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Five years on , and Christopher Nolan’sDark Knighttrilogyremains the authoritative bench mark for modern superhero movies , withThe Dark Knightby far the most successful of the bunch . The second in Nolan ’s serial publication , The Dark Knightbroke Modern ground in the amusing book genre , taking home two Academy Awards at the 2009 ceremony , and transcending music genre to stand as one of the greatest films of all time .
That is , at least , grant toIMDb , which ranksThe Dark Knightas the quaternary good motion picture ever made , a point ahead of classic such as12 Angry Men , Pulp Fiction , andSchindler ’s List . Nolan is a regular feature in the website ’s Top 250 , with a cool seven entries in the top 100 , including this summer’sDunkirk .
Batman Beginsis not of them . The serial publication opener is all too often dismissed in favor of its far more successful sequel , but commercial success does n’t always tell the whole story . In many room , Batman Beginsis far closer toThe Dark Knightthan the numbers would have you believe . While unquestionably the trilogy ’s most under - apprehended entryway , Batman Beginsmay also be the best of the lot .
Here are15 Reasons WhyBatman Beginsis Better ThanThe Dark Knight .
It’s actually a Batman Story
Taking nothing away from Heath Ledger , whose performance create for one of the most iconic movie villains of all metre , but so much ofThe Dark Knightis pass on the Joker that we go long catamenia without even seeing the nominal character reference . What ’s more , Ledger is so charismatic in the function that Batman ’s scenes are underwhelming by comparison .
On the other mitt , the scoundrel inBeginsonly serve to make Batman himself a more interesting and complex character . Both Ra ’s al Ghul and Scarecrow are essential to the movie ’s root word , as Bruce skin to sweep over the fears of his past .
apropos , Bruce Wayne actually gets more screen time than his alter ego , which would have been an unthinkable plus to Batman movies of the yesteryear , but Christian Bale carriesBatman Beginsso effortlessly that you just even observe .
Bruce Has an actual Character Arc
A side burden ofThe Dark Knightessentially being a Joker moving-picture show is that Bruce Wayne barely has a chance to develop as a character . While Joker pull out the strings , actively hear to turn Bruce from a symbolization of Leslie Townes Hope and into a stone - cold killer , what you end up with is a title character oppose to changes being made around him , while turn down to change himself .
Batman Beginsopens with the expiry of the Waynes , and the rest of the picture show follows Bruce as he assay to have the best his guilt and avenge their deaths . It ’s a bare premise , but it allow so much way for an in force fictional character transmutation . At the same clip , the movie produce the supporting casting as they come to see the Batman for what he really is .
More time for Gordon to shine
AlthoughBatman BeginsandThe Dark Knightshare many of the same actors , the former give better use of its defend plaster cast , offering them the opportunity for more interplay with one another and key theatrical role that are restrain exclusively to Bale and Ledger in the sequel .
Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy complement each other perfectly and fully embrace their roles as “ supporting ” characters . Tom Wilkinson puts in his habitual underrated performance , while Rutger Hauer and Ken Watanabe make up the highly distinguished routine .
Of the resort dramatis personae , Gary Oldman gets an arc of his own as Gordon ’s family relationship with Bruce rise and he turn on the Gotham Police department . Michael Caine start the parental subplot that tie the flick together , and the addition of Morgan Freeman in a comparatively minor role , if nothing else , made passing motion-picture fan sit down up and take card .
Christian Bale at His Best
For some , Michael Keaton remains the single best incarnation of Batman to this day . Adam West is still a fan favorite , while the more adventuresome among you might make a case for Kilmer , Clooney , or Affleck , but Christian Bale leadsBatman Beginslike no role player before him .
Unlike inThe Dark Knight , where Bale has to remain relatively one - note to forestall the flamboyancy of Ledger , Batman Beginsmakes full use of its next Oscar - winning star . Bale is arguably the first to take the duality of the character severely , overact Bruce Wayne ’s vulnerabilities so that his first appearance in the suit not only makes sense for the quality , but seems that much more physically imposing .
It ’s a perfectly valuate functioning across the board , decent down to the infamous Bat - voice , which resemble a gruffer interlingual rendition of Bruce ’s regular articulation inBegins , compare to the off - putting barque of the former films .
A sense of humor
For a photographic film whose villain is called the Joker , you ’d consider there might be more laughs inThe Dark Knight , but besides a few dark moments of levity from the antagonist , the movie offers very small in the way of humor . Bruce Wayne scarcely cracks a smile through the sequel ’s entire unravel - time , which is partly graspable given the Joker ’s control over Gotham , but there comes a point thatThe Dark Knightcompletely forget its comic book origin .
Batman Begins , while by no means as giddy asBatman & Robin , does at least permit its hoagie a abbreviated window in which to enjoy the benefits of being a crime - fighting superhero . This reflects on the lower-ranking characters , such as Commissioner Gordon , whose reaction the first clock time he sees the Batmobile is priceless .
Alfred , meanwhile , who spends the absolute majority of the latter two movies in various fits of tears , is a comparative joke political machine throughBatman Begins .
Holes in Joker’s Plan
The Joker is such a manipulative character that it ’s easy forThe Dark Knightto pass off plot conveniences as honest handling , but there ’s a point of accumulation to which someone can be influenced . For illustration , the Joker has no ascendency over where in the police force station he ’ll be held after his capture .
Despite earmark himself to be caught by Jim Gordon , the Joker put up a convincing fight first , going so far as to turn over a hand truck and fix to torture a vote down Batman .
Either the Joker lie with exactly what ’s going to materialise after his capture ( a stretch even for a funny book moving-picture show ) , or he does n’t signify to get himself caught , and his entire architectural plan relies on the police allow for an officeholder in the elbow room with him .
These piddling details are often miss in the pandemonium ofThe Dark Knight , but it ’s tough not to be distracted by them the more you watch the film .
Scarecrow > Two-Face
InThe Dark Knight , Harvey Dent never quite convey the same scourge as the Joker , and largely because his transformation from model citizen to outright murderer is far too rushed . It ’s hard to believe that he would be so well manipulated by the Joker ( who had just bolt down Rachel ) , and even then , we ’ve seen nothing from Harvey to convince us that he ’s any licit danger to Batman .
HisBatman Beginscounterpart , however , entirely holds his own against Ra ’s al Ghul as the movie ’s other scoundrel . Scarecrow is a perfect match for the theme ( more on that later on ) , and from early on in the photographic film , as he make a mockery of criminal conceiver Carmine Falcone , he is firmly establish as a genuine threat to Batman . supply a scary performance from Cillian Murphy and you have a far superior secondary scoundrel .
Better Action Scenes
The Dark Knight ’s visuals are unbelievable , but it ’s surprisingly short on natural action scene for aBatmanmovie . Batman Beginsticks all the boxful inBatmanaction , first with the inventive presentation of handwriting - to - hand combat that we have come to bear from the character reference . In a good , old - fashioned education collage ( one of the best sequences in the entire trilogy ) , Ra ’s tests Bruce physically in a way that we never see again inThe Dark Knight .
As the photographic film develop , it trust more on Batman ’s gadgets to carry the action , and the Batmobile makes its entry in an intense Salmon Portland Chase scene that neither of the other films could ever quite top . Finally , the train showdown between Bruce and Ra ’s conflate the more personal activity scenes with city - broad outcome for a finale more thrilling and explosive thanThe Dark Knight ’s .
Gotham City
NoBatmanmovie is complete without Gotham City , butBatman Beginsis the only one of Nolan ’s trilogy to limn Gotham as make a spirit of its own . As the trilogy grow in musical scale , the factor that make Gotham unique give style to grander , more generic scenery , and byThe Dark Knight uprise , you could realistically swap out Gotham for any other urban center totally .
For example , Thomas Wayne ’s monorail is absent from both of the sequel , despite playing a lively role in the finale ofBatman Beginsand giving the metropolis a uniquely dystopian esthetic .
Beginsalso paints a much clearer flick of a Gotham City in despairing pauperization of saving , as Bruce spends his first Nox in the suit watching over the Narrows , and seeing for himself the work that call for to be done .
The Fear Factor
There are several different themes run throughThe Dark Knight , such as identity , purchase order and justness , but none is substantially utilized than the theme of fear inBatman Begins . It ’s Bruce ’s childhood fear of bats that makes a grown humankind in a squash racket costume not only credible , but plausibly frightening , as he assay to invoke the Department of Justice that he was refuse .
But Bruce is forced to confront his internal fears as well as his forcible ones , first by training with Ra ’s to become fright itself , and then facing off against Scarecrow , who transforms into the actual reflection of his enemy ’ fear .
Bruce has to overcome fear in all its forms throughBatman Begins , and it ’s not until the movie ’s finale , where he embraces his own fears and practice them in turn to come to reverence into Gotham , that he truly becomes the Batman .
