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This year, movie screens are rife with references to The Wizard of Oz. We've already seen a tin man (Star Wars, Episode III), and in the months to come, we'll see stories of a meddling and reclusive wonderland genius (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, July 15) and a not-so-cowardly lion (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, December 9).

But this week belongs to the scarecrows.

The first scarecrow is a fearsome villain wielding dangerous hallucinogens in Christopher Nolan's brilliant new Batman Begins, in which Nolan wrests the decrepit Batman franchise from the influence of lousy storytellers and establishes his reign as the finest Batman director of all.

The second is a pogo-jumping broomstick with a turnip head and top hat in Hayao Miyazaki's fantastic animated feature Howl's Moving Castle.

First … to the Bat Cave.

When Tim Burton's Batman and Batman Returns brought the Dark Knight to the big screen, he'd transformed the comic book hero and his various enemies into an entertaining freakshow. Burton didn't seem terribly interested in plot; he was preoccupied with creating excuses for the Bat, the Cat, the Joker, and the Penguin to flaunt outrageous costumes and even more outrageous egos. But that wasn't so bad compared to the embarrassing and kitschy Joel Schumaker-helmed editions, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin.

All the while, comic book fans dreamed of a more serious Batman film, one along the lines of the favorite comic book narrative by Frank Miller known as Batman: Year One.

In Christopher Nolan's hard-hitting, all-business, fast-paced Batman Begins, bat-fans get their wish. It's a terrific movie featuring excellent performances from first-rate cast—Liam Neeson (better than he's been in years), Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Tom Wilkinson (so greasy, he'd scare Morgan Spurlock), and Gary Oldman. And Christian Bale, a fine actor below Hollywood's big-name radar, is more convincing, interesting, and compelling as Bruce Wayne and Batman than Clooney, Kilmer, or Keaton ever were. And Katie Holmes does just what's required of her as our hero's childhood sweetheart.

Nolan's film is also the most rigorously plotted, psychologically complex, and intellectually challenging of the lot. Like the recent Star Wars episode, its mythic conventions lend themselves to political interpretation. And it concludes with a bold move that tells us Nolan and his co-writer, David Goyer of the Blade movies, are disregarding the previous Batman films, fully intending to recreate Gotham's famous fiends according to their own specifications. Most fans will be thrilled and satisfied, and the movie is likely to be one of the summer's most successful blockbusters.

Best of all, Nolan seems intensely interested in the ethical dilemmas that would face a man like Bruce Wayne, tempted to carry out personal vendettas, desiring to defend a city from terrorists and psychopaths, unable to heal the deep wounds of his childhood, eager to indulge his anger. In fact, the story of Batman's rise is in many ways similar to the story of the fall of Anakin Skywalker.

My full review is at Looking Closer.

In his 4-star review, Todd Hertz (Christianity Today Movies) says Nolan and company have "rescued Batman for movie fans by truly profiling and defining Batman—as a man torn by revenge, fear, compassion and anger who uses his emotions and gifts to try doing good so that others may have an example to follow."

He also notes, "Because of the weight of the story, there are some provoking questions raised in Batman Begins: What is the difference between revenge and justice? When does compassion become a weakness if your enemies don't show it? What inspires people to rise above the standard? Why must all men fall? When is fear a good thing?"

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June (Web-only) 2005, Vol. 49