similar to the Joker: both insane, obsessive, and masked vigilantes. Unlike Batman and Harvey Dent/Two Face you only see one persona of The Joker and don't know anything of his past story. He drives the plot by being consistently unpredictable. He seems to know people better than they know themselves and (?like Satan) takes it upon himself to bring out the worst in people. He manages to devise situations (?temptations) which push all the characters (Batman, the police, the law, and the citizens of Gotham) to their breaking point (think Kevin Spacey in Se7en). He says: “The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules” and in this sense he makes the most sense by tapping into the cultural zeitgeist. Call it 'postmodern' if you like but it's hard to deny that we live in a society which has rejected God as their moral centre. Each individual must decide for themselves where to draw the line so that the logical conclusion is that we all must allowed the right to pursue our own desires. When you mix moral relativism with total depravity you ultimately get anarchy. The ugly fact is that that this depravity lurks inside of each of us. We (personally and as a society) need a moral grounding and (I would argue) God's help to enable us to rise above our base nature.
The Gotham civilians are fickle. They love batman when things are going well. When not so well, they blame him for the trouble they're in. They need a saviour but they don't really deserve one. One of the final scenes leaves mankind with some hope. Two ferries with convicts on one and "innocents" on the other have the chance to blow each other up to save their own boat. Both groups in the end do the unexpected thing by showing that we also have the ability to choose good. The Batman is an inspiration because he is a man living up to his potential and inspiring others to join him.
I also liked the descent into madness of Harvey "The White Knight" Dent. He started the movie as an agent of justice who made his own luck. The coin he flipped had a head on both sides. He was in control of his own destiny. His personal torture into Two Face caused by the Joker's madness meant that he no longer believed in anything greater than chance. This too as a worldview was shown to be folly.
This is more than just a comic book movie. Although violent (and not for kids) the characters have real depth so that the viewer cares what happens to them. It is definitely not predictable and the cinematography and special effects are awesome. I would definitely recommend it.
So we went to see the new Batman movie to see what all the fuss was about. And yes, it does live up to the hype. It's big names, big action and it goes a bit deeper and darker than most comic book thrillers. But in classic comic book style it was still good versus evil, the law versus the lawless, right versus wrong, the Batman (and the good cops/lawyers) against the Joker (and the bad cops/criminals) in a battle for Gotham's (civilization as we know it) soul.
Bruce Wayne is an ordinary man and a philanthropist who dresses up as a bat at night to do battle with evil. It seems people will still pay money for that! When his parents were murdered, he chose to dedicate his life, time and money to to fighting crime in the city of Gotham. While not as blatant as Superman there are shades of Batman as a messianic figure. He loves justice and loves his people. He works behind the scenes to protect people. He never feels the need to defend himself. At the end when the Joker seems to have won, in an act of grace and forgiveness, Batman sacrifices himself and his reputation for something greater. "That's the point of Batman," Alfred (Michael Caine) tells Bruce Wayne/Batman. "He can make the choice no one else can make, the right one." However, unlike other superheroes, he possesses no superpowers. So while he is fully superhero, he is still fully man and as such is a flawed hero. As a vigilante he is no stranger to committing acts of violence and his jealousy at times clouds his judgement. The shades of right and wrong become blurred. Is violence ok if protecting others from violence? What about using torture to protect lives? Given the right circumstances, does power always corrupt?
Batman's nemesis, The Joker is convincingly evil, has a wicked sense of humour and is completely mad (think somewhere between Hannibal Lecter and Jim Carey in The Mask. Like a comic book version of the movie Heat, The Batman and The Joker try to outmaneuver each other. A lot of hype has surrounded Heath Ledger's recent suicide but it has to be said that he plays 'The Joker' superbly. He has no regard for anything or anyone and is reckless (and interestingly also suicidal) in his quest to terrorise a city. He is an agent of chaos and a criminal mastermind and has an uncanny ability to always be one step ahead. This is a 'post 9-11' Gotham city which raises more dilemmas: Is democracy strong enough to protect a city against an enemy with no rules? Surely a city with Batman in charge, with his 'judge&jury' act and his 'ends-justify-the-means' ethics of torture and total surveillance would be safer? How can you fight against/ protect yourself from a man who has no regard for his own life or the lives of others and whose only goal is to bring terror (?a suicide bomber)?On the other side Batman is quite similar to the Joker: both insane, obsessive, and masked vigilantes. Unlike Batman and Harvey Dent/Two Face you only see one persona of The Joker and don't know anything of his past story. He drives the plot by being consistently unpredictable. He seems to know people better than they know themselves and (?like Satan) takes it upon himself to bring out the worst in people. He manages to devise situations (?temptations) which push all the characters (Batman, the police, the law, and the citizens of Gotham) to their breaking point (think Kevin Spacey in Se7en). He says: “The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules” and in this sense he makes the most sense by tapping into the cultural zeitgeist. Call it 'postmodern' if you like but it's hard to deny that we live in a society which has rejected God as their moral centre. Each individual must decide for themselves where to draw the line so that the logical conclusion is that we all must allowed the right to pursue our own desires. When you mix moral relativism with total depravity you ultimately get anarchy. The ugly fact is that that this depravity lurks inside of each of us. We (personally and as a society) need a moral grounding and (I would argue) God's help to enable us to rise above our base nature.
The Gotham civilians are fickle. They love batman when things are going well. When not so well, they blame him for the trouble they're in. They need a saviour but they don't really deserve one. One of the final scenes leaves mankind with some hope. Two ferries with convicts on one and "innocents" on the other have the chance to blow each other up to save their own boat. Both groups in the end do the unexpected thing by showing that we also have the ability to choose good. The Batman is an inspiration because he is a man living up to his potential and inspiring others to join him.
I also liked the descent into madness of Harvey "The White Knight" Dent. He started the movie as an agent of justice who made his own luck. The coin he flipped had a head on both sides. He was in control of his own destiny. His personal torture into Two Face caused by the Joker's madness meant that he no longer believed in anything greater than chance. This too as a worldview was shown to be folly.
This is more than just a comic book movie. Although violent (and not for kids) the characters have real depth so that the viewer cares what happens to them. It is definitely not predictable and the cinematography and special effects are awesome. I would definitely recommend it.
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