Batman Begins

Review by Zachary K. Parker

After watching the Batman franchise weaken with the dim-witted flicks, Batman Forever and Batman and Robin, I was more than willing to look forward to an entire “restart” of the Batman franchise.

Christopher Nolan re-introduces audiences to the Dark Knight through a refreshing and memorable atmosphere unique to his terrific and gritty films, most notably Insomnia and Memento.

Joining film superhero Nolan is screenwriter David S. Goyer who has written for many films in the comic book genre (the Blade trilogy, Dark City, The Crow: City of Angels). Together they have done for the big-screen what Frank Miller did for comic books with Batman: Year One.

As in Batman: Year One, we not only watch Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) become the caped crusader of Gotham City, but we also watch the progress of an often-times neglected, but important character, Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman).

In this story, Jim Gordon is merely a cop battling the ever-increasing evil and corruption of Gotham City. Meanwhile, Bruce has traveled to Asia on a personal journey for meaning after confronting his feelings about his parent’s murder.

He meets Ra’s Al Ghul (Ken Watanabe) and begins training under the tutelage of Ducard (Liam Neeson). Soon Bruce returns to GothamCity, only to find the city’s condition worsened under the cruel (and subversive) control of Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson) and client, Dr. Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy).

With the help of Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes), and his loyal butler, Alfred (Michael Caine), Bruce resolves to face his fears, and impose fear upon the criminals of GothamCity as Batman.

Batman Begins Brilliantly

It’s hard for me to think of a better action film in which so many accomplished actors participated and delivered such solid performances. Bale’s resolute and determined stare heighten the intensity of Batman’s character, and while he may have a few weak points, Bale perfectly conveys Bruce Wayne’s inner struggle and later ferocity as the sinister vigilante.

Whereas the earlier Batman movies emphasized Batman as a rich and talented vigilante, or more truthfully an independent James Bond with a cape, Batman Begins makes the Dark Knight nearly as dreadful and terrifying for audiences as he is to Gotham’s thugs. 

Truly, in Nolan’s mysterious vision, Batman becomes “more than just a man . . . something else entirely.” However, Nolan and Goyer relieve the audiences of any impending burdens due to the darkness of the story by infusing the dialogue with plenty of humor.

Moreover, Nolan provides both characters and the audience with a revitalizing antidote to the morbid despair and suffering that any individual must face. We hear such encouraging things from multiple characters like, “Why do we fall? To learn to pick ourselves up again.” Similarly, in 2 Cor. 1:5-6, the Apostle Paul points to the purpose of suffering as a step of sanctification.

However, in Batman Begins, Nolan has subtly weaved different unchristian points, which deny certain principles of Christianity.

Buddhist Batman (Some spoilers included)

One of the movie’s focuses agrees with the first Noble Truth of Buddhism—the presence of suffering. The movie also agrees with the second Noble Truth of Buddhism where an individual must seek the cause of suffering.

In Buddhism, suffering is caused by desire, which is rooted in ignorance. According to the Buddhist system, the heart equals desire. The heart is foolish because it creates desire, which clouds the mind in ignorance. Nirvana, or peace with the cosmic oneness, can only come through the mind, thus the heart is a serious obstacle to the mind’s enlightenment.

If an individual does not confront their heart, then they remain in a cyclical journey to seek something they cannot grasp. The Third Noble Truth entails finding the end to suffering, usually through transcending one’s current human state (or ending it completely). Then the Fourth Noble Truth incorporates the Eight Fold Path to maintain a healthy spiritual state.

In Batman Begins, Bruce starts out as a boy who “really [fears what] is inside [himself].” Near the beginning, one person identifies Bruce’s central problem as a life pillowed by desire, founded in ignorance:

“Now you think, just because your mommy and your daddy got shot, you know about the ugly side of life, but you don't. You've never tasted desperate. You're Bruce Wayne, the Prince of Gotham, you'd have to go a thousand miles to meet someone who didn't know your name . . . This is a world you'll never understand. And you always fear what you don't understand.”

 

Men who remain lost in their desire and ignorance are portrayed as wicked and foolish. One such villain exclaims his complacency with the suffering of Gotham City and his own spiritual ignorance that causes it by saying, “Ignorance is bliss, my friend. Don’t burden yourself with the secrets of scary people.”

To reach a point beyond his cyclical life of suffering, Bruce begins a journey to “seek” what the movie trailer clearly states is himself, another line of admonition given to Bruce concerns his need to “journey inwards.” Bruce begins to confront his heart (and ignorance), and adheres to the Third Noble Truth of Buddhism by transcending his debased humanity and becoming a mentally superior person—Batman.

Spoiler: When Rachel responds to Bruce’s transformation, she says, “the man who vanished never came back.” In the end, Bruce transcends his heart and its earlier longing for love with Rachel to reach enlightenment (rejection of earthly emotions/concerns, total embrace of spiritual “ideal”).

Another repeated line of thinking in Batman Begins is the focus on the “will” over the heart. In accordance to the Third and Fourth Noble Truth of Buddhism, Bruce must rely on his lack of negative actions or on his positive actions, instead of his heart, to reach Nirvana. Thus he is told, “The training is nothing, the will is everything.”

As Batman, he commits himself to fighting injustice, saying, “It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do, that defines me.” However, it does matter what is underneath, because, in the Christian faith, the will is in bondage to the heart.

It is not our acts that define us, but our relationship to God (recall Cain and Abel). If we enjoy a virtuous relationship with God, then good acts cannot help but come forth. Founding life only on your “will” to work and act positively will end in futility; you might as well say, “Well, as long as I keep the house clean, I don’t have to maintain a relationship with Mom or Dad.”

In fact, Christ instructs us about acts, which spring from man’s heart: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things” (Matt. 12:35). Only evil works can come from an evil heart dedicated to Buddhism.

Even Batman, in a sense, ignores God when one criminal exclaims, " . . . I swear to God!" Batman retorts, "Swear to me!" Therefore, Batman’s intention to cleanse Gotham City of corruption is honorable, but he begins on a twisted foundation.

“Gotham isn’t beyond saving.”

All saving power belongs to God, who uses judges as agents of His will to bring justice to the wicked for the protection of His people. Batman Begins is quite a few steps behind Mark Steven Johnson’s Christian-themed (though still very flawed) film, Daredevil.

In Daredevil, the hero refuses his desire to inflict punishment in favor of protecting citizens from corruption by sending criminals to prison with a fair trial. Daredevil is simply an agent of God, who designs the ultimate punishment of criminals.

 

Batman devotes himself to justice, but it is never quite clear he actually rejects the Eastern “ideal” he had devoted himself to in the movie. He only rejected the goal of one of its fanatics. In fact, Nolan only distinguishes the villain from Batman in that the villain is on a misguided journey for justice.

But on a basic level, both work from the same worldview: “Justice is balance.” Consequently, during a fight, the villain asks Batman, “That seems familiar. Tell me, have you learned anything new?” Batman, then, proceeds to trick and brutally attack his opponent, showing that Batman’s right understanding (first step of the Buddhist Eight-fold Path) of justice is just more effective.

Overall, Nolan has effectively crafted an intense, surreal, and gritty story that surpasses the fairy-tale breeziness of the other Batman movies. On the other hand, Batman Begins appears to be a seditious vehicle for Buddhism.

For Christians, there are certain truths, such as the importance of suffering to refine us in terms of our relationship to God, which Nolan’s Buddhist interpretation cannot escape because his mind might wander elsewhere, but his works reflect his heart—his inescapable knowledge of God.

For that reason, Christians can appreciate certain elements, but must discriminate between the worthy elements and their Buddhist framework. In the end, if Christ is indeed King, then why can’t He reign over and reveal Himself in Gotham City too?