Had I done a prejudicial grading of Batman Begins, the results would have turned out much less favorably, as the casting of Rā’s al Ghūl with a Japanese actor was not at all fitting of the character; however, after seeing the film, the plot twist changed my view on that character (see note on the villain below, one that will not be a spoiler - I promise).

  

Before I get to grading, I would like to make a note on the story itself. How David Goyer Thinks Batman Begins should be the full title as Rā’s al Ghūl had nothing to do with Batman’s origin. In fact, cameos of characters like Ted Grant (fans of “Justice League Unlimited” and comics know him as Wildcat), who trained Bruce Wayne in boxing, would have had the film demonstrate more fidelity to the comics and would not have been much to add in (as would cameos by a pre-Catwoman Selina Kyle as a prostitute and cameos of minor inmates at Arkham that wouldn‘t be major villains in any future films). Fanboy nods, as they are called, are always fun to see.

Moreover, Rā’s al Ghūl should have been saved for a later film, as he is a much too powerful character with whom to begin a franchise anew (granted he still could have been in the beginning for Wayne’s training). Scarecrow would have been a lower-level way to begin - Batman’s primary success as a character being that not only is he not super-powered but that his arch-enemies are not super-powered either. In later installments of the franchise, perhaps it could have been revealed that Rā’s al Ghūl was actually behind events happening in all prior films including Batman Begins - what a revelation that would have been. Also, the Scarecrow - one of Batman’s most dreaded enemies (and the anti-Batman at that) - would have been given more screen time as he deserves.

One final note before I begin grading is for those of you not very familiar with the comics - Rachel Dawes, the character played by Katie Holmes, was created solely for the movie; therefore, she will not be included in my grade as she is not an adaptation! I am also not including Rutger Hauer as Richard Earle, for (I am sad to say) I do not know anything about the character in comics (or if the character even exists in the comics).

---

Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman

  

While he looks astonishingly more like Bruce Wayne than any of his predecessors, Christian Bale should not be compared to the likes of Michael Keaton, Adam West, Val Kilmer, or George Clooney. All of those actors stood up to or failed the tests of time in their own generations. Batman Begins is a new beginning for the franchise; therefore, Christian Bale should be assessed as an actor in and of himself, based on this role and previous roles, not previous actors.

To me, Bale was all right as Batman, for he is not much of an actor (I hold him akin to Keanu Reeves and Ben Affleck - they are all okay, but not fantastic). People like to reference his roles in American Psycho and Equilibrium to show that he plays a dark character well. While I have not seen the former, Equilibrium was based on a society void of emotion, save the fact that many characters did exhibit rage. It is not very difficult to recite lines without emotion (granted Bale’s character was starting to let himself feel), and anger is easy to express, acting or not; therefore, that film is not comparable to Batman, a character full of emotion. Bale was also very rough with his style in Reign of Fire.

For his performance in Batman Begins, Bale came off as a bit too cocky at times (despite that his lines may have been written that way or that he as a person may be that way), and the voice change when in costume was a bit much (no other previous incarnation of Batman - live-action or animated - has attempted to mask the voice in addition to the man the way Bale did). One of my friends has said to me that they should stop casting Batman because they can never cast him right. While this sentiment may be a bit extreme, it is curious how voice-over actors such as Kevin Conroy (“Batman: TAS,” “Justice League Unlimited“) and Rino Romano (“The Batman“) portray the character better than any of the live-action cast ever have. All in all, though, Bale is the best live-action fit for Batman thus far (an odd thing in that I personally boycotted Bale up until the night I saw the film).

One piece of advice for Bale though: while Bruce Wayne isn’t a virgin, it is unnecessary to do an ‘R’- rated version of the next Batman movie so that you can do a sex scene. Even the aftermath scene of Bruce Wayne and Vicky Vale having done it in 1989’s Batman was unnecessary. If there were to be an ‘R’-rated version of the next film, it should be because of psychotic massacres, not sex.

Acting Skills: 2
Appearance: 4
Demeanor: 3
Average: 3
Grade: B-

---

Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth

  

With most of the cast being British, Michael Caine is the only one actually portraying a British character, Bruce Wayne’s butler and father figure Alfred. When I first heard that Caine was portraying Alfred, I thought that he was too big a name to portray the butler, myself having become accustomed to Alfred having a small part in all Batman live-action adaptations; however, since Alfred was a major part of this film, Caine is not too big for the role. Yet, while he is an incredible actor, he looks nothing like Alfred whatsoever - not in any regard except perhaps age. The film makers could have at least given him a mustache.

Why is it that none of the live-action Alfreds look anything like the comic-book Alfred? Neither Michael Gough (1989’s Batman) nor Alan Napier (“Batman” from the ‘60’s) bear any resemblance to the butler, though they do look like each other somewhat…

Acting Skills: 4
Appearance: 1
Demeanor: 4
Average: 3
Grade: B-

---

Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox

  

Again, as with Michael Caine, I thought Morgan Freeman was too big for the role of Lucius Fox, CEO of Wayne Enterprises in comics. Yet, unlike with Caine, I still think he was too big for the role - in the comics, Fox is not a big wig supporting character like Alfred or Comm. Gordon. Too much focus was put on Wayne’s company in this movie, and thus too much focus was put on Fox as well - more screen time should have been focused on Arkham and Scarecrow and less on the company and Fox.

Despite my opinion on the story, however, Freeman is definitely one of United States’ best actors and he pulled the role off without a hitch. He didn’t look quite like Fox, but as Fox is not as renown a character as Alfred and Batman, not too many would notice had the character even been drastically altered (which he wasn’t).

Acting Skills: 4
Appearance: 3
Demeanor: 4
Average: 3.7
Grade: A-

---

Gary Oldman as Sgt. James Gordon

  

First off - what the?! Gordon is supposed to be Captain in Batman’s early years, not just Sergeant! Yet, that is no matter as I’m sure he will still quickly be promoted to Commissioner within at least two more films, especially considering how he was promoted to Lieutenant at the end of this film.

Gary Oldman is yet another actor that I couldn’t see playing a character in Batman - a good guy that is. He is one of those actors that is just so good at being evil that it’s hard to imagine him as anything but evil. Though after seeing Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, I should have known he’d be able to pull off the role of Gordon well.

Acting Skills: 4
Appearance: 4
Demeanor: 4
Average: 4.0
Grade: A+

---

Cillian Murphy as Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow

  

As I’ve said previously, the Scarecrow did not receive enough screen time - so maybe that’s the case as to why a bigger name wasn’t used for the role as one of Batman’s lesser known archenemies (lesser known to the general populace that is, unlike Joker, Riddler, Catwoman, & Penguin). That’s not to say that Cillian Murphy didn’t play the role out well - it’s just that the character was underdeveloped, nor did he exhibit the anxiety that led Crane to becoming the Scarecrow in the comics. Crane was ridiculed more often than his counsel was sought. They also should have found someone much more lanky and ugly.

[On a side note about the story itself, it was good that they referenced Jonathan Crane’s archetype, Ichabod Crane from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by making him ride through Arkham like the Headless Horseman.]

Acting Skills: 3
Appearance: 2
Demeanor: 2
Average: 2.3
Grade: C-

---

Tom Wilkinson as Carmine Falcone

  

I have to say that casting a British actor - who comes off as no more than an Englishman in most his roles - as a stereotypically Italian-American crime boss - in this case Carmine Falcone - was the poorest choice of casting for the entire film. I haven’t much else to say.

Acting Skills: 2.5
Appearance: 2
Demeanor: 2.5
Average: 2.3
Grade: C-

---

Ken Watanabe as Rā’s al Ghūl
Liam Neeson as Henri Ducard

        

As I mentioned in my introduction, I couldn’t believe that they cast Rā’s al Ghūl as a Japanese man when he looks nothing like the villain. In fact, the comics say that Rā’s al Ghūl’s true heritage is unknown. If I had graded the cast before seeing the movie, this casting would have received a big, fat “F.” Now, however, I am satisfied with it due to a plot twist (which I will not spoil here).

[On a side note, why is it that the villain’s name has been pronounced “Raysh” for the most part in past adaptations, yet in Batman Begins it’s pronounced as it looks, i.e. “Rahz?”]

I combine Ken Watanabe's grade as Rā’s with that of Liam Neeson as Henri Ducard for reasons you will understand once you have seen the movie. I knew little about Ducard from comics and was still going to give this casting job an “A” even before seeing the movie - that would have been the highest grade in the class so to speak; however, after seeing the movie, the grade is an “A+,” and thus still the highest grade in the class.

Acting Skills: 4
Appearance: 5
Demeanor: 3.5
Average: 4.2
Grade: A+

---

Those are the seven (er, I mean eight) roles that were significant enough to include in the grading process.
So, what's the cast's final grade?

Average: 3.2     Grade:

BUT WAIT…

Even though he didn’t have enough screen time to merit being a part of the grade, Mr. Zsasz is just too cool to not analyze.

Tim Booth as Victor Zsasz
(okay choice)

  

What’s up with this? Zsasz is a loony serial killer who carves tallies into his body for every person he kills - and he has a lot of tallies carved into him! So why, in the film, did they make him a simple contract killer for Carmine Falcone? Hopefully, he will be more of the psychotic fella we love in a future installment of the franchise.