I found it interesting that you don’t see Ras al Ghul as representing the Yahweh. Ras is the one who conceives, plots, directs, orders, and leads the attempted destruction of the city. There is none greater than Ras. The buck stops with him. He’s not following anyone’s orders–he’s the one issuing the orders. Clearly superior to his “minions”–god, I thought, was obviously portrayed as the villan in this retelling–destroying an entire city due to his personal judgment that it is too corrupt to exist no matter how many “good” people exist in the city. As Rachael Daws points out–it’s about revenge, not justice. It’s pure destruction without mercy in both tales.

They even have Wayne defy god’s authority when he’s questioning Flass. Flass says, “I swear to god.” And Wayne replies, “Swear to ME!” It’s reminiscent of the story where god swears to himself because there is none greater. In this scene, Wayne is made greater than god. The reason being his compassion (more on this later).

At the end of the tale, Wayne says he won’t kill Ras, “but I don’t have to save you.” Again, the clear difference between justice and revenge that Daws indicated earlier.

When Wayne fails his test at the League of Shadows he says, “I won’t become an executioner.” Clearly Ras feels no remorse or regret and no need to justify his perceived right to take life–”to do what is necessary.” But as Wayne points out when he thwarts the execution, he is also “doing what is necessary, my friend.”

In the story of Sodom, god is the unapologetic executioner–without mercy, without regard for the innocent and without regard for human life. He doesn’t question his right to kill and destroy without regard. Utter unapologetic devastation of human life–an exact divine clone of Ras.

But in this modern version, Abraham stands up for his fellow man in a much stronger fashion. Wayne-Abraham is willing to defy god to his face as the merciless vengeful being that he is. Wayne, in his own words, becomes “a symbol,”–”uncorruptable.” He elevates himself to Ras-God’s level again when he explains this to Alfred–he is “more than a man.”

Even the final scene:

Gordon: I never said thank you.
Wayne: And you’ll never have to.

Wow, now there’s a departure from Abraham’s god–who demands worship, praise, devotion to the point of selling out your fellow human beings. Here again, we see the Wayne presented as better than Yahweh.

When Ras tells Wayne his compassion is a “weakness” his enemies will not share, Wayne says, that’s what makes it important–it differentiates the just from the unjust. Neither god nor Ras exhibit compassion in either tale–for the innocent or those judged guilty without a trial (as the man marked for execution–who Wayne refused to kill–was denied a trial).

I liked the article. I just wonder what stopped short of identifying Ras as the God equivalent in this tale. I thought it was as obvious as Wayne = Abraham.

I don’t know if one-off action movies are dying (certainly this summer’s activity has been poor) but certainly comic-book style and serial or episodic TV versions are going to be the next big thing. You get the time to develop the characters, and the time to detail a rich and satisfying world for those characters to inhabit. Battlestar Galactica is, I hope, the first of many such efforts.

You point out LOTR as an exception, and I agree, but I think that comes from the “better writing” you posit in your second paragraph, not from them being shot at the same time. (And not just better writing, but better screen adaptation … there are some short-run comic and novel series that could be adapted just as well.)

Sorry “Batman Begins” didn’t work for you; I understand that Paste wasn’t happy either. But I had great fun. :-)

In my opinion, the genre of action movies are dying. At least I hope they are. The mini series, such as battlestar galactica, hopefully will fill the void. At least they have continuity, a relatively cohesive plot line, and character cast. We need better writing, not cgi and effects.

There are exceptions of course, but the only one I can think of is Lord of the Rings. The obvious reason is that the crew and cast shot all three at the same time.

Comedies are o.k. for a 1-2 hour flick, but action movies such as batman can’t work. There is just too much to fit in such a short time. First Bruce is in prison, then in “ninja camp” for what seemed like a week, and finally he is saving Gotham City.

I agree that it was the best Batman so far, but it didn’t work for me.