Is ‘Batman Begins’ Better Than ‘The Dark Knight?’
This is almost sacrilege to say, but I’ve wondered recently whether or not the first installment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, ‘Batman Begins,’ was the most complete and best movie from start to finish.
‘The Dark Knight’ (2008) is without a doubt one of the best superhero movies of all-time — if not the best. It’s a grounded thriller that reset the bar for comic book movies so this isn’t a thing where I try to argue that ‘The Dark Knight’ is a “bad” movie. It’s not a take for the sake of having a take.
Most people will say that even asking this question is really dumb, but I can’t help to think about this after watching these movies back-to-back while on a return trip from France (There was no ‘Dark Knight Rises’ for the in-flight entertainment options, but that one wouldn’t be a part of this conversation, regardless). ‘Batman Begins’ just felt like a more complete movie and — depending on ones theories of what makes a movie great — one might consider it the superior picture.
Heath Ledger’s Joker character in the second Nolan film is one of the greatest villains of all-time; a performance that blows his contemporaries off the screen. However, it’s for that reason why I question whether or not ‘The Dark Knight’ is truly the most complete film of the three.
Ledger’s turn as the titular villain earned him a posthumous Academy Award and there isn’t a single scene in ‘The Dark Knight’ that isn’t completely owned by the late actor. He’s the best actor on the screen whether he’s sharing the scene with Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, or Aaron Eckhart.
When watching, I wondered if Ledger was the LeBron James of this movie. LeBron James in Cleveland, not Miami. Dragging a film with fairly cheesy dialogue and a bad third act as role players into the Finals. Ask yourself this very important question when you watch the movie: “Is this movie great, good, or just okay without Heath Ledger?” My answer is that it’s just okay and surely no one else is winning a gold statue for acting in it.
This is the movie in which Christian Bale’s Batman becomes a meme-able character. He dials up the disguised voice to a gravely 10 and it’s really hard to not be distracted from the words he’s actually saying. I’ve blogged about what I think is important in embodying the character before and I stand by the concept that an actor has to be both a great Bruce Wayne and a great Dark Knight. I think Bale is not that believable as a playboy Bruce Wayne, just squeaks by as a great Batman, and this can’t be on his Mount Rushmore of performances alongside his Patrick Bateman, Dick Cheney, or Trevor Reznik characters.
My only other nitpick with the movie is the entire third act. This act — I think — begins in earnest following Rachel’s death. Harvey Dent starts to break bad after no one seems to explain to him that Joker tricked Batman into going for Dent and Eckhart’s performance goes from great to incredibly goofy. Eckhart is awesome for about 75 percent of the movie; I cannot stress this enough. However, once he turns heel, he goes from Beacon of Justice to Rage Monster and the anger just feels forced.
This isn’t all Eckhart’s fault, though! Despite it being canon that Harvey Dent is Two Face, ‘The Dark Knight’ tries to shoehorn Two Face into the last 45 minutes. There are easy Game of Thrones Season Eight comparisons to make here and Thrones-heads will know what I’m talking about. Is it plausible that someone could snap and just start killing people by flipping a coin? In the comic book world, sure, but what makes this trilogy great is that it’s grounded in reality and thus makes this turn in such a short amount of time unbelievable when there aren’t any prior actions or behaviors to indicate that he’s capable of being a killer.
The plan B by Joker here is very on brand, but it simultaneously robs us of a conclusion that Ledger’s Joker deserved to take part in. To use another basketball analogy, it’s like benching your best playmaker at the end of a close game. A more suitable ending may have been to further develop Dent’s Two Face to return as a titular villain in the final installment rather than having the self-sacrificing DA suddenly hold a child at gunpoint and deus ex sonar mapping finding Joker’s precise location. (I know the sonar mapping was used earlier in the film, but it feels contrived and the World’s Greatest Detective moniker takes a massive hit here.)
Ledger’s performance is such a juggernaut that it carries ‘The Dark Knight’ past most superhero movies in a power ranking, including ‘Batman Begins,’ but it relies too heavily on him to carry the weight of an otherwise okay movie. Because of this, it’s the best film, but far from the most complete and this is where ‘Batman Begins’ deserves it’s due.
Where ‘Batman Begins’ has an edge from start-to-finish is that it’s an origin story that flows well, introduces us to the character of Gotham, and has a fantastic Michael Caine performance that’s in the territory of Phillip Seymour Hoffman giving great performances in movies that didn’t deserve them. Additionally, the bait-and-switch of Cillian Murphy’s crow with Liam Neeson’s Ras Al-Ghul as the Big Bad is simple and unforced. Christian Bale is also a nascent Batman without a voice that requires a Losagen.
‘Batman Begins’ also flawlessly executes the training montage that’s a requirement in every superhero origin story which is generally the protagonist learning a new skill or understanding their powers. Bruce Wayne simultaneously becomes a world-class ninja and discovers the type of hero he wants to be in the process.
Another edge the first movie has is that one actually believes the earnestness in the love between Bruce and Rachel. I’m not sure if it’s because they swapped Katie Holmes for Maggie Gyllenhaal between the two movies, a lack of chemistry between Gyllenhaal and Bale, or because Rachel ended up loving Harvey Dent, but the B or C plot love story in ‘Batman Begins’ is just so much more believable than it is in ‘The Dark Knight.’
No one in this first movie is throwing 103 mph fastballs like Ledger, but the movie isn’t dependent on any singular actor, scene, or line of dialogue. It stands well enough on it’s own and is therefore a more complete film.
What makes a good or great film is completely subjective, despite what people might tell you. ‘The Dark Knight’ is a great movie to me because of Ledger, it’s watchability, and how well grounded this superhero movie is. If you’re of the mindset that more complete movies are the true greats, then ‘Batman Begins’ is the way you would lean.
