Very Good. A splendid adaptation to a good film. Dennis O'Neil did a great job in fleshing out more of the characters emotions in this book. Film directors sometimes utilize the adage that "less is more" but I felt that it was to abrupt and too little was said at times. But hey directors got theater showtimes to fill and I guess if every sentence and addition was added it would amount to ten to twenty minutes. O'Neil's extra scenes are wonderful. I'm pretty sure that Christopher Nolan also holds the film director belief that there should be no director's cut releases apart from what was released at the cinema. I'll take it this novel's extra scenes aren't like other movie tie-ins that reveal deleted scenes that would not be shown due to time and money.I like that the novel is told completely chronologically with most of the flashback schemes eliminated. Ever since Orson Welles Citizen Kane many directors have used the flashback as a major part of their movies. To great success at times with Kane and Godfather II, but sometimes with terrible problems. The pacing of the story becomes choppy and now that I read the book can't help that the story is told much more smoothly.I also like that O'Neil clearly restores the belief that Ra's al Ghul is an immortal via the use of the Lazarus pit just like in the comics. Christopher Nolan obviously wanted to make this far more realistic and give it a far less mystical vibe. Every phantasmagoria scene is induced via nightmarish gas or theatricality and deception. But the one of the best things is that after Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham after realizing that the League of Shadows intended to destroy Gotham, O'Neil actually writes a chapter dedicated to Bruce attempting to find out more about the League of Shadows. I felt this was very necessary because it seemed strange that Bruce was just going to come back home and bring justice to Gotham. Yeah he apparently killed Ra's al Ghul back at the monastery but a plan like that wasn't just going to fall apart because its leader was dead. I guess the film takes such naivety on Bruce's youth and inexperience. Another great thing was the journal of Ra's al Ghul which spoke of how the League had caused fascism to rise with Hilter to ravage the world only to be disappointing in how single-minded he was in his hatred that they purposely caused his downfall by suggesting he invade Russia knowing he would fail just like Napoleon did. Another manipulated by the League of Shadows? The creation of the atom bomb was perpetrated by League. As well as Ra's documenting his recruitment of Bruce. His journal ends after his supposed death at the monastery. I wish that once it was realized that Ducard was really Ra's that he would have written another entry that he was disappointed in how Bruce betrayed him. But like he said Bruce's antics played his hand and had to move things up.Still. A wonderful story. B+
Batman Begins is the movie from 2005 directed by Christpher Nolan and starred by Christian Bale, and only after all teses years I´ve read the novelization. Very fast read, took me only a couple of hours, but I csn say the comic book legend Danny O´Neil does a good job translating the script and adding new material - the really good part of the book - about his own creation from the 70s, villain Rãs Al Ghul. There are some fine details about the character and notes from his diary, expanding the mythology of the Dark Knight. O´Neil diverges a little from the movie concepts, but afterall the action scenes and dialogue are there. For fans who loved the movie and just can´t get enough of Batman.
It was just what I needed to jumpstart my novel-reading again. It was just like the movie, but not so stylized that I couldn’t see the pictures of a comic-book Batman or cartoon show Batman. At times I tried to hear David Warner’s Ra’s al Ghul instead of Liam Neeson’s—it worked pretty well. It offered an answer to one of the questions the movie left: Is Ra’s al Ghul dead? The novelization also included some added scenes and little fillers that probably didn’t survive the cutting room floor when they were editing the film. It was very good, as novelizations go.
—Ricky Ganci
The key to a good film tie-in novel is how it fills in the gaps of details the silver screen cannot show and in all aspects, Batman Begins does this well. We're introduced to a more extensive history and background of Bruce Wayne alongside his training with the League of Shadows (which always left me mystified when watching the film). Fans will appreciate the little details fill-in and also references to a larger DC universe. I'd commend this tie-in for fans of the film though on a casual day, it makes a good read as well.
—Aziff
I really enjoyed O'Neil's perspective and expansion of the movie. The author was able to give us more of a build-up between Bruce's return to Gotham and his first official outing as Batman, with the trip to New York and such, than we were able to see in the film. I also liked the glimpse into the thoughts of Ra's with his journal entries and such, but I'm not so sure I cared for the delving into Ra's supernatural origins. One thing that so appeals about the Nolanverse is that it's a more realistic take on Batman's universe. Practically everything had some kind of scientific or logical explanation, from Batman's many gadgets being supplied by the genius of Lucius Fox and Wayne Enterprise's Applied Sciences department to how Crane's toxin was to be dispersed into the air after being dumped into Gotham's water supply. There is no mysticism in this, and bringing in Ra's mystical origins feels out of place in this new world.Other than that, O'Neil still created an excellent companion to the film. A great read.
—Kim
