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Bruce Wayne is the only child of the rich and powerful Wayne
family. Ahead of him stretches a life of ease at the head
of the Wayne foundation, dedicated to help the poorer sections
of Gotham's society. A secure future that is one day shattered
by the murder of his parents. Bruce, still a child, witnesses
the horrific killing and something dark begins to grow in
his soul. Now a young man he leaves behind the comfort of
his fathers wealth and disappears for seven years seeking
answers, answers that will change his life, answers that will
give birth to the Batman...
Batman
Begins, is the novelisation, by Dennis O'Neil of the original
screenplay by Christopher Nolan and David Goyer. Realistically,
these types of book can be a hit or miss affair, partially
dependent on the quality of the original script and partly
on what the adapter brings to the story. In the case of Batman
Begins I can't think of anyone more qualified to write
this book than O'Neil.
While it cannot be denied that Frank Miller made a major contribution
in the Dark
Knight Returns
comic book in rehabilitating Batman, O'Neil's comic
book stories played a much greater role in stripping away
much of the artifice and detritus that had built up around
Batman over the many decades of its success. Out went
Robin and all the repetitive monthly battle with an obviously
outclassed villain and in came the tortured unsure hero who
stalked the dark places of the night, searching out clues
and punishing the guilty. O'Neil was also to introduce a new
recurring villain in the form of Ra Al Ghul, who plays a pivotal
role in the new film.
Prior
to reviewing the book I made a conscious choice not to see
the film first so that I could judge the books merits on its
own, rather than banging on about how it differed from the
film.
The
first half of the book details Bruce's decent into his own
personal hell and subsequent resurrection into the Batman,
though Batman as such does not appear until over half way
through the book. This is a far more satisfying story of his
transformation to that of the previous films, which gave little
or no attention to the process that Bruce, undertook to become
Batman. The book has many of the regular characters from the
Batman universe. The stalwart wrinkled retainer Alfred still
looks after the young Wayne after his parent's death and beyond.
Gordon is not yet Commissioner and working with a corrupt
partner Flass. Gotham City is in the thrall of crime boss
Carmine Falcone, who is being pursued by an ineffectual DA's
office run by Fisk and Rachel Dodson; assistant district attorney
and one time childhood friend of Bruce Wayne.
The
plot itself is very engrossing, with many plot twists to keep
you guessing as to who is the real villain of the book, though
with a city as corrupt as Gotham this very much becomes a
matter of degree, with an honest minority trying to fight
the institutionalised corruption which seems to have invaded
all sectors of this society. The relationship between the
various characters is played out beautifully with the character
transformations written in a realistic and believable way.
Overall
the book has a kind of film noir feel about it, with a little
bit of the old pulp detective novels thrown in for good measure.
As a long-standing comic book fan there were many recognisable
elements in the book, either they took a lot of O'Neil's ideas
from the comics and integrated them into the film or he has
used the opportunity to flesh out the story with the rich
back-story of the comic books, only seeing the film will confirm
this. Either way it was a pleasure to read and if the film
is half as good, I'll be leaving the cinema with popcorn and
a smile on my face.
 
Charles
Packer
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