Legend, Mr. Wayne

Why "Batman Begins" is one of the most influential and Catholic-themed movies since 2000

At midnight July 20, 2012, I watched The Dark Knight Rises, the epic final chapter in Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Trilogy.” To say it was an event is an understatement. No other movie before, or since, captured my anticipation quite like this film — i.e. following every news story, analyzing every minor leak, or even participating in the movie’s soundtrack (yes, that happened! I submitted a vocal recording for this theme).

Sadly, the final salvo didn’t — nor could it ever — completely satisfy my expectations. The Dark Knight Rises is still a quality film (apart from the gaping plot holes and leaps of logic), but what I appreciate is how it fully realizes themes and motifs established in the first act, Batman Begins (2005) — those being true justice, overcoming fear, self-sacrifice, law and order, and father-son relationships. For me, as a Catholic, the films are rich in lessons for how we can approach faith, but more on that below.

The trilogy, as a whole, is considered one of the greatest in film history, revolutionizing how moviemakers, audiences, and critics viewed superhero movies not only as blockbusters — which these films collectively grossed more than $2 billion — but they legitimized the genre as an avenue for art and character drama. It’s impact on the cultural landscape is often credited to the second act — The Dark Knight — with Heath Ledger’s now iconic Academy Award-winning performance as the anarchist Joker.

Yet, even though The Dark Knight is collectively known as the watershed film in the cultural consciousness — even so far as expanding the Best Picture nominations at the Oscars when it was snubbed — it is, in fact, more of a beneficiary of the truly influential first act in the franchise.

No other film within the past 20 years has been more impactful, for better or worse, on how movie studios operate and what fans expect from popcorn, superhero movies. And, it is my belief, that no live-action Batman film has presented the character of Bruce Wayne and Batman better.

The Making of a Legend

The road to Batman Begins reaching the screen was rather complicated. Prior to 2005, Warner Bros. was developing a fifth Batman movie following the critically lambasted Batman & Robin. The original sequel, Batman Unchained was to be directed by Joel Schumacher, who helmed the previous entries Batman Forever and the aforementioned Batman & Robin. But the reviews and box office curbed the studio’s enthusiasm for another Schumacher-led film.

There were other projects Warner Bros. considered such as Batman: Dark Knight, a Robin spin-off, an adaptation of Batman Year One, a live-action Batman Beyond, and even a Batman vs Superman film. Yet all of those were scrapped, including a Joss Whedon movie pitch, for the indie-wunderkind Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer’s presentation of a darker, more realistic tone. (You can watch more of the behind-the-scenes documentary below)

However, the idea of rebooting a major franchise IP was not as common as it is today. There are previous examples, such as the Godzilla movies or you could even consider James Bond every time a new actor is hired to play the titular M-I6 secret agent. But Batman Begins was different. Reboot, in the movie lexicon, had not made its mark and attempts at rebooting franchises, like Tim Burton’s Superman with Nicolas Cage, failed to get off the ground. So this was a gamble, especially in the hands of an indie-director.

Now this practice is commonplace. Look at every Marvel, DC, Star Wars, or other major movies produced in the past decade or so. Most of the directors are plucked from indie film obscurity to helm these franchises — like Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World), Rian Johnson (Star Wars: The Last Jedi), Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnorak and Thor: Love and Thunder), Patti Jenkins (Wonder Woman) — I could go on. As for the rationale behind this strategy, studio control over a naïve creator? Perhaps, but that’s beside the point.

What also became commonplace with superhero films after Batman Begins was “grounding” characters in the real world. In the trilogy’s first act, Nolan builds a Gotham as a realistic, dark, seedy hell-hole like other crime-ridden cities; but he also treats the drama with genuine sensitivity with characters having their own fears, motivations, challenges, and an imbued sense of morality — even if it’s deformed, such as Liam Neeson’s Ra’s Al Ghul. It rejected falling into the cartoonish (or comic) nature of previous comic book adaptations. Batman Begins raised the bar, even more so than other darker, more serious comic books movies like Batman (1989) and X-Men (2000).

Unlike previous films, the movie asks, and answers, this essential question: why would Bruce Wayne dress up like a bat to battle the criminal underworld? It made Bruce Wayne — the man under the cape and cowl — the focus, exploring his pains and fears more fully to the point where the audience believes Batman is a necessity to defend the people of Gotham. And prior to Batman Begins, Bruce Wayne’s years between him witnessing his parents’ death and him flying across Gotham’s rooftops were not explored in live action movies.

Essentially, Nolan and company created a new mythos in the public perception for one of America’s most beloved characters, which is a rare feat, especially in the comic book universe where every nook and cranny has been explored and re-explored ad nauseum. Every superhero movie since has asked that question of “why would this character risk their lives in this persona?”; however, Batman Begins is the most well-rounded, coherent exploration of the depths of a hero’s heart.

And moviegoers responded. Myself included. The film grossed more than $370 million worldwide and nabbed an Oscar nomination for Cinematography — which itself was a leap forward. Generally, superhero movies were nominated in technical/special effects categories. Batman Begins was recognized for its lighting, framing, blocking, and movement of the camera, all of which is encompassed in cinematography. It’s considered more artistic than special effects. So, is Batman Begins a work of art?

But when one movie is successful in Hollywood, other studios rush in to mimic and/or outright plagiarize that film’s style — without quite understanding why it was successful in the first place. As I mentioned before, Batman Begins influenced the explosion of the reboot phenomenon throughout the late 2000s and 2010s (i.e. The Incredible Hulk, the Planet of the Apes series, the Jurassic World trilogy, Man of Steel, Star Trek, The Amazing Spider-Man etc.) Even the Batman character has been rebooted several times! All of these efforts can trace their ancestral lineage to Batman Begins. For that alone, the 2005 film is one of the most influential movies in recent memory.

And while The Dark Knight was certainly duplicated and ripped-off, the seeds were already planted by its predecessor.

“Why Do We Fall?”

Perhaps unintentionally, Batman Begins — and “The Dark Knight” trilogy as a whole — is not only one of the most conservative blockbusters since 2000, but also one of the most Catholic-themed. (Although The Lord of the Rings franchise certainly eclipses Nolan’s film in the latter category)

The movie begins, not with the death of Bruce Wayne’s parents, but months prior to that cataclysmic event. As a young boy, the heir to the Wayne fortune is playing finders-keepers with his childhood friend, Rachel Dawes. After stealing an arrowhead from her hand, he hides on a covered well, which snaps underneath his weight, and he falls into a bat-invested cave. Immediately, the viewer is shown the path to which selfishness leads — and the retribution. A literal descent into sin.

But how does Bruce Wayne, even as a child, react to his mistake? After being lifted from the well by his father, the young boy returns the arrowhead to Rachel and his father imparts on him this wisdom: “Why do we fall Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.”

Aren’t you reading too much into a comic book movie? Perhaps. However, this theme is evident throughout the film, with parallelisms toward the end of the second act, when Bruce Wayne is on the brink of despair, his adopted father figure — Alfred, his trustworthy butler — echoes the same line. Even then, Bruce replies, “You still haven’t given up on me.” Alfred, with a grin, declares, “Never!” Isn’t that the relationship between God and man: no matter how many times we may sin, He never gives up on us?

This father-and-son dynamic is another major theme throughout the film, and, once again, can be viewed through a Catholic lens. Thomas Wayne is a caring, loving, attentive father — showing his son that philanthropic charity is vital to the elevation of the community. In one scene, the Wayne family rides on a elevated train transportation system, constructed to give the unfortunate an opportunity to commute safely and cheaply. The corruption, or loss of this charitable vision, is evident later in the movie when the trains are graffitied and are scenes of crime, rather than hope — representing the spiritual decay of the city.

Every motivation Bruce has to don the batsuit can be derived from his father — not only as an outlet for his grief or for the sheer preservation of “everything his family and father built” (to which Alfred points out: “The Wayne legacy is more than bricks and mortar”), but to fight for Gotham’s soul. To become a symbol of hope, and lead people out of despair. Isn’t it our Christian duty to do likewise? To be the face of Christ to those who need it most?

Bruce is a weak man before becoming Batman. He initially has a distorted view of justice — wishing to enact revenge on the man who killed his parents, to which he nearly accomplishes, almost losing his soul forever. Rachel explains the difference between justice and revenge, yet he doesn’t fully grasp the lesson until he roams the criminal underworld, trains with the League of Shadows, and is given a moral choice: to behead a criminal or not. To commit the act, he would be fully initiated into the League of Shadows. However, killing the thief shatters any separation between those who seek justice and criminals. Essentially, Bruce responds to his better angels rather than submitting to “an eye for an eye” mentality. In this way, the film demonstrates the higher ideal — that God’s sense of justice is not retribution, but mercy.

Another constant theme in Batman Begins is the line, “It’s not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.” When first uttered in the movie, Rachel uses it as a reprimand toward Bruce who is caught swimming in a hotel “pool” with floozy women. Unbeknownst to her, the swimming act is a ruse — to hide any suspension Bruce Wayne could ever be Batman. Yet, the statement hits Bruce to his core, filling him with shame, causing him to be self-reflective.

In the film’s third act, after saving her and a young boy from a group of Arkham Asylum inmates, Bruce, as Batman, repeats the line to Rachel when she asks to tell her his name in case he dies. This theme, having the will to act, echoes the Biblical, “Faith without works is dead.” Bruce’s self-sacrifice — utilizing his gifts for others while risking his own life for the people of Gotham — is the most Christ-like example of heroism in a comic book movie, more so than others that have followed (the closest is Iron Man in Avengers: Endgame). He is only a man, not imbued with special gifts (healing abilities, spider-like powers, the power to wield lightning, etc.), but he has the tools and training to save others — he only needs the will to act.

That is the ultimate hero’s journey: to sacrifice oneself for someone else. Aren’t we called to give our talents and treasures for others? All we need is the will.

While not overtly Catholic, Batman Begins is a major blockbuster movie that explores Christian themes more so than others in the past 20 years. Rather than viewing it as a comic book movie, where a man dresses up as a bat, it reveals something more human — and therefore, more transcendent. In this way, Batman Begins is the greatest live-action representation of the character. It’s the type of movie I wish Hollywood had more courage to make nowadays: an agenda-less, human, spiritually-enriching movie.

He just happens to be wearing a cap and cowl.

Although, the greatest Batman movie moment may be this scene:

Want to hear my ramblings on the most recent Batman reboot? Listen to the podcast episode about “The Batman” here.