The Understated Humour of Batman Begins
General Reviews
I'm not much of a comedy fan, if we're being honest. Not that I have no sense of humour, it's just not a genre I naturally gravitate toward. Dramas take the cake for me, always. For starters, there's nothing I hate more in this world than second-hand embarrassment. My personal sense of humour also skews more toward the dry, deadpan, dark, and sarcastic, so slapstick comedy—what one might initially think of when thinking comedy—is not my vibe at all. I will never, ever, watch Superbad.
Therefore, coming up with what an underrated comedy to write about was tough, because I don't think I've really watched enough movies categorized as comedies to have a good pick. So, may I present you with my case of why I think Batman Begins is funny. I'm sorry if you take offence, Mr. Nolan! I am indeed a Nolan-head or whatever his fanbase is called—I think I watched Tenet like five times with my dad when it came out on streaming, and I rewatch the Dark Knight trilogy annually. Great Christmastime activity. A new Nolan movie is a great opportunity for some father-daughter bonding time.
Starting with the obvious, Bruce Wayne's butler, Alfred Pennyworth, as played by Michael Caine, is so droll. He's doing what I need him to do with his dry British humour. He keeps it light while still being realistic and wise.
For example, when Bruce and Alfred were in the private jet:
“…and you can borrow the rolls if you like, just bring it back with a full tank.”
And then talking to Bruce about the symbol of the Bat being used to protect those he cares about:
“Rachel sir? I was thinking about myself!”
During the Wayne Manor fire:
“I hope you're not a member of the fire brigade.”
To Bruce: “What is the point of all those pushups if you can't even lift a bloody log?!”
When Bruce and Alfred are talking about how “someone like him” should act:
“Who knows master Wayne, if you start pretending to have fun, you might even have a little by accident.”
Morgan Freeman's Lucius Fox is also a standout character. One of my favourite interactions between him and Bruce is when he's showing him the Batmobile:
Bruce says, “Does it come in black?”
“I'll look into it”, Lucius replies.
Honourable mention of the scene where Wayne reveals that he bought all the shares of the company to William Earle, mocking what he said to him earlier in the movie:
“Look, it's all a bit technical, but the important thing is that my company's future is secure.” Priceless!
And the interaction between Earle and Fox just before that is tooooo good:
“Fox, I seem to remember firing you," Earle says.
“You did", says Fox. “I got another job. Yours.”
There's also humour to be found in how seriously Batman Begins takes itself. There are conspiracy illuminati ninjas. Liam Neeson has an Asian name—like who looked at him and went yes, that's my Ra's Al Ghul—and wants to basically microwave Gotham. At one point Batman summons a bunch of actual bats for backup. The Scarecrow mask is kind of silly-looking. And has anyone else seen Cillian Murphy's audition tape to play Batman? It's hard to keep a straight face watching his luscious lips with that mask. I can't be scared of Scarecrow when he looks like that. And don't get me started on how the Batsuit looks to people on the effect of the aerosolized fear gas. There's a review on Letterboxd from user @adambolt that sums up this sentiment fairly well: “instead of turning him into a demon the fear gas should've given batman's suit nipples”. It's really just that unserious. And we can't forget about the fire breathing horse either!
Speaking to the trilogy as a whole, if you watch them all back to back the inconsistencies are hilarious. Like, what do you mean we do away with that monorail system after the first movie after that was the whole entire point of the first movie??? And could they have even tried a little bit to make rural England where his manor is look like it connects to a city? And wouldn't be better placed as a location on Pride and Prejudice?
In conclusion, I may be a messed up warped person in terms of what movies I find comforting and funny. The dry and understated humour lightens the mood of an otherwise dark and heavy movie, which really appeals to me. And that being said, has there ever been a serious Batman movie? Just look at Tim Burton's 90s adaptations. Camp as hell.
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