Catalyst Castle

I've begun watching all of my Batman DVDs in "chronological order". I watched Batman Begins last night, next I'll watch Gotham Knight, then I'll move on to Batman: The Animated Series, and finally Batman Beyond. Batman is my favorite superhero by far, and Batman Begins is an awesome portrayal of the character and his origin.

What I really like about Batman Begins is that it is a deep, character-driven story about one man's determination to become more than just a man - to become an elemental force of justice - and how he masters his own fear and anger to turn those against the criminal element that made him a victim. As Bruce Wayne puts it himself: "I seek the means to fight injustice. To turn fear against those who prey on the fearful." Unlike the majority of superheroes who are either born with their powers or obtain them by accident, Batman is a man who chooses the path of the superhero, and puts forth a tremendous amount of effort to become what he is.

Another thing I like about the movie is it's great writing and casting. Some of the dialog is just so fundamental to the image I have of the Batman character and mythos - it's cool to see how Alfred, Ducard, and even Rachel all helped shape Bruce Wayne’s identity. The acting in this film is superb, and I think they definitely hit the mark with their casting choices. Christian Bale makes a great Batman. He portrays the character and his personal struggles superbly. Michael Caine and Gary Oldman were perfect in their roles as Alfred Pennyworth and Jim Gordon. Gary Oldman is to Jim Gordon as J. K. Simmons is to J. Jonah Jameson (a better match could not be found in both character portrayal and physical appearance). Liam Neeson is also an actor I enjoy watching, and he was well cast for the role of Ducard. Katie Holmes did a fine job as Rachel Dawes, though the film's sequel showed that another actress could do just as well. Rachel Dawes was actually one of the things I like about the film. In what seems to be a continuing trend in superhero films, Rachel is more than just a love interest for Batman, but is an interesting character herself and plays an important role in Batman's fight against crime.

I think Batman Begins did a good job of making Batman believable. We could see how someone with Bruce Wayne's history and resources could become a crime-fighter. I liked how they even gave a convincing explanation for why such a character would choose to don a very theatrical costume with a bat motif. The "Tumbler" is the single most awesome and believable version of the Batmobile. As cool as it would be to play Batman in a movie, I think the best job in the production of this film went to the stunt driver who got to drive that sports-tank.

Roleplaying
Because of my obsession with roleplaying games, I tend to watch most movies and shows with an eye for what I could take from it and apply to gaming. Here are some ideas from Batman Begins.

Superhero Origins: Previously, when I played a superheroes game, we simply jumped right into the action at the point where the heroes were coming together to form a team, and skipped their individual origins. If I ever run a superheroes RPG again, I think it would be cool to tell character-driven origin stories for the superheroes involved.

What Makes a Character: In this movie we see various people and events that shaped Bruce Wayne's character. I think it is cool to play an RPG where characters experience considerable changes as the story unfolds. Dogs in the Vineyard's conflict resolution system makes this kind of character growth a built in function of the rules mechanics, but I think the same kind of character development can be accomplished in any game system, so long as the players make a conscious effort to produce it.