Batman Begins: a Good Start to the Trilogy

The review:

Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins is a good superhero origin story that takes place in a world where women are just not around.* I enjoy Christian Bale’s journey from kid who wanders the world, to interested potential hero of Gotham, to hero of Gotham. I also enjoy the depictions of Gotham presenting as sufficiently grungy, but with that very cool monorail.

The verdict: Good

Cost: free because Matt owns a DVD copy (that is unfortunately pan-and-scan and shows it!)
Where watched: at home

Consider also watching:

• The Dark Knight Rises
• Spider-Man (2002)
• Shazam!

Further sentences:

*I mean really, where are they? There’s Bruce Wayne’s mom, who has maybe one line. There’s Rachel’s mom, who also has one line. And there’s Rachel who does get to speak on a regular basis, but she’s the only one. Oh yeah, and the arm candy. But other women? Nope. Women police officers? None. Women board members who speak? Nope. Women scientists, police commissioners, mayors? Nope, nope, nope. In fact, Christopher Nolan seems to have a pretty strict one-woman-per-movie quota. (See: Following, Memento, Insomnia, this)

Random note: normally, we would have watched a superhero movie for our anniversary. This year, it looked like it would be Black Widow, which would have been our first every anniversary celebration superhero movie starring a woman. But nope. This was our #coronavirusalternative

Questions:

• Could the lack of women present in this film be an example of sexism? Why or why not?
• Do you think that Wayne Enterprises would have filed patents on all that cool gear they developed?

Favorite IMDB trivia item:

Christian Bale’s active dislike of his uncomfortable Batman outfit helped his performance as the Dark Knight as he was perpetually in a foul mood when wearing it.

Other reviews:

• Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
• Ann Hornaday, Washington Post