Entertainment

DVD is the perfect package for the Caped Crusader as action hero

10:57 AM CDT on Tuesday, October 18, 2005

By TOM MAURSTAD / The Dallas Morning News

There are plenty of reasons why Batman Begins works better as a DVD than as a theater-going experience.

Start with Batman himself. One of the coolest things about the character is all his toys, his gadgets, the car, the cave, the costume. Packaging, in other words, is what Batman is all about, making him the perfect DVD action hero and Batman Begins a better DVD than a movie.Batman Begins is an OK movie, but the DVD is a great package. There is, of course, great art, most notably in the "collectible" comic book that includes the first Batman story and two others that inspired this production. And you move through the sections and contents of the discs the way you move through a comic book. Unfortunately, the problems with the movie are still problems – it's too long, it's too all-over-the-place and eventually collapses in on itself, and instead of being tense and haunting it's just silly and preposterous.

In the hands of writer David S. Goyer and director Christopher Nolan, Batman Begins is an exercise in tantric filmmaking. It's an hour into the film before Bruce Wayne becomes Batman. It's another 15 minutes until we see him in costume, another 15 until we see a full-on transformation from pajama-clad billionaire to Caped Crusader racing out of the Batcave in his Batmobile. And all this building, building, building of dramatic tension leads to a confrontation with his father-figure nemesis, Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson), that leaves the viewer unfulfilled.

There's plenty of action, lots of things engulfed in billowing fireballs and (by my count) 16 fight sequences. But there's no payoff, and all these quick-cut, tricked-out fights kind of blur together. While Christian Bale is the best big-screen Batman and Mr. Neeson brings plenty of gravitas to his role, Mr. Bale is not an ideal guy for high-energy fight scenes. His movements are so slow and clunky he looks like the Tin Man thrown out of Oz and into a kung-fu movie. And then there is the pre-preggers Katie Holmes. Ms. TomKat is deadly dull as Bruce Wayne's love interest, which, in unintended ways, explains his priestlike devotion to crimefighting.

The second disc is all special features. Most are typically talky documentaries of behind-the-scenes people going on and on about this or that aspect – indefensibly tedious to all but the most hard-core fans. An "interactive comic book" is an obvious but entertaining feature. Best-of-show goes to the "Confidential Files" chapter, designed like a Web site with details such as weapons and enemies, with highlighted words enabling cross-referenced clicking.

E-mail tmaurstad @dallasnews.com

Batman Begins

BStarring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman and Katie Holmes. Directed by Christopher Nolan. Rated PG-13 (violence, intensity). 141 min. plus extras. $34.98.