Batman Begins - A Little Bit of Opera"Gotham's been good to our family, but the city's been suffering." This Chapter should not have worked at all, and it's a credit to Nolan the the talent surrounding him that I didn't question it too much until now. This Gotham City places the upper and lower class in the same space, something that I think carries through the trilogy. The billionaire Wayne family travels by a public train system to the opera Downtown. They wear fancy, expensive clothes while Thomas Wayne explains that many of the people have fallen on hard times.
Linus Roache as Papa Wayne manages to be convincing as a "salt of the earth" billionaire. He doesn't even work at Wayne Tower, but instead helps out at a hospital. He's too perfect, but the film sells it as maybe a comic book exaggeration, much like how Gotham itself is more realistic than any previous depiction while still carrying a touch of heightened reality.
The father knows his son suffered a trauma involving bats, right? He must. So why bring him to this opera? I wish I knew if the father was trying to get his son past his fear of bats, or if perhaps he didn't know there'd be acro-bats involved. There's no look to young Bruce showing concern over whether this is bothering his son, and he doesn't seem to understand why Bruce is having a panic attack. They walk out, but not through the main entrance. They step out into the dingiest, most unsafe looking side alley. Another unrealistic moment of cluelessness.
Rating: * * 1/2