Batman Begins

 I recently watched Batman Begins and rediscovered a great movie. Much of this installment in the series is exactly what you would expect. The back story is still there, with a young and privileged Bruce Wayne watching his parents murdered in front of him. His quest for justice begins here, and his training continues in the mountains of Asia.

I am intrigued with the ideas brought forward in this movie about fear. Starting with his fall in the abandoned well, Bruce was terrified of bats. The last words of his father to Bruce were, "don't be afraid". As he evolved, he learned to take his fears and use them to his advantage, very literally. When asked why become batman, his answer was telling, "Bats frighten me. It's time my enemies shared my dread." Bruce was driven very much by his fear that his parent's death was his fault. Fear is something we all relate to, and the idea that we can take something that is a weakness and learn to use it as a strength is an idea I am personally drawn to.

My favorite line from the movie was delivered by Rachel Dawes.  She says to Bruce:  "Deep down you may still be that same great kid you use to be. But it's not who you are underneath, it's what you do that defines you." I think this was another prominent message of the movie. We were given glimpses into the good things Bruce's father had done that defined his character. Bruce learned to put his desires for justice into actions that made a difference.

As Bruce struggled with his feelings about the death of his parents, his desire for revenge became powerful. This lead him to attempt to murder their murderer, Chill. This was a tense part of the movie for me. As we come to understand him and his dark and tortured soul, we are rooting for him to rise above -- to take the negative forces and bring something good, become something better. Bruce doesn't choose this, but instead Chill is murdered in the courthouse in front of him. This was an interesting twist, as the expected would be for Bruce to overcome his desire for revenge and put down the gun. Instead, we are left with an understanding that there is still a very deep and dark place inside of him that is unresolved. That is an important part of the character of Batman, and something that is elemental to all well-done Batman movies. Batman is always a tortured soul seeking to be something better.

Bruce Wayne (to the League of Shadows): You're vigilantes.
Henri Ducard: No, no, no. A vigilante is just a man lost in the scramble for his own gratification. He can be destroyed, or locked up. But if you make yourself more than just a man, if you devote yourself to an ideal, and if they can't stop you, then you become something else entirely.
Bruce:  Which is?
Henri: Legend, Mr. Wayne ...

Batman will, of course, become legend and rise above the role of vigilante.