As anyone even slightly familiar with this site knows, I love Batman.
I barely need an excuse to write about his cinematic exploits. I have decided to change gear a little bit with this Kev Cut, the series where I change one aspect of a movie to make it better – whether it’s a specific plot decision, character choice, even casting – by changing just one thing about a film I absolutely love: Batman Begins.
Christopher Nolan’s first Batman film reinvigorated the character and became the first chapter of a culturally-defining franchise. It introduced Batman (Christian Bale) as a sort of errant (Dark) Knight who tries to clean up the city of Gotham the right way, and by that I mean without killing anyone. The tension of the film comes as Batman faces off against Ras Al Gul: the man who trained him, and his League of Shadows.
This first pops up when Bruce Wayne’s training with the League of Shadows ends with him refusing to kill a farmer who murdered his neighbour, confirming the movie’s central premise that his version of justice does not align with the League’s. So, instead of murdering the farmer, he blows up the League’s temple leading to a great fight that, I can’t help but notice, results in the deaths of many league members including the man Bruce thought was the real leader. Which makes no sense at all for what Nolan is trying to communicate for his version of Batman.
One of the major flaws of this set piece is that we lose track of the condemned man almost immediately. We don’t know whether he lives through the explosion or not. The one change I’d make is to have Bruce using his newly-acquired skills to save this man from the League and taking him to the authorities (whoever they are, it’s not clear) thus fulfilling his first symbolic trail as Batman. Throw in a revelation that comes when the real Ras reveals himself later in the film – he can taunt Bruce with the revelation that the league got to this man anyway.
This tweak keeps Bruce’s need to be better intact rather than killing twenty people when he was given the choice of killing one – and matches far more with Nolan’s take on Batman’s morality. What do you think? Is there one thing you would change about a movie you love to make it better? Let us know in the comments!
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By Kevin Boyle
No But Listen 
