Batman begins (2005) A Hero's Journey

Figure 1: Movie poster

Batman Begins (2005) was the first film of the dark knight trilogy directed by Cristopher Nolan. The plot of the film stays very true to the origin in the more recent reboot comic series. It is a well known story of a young orphan child who uses his parents wealth to train him self in the art of combat to avenge his parents and restore justice to his once beloved city he grew up in.

Although this film may stick to its origin for inspiration the film follows the "heros Journey" layout in the way the film is paced. This is a very effective way in story telling many action and adventure films as it covers all of the necessities a good action film needs. For example the first stage of the heros journey is the "call to adventure" which is quiet clearly when his parents are murdered in front of him outside the theatre.

The refusal of the call is a tricky one to define in this film but is when Bruce is able to put fear in the eyes of his enemies but yet chooses a foolish option by giving into temptation and uses a gun on his parents murderer. The next stage in the journey is the "supernatural aid" which is a fairly obvious one being when Ras Al Ghul (Liam Neeson) visits Bruce in his Asian prison cell.

"The crossing the first threshold" is a very obvious one and is the same in many stereotypical hero movies where a mentor is introduced to the film. It is when Bruce begins his training and develops the skills he needs to become batman and also learns a code to live by.

"The belly of the whale" Is when Bruce enters the well which was the cause of all of his fears when he was a young boy. In away he blames the well for the death of his parents due to the fact that the fear of bats was caused by the fall he had into the well which made him ask his parents leave the theatre early leading them to their deaths. When he goes down the well he confronts his fears and discovers a bat cave. Whilst down their he decided that with his training he would become something more then a man and a symbol in order to strike fear in the eyes of his enemies and in doing so he would take his fear of bats and use it against those who terrorise the city.

"The road of Trials" is when Bruce has to make a decision whether he feels morally right beheading a criminal in order complete his training and become a member of the League of shadows. Bruce decides that what Ras is asking is wrong and that killing criminals is wrong.

"Meeting the Goddess" is a very easy one to define as its clearly Bruce's childhood friend who he has always had feelings for but the stand out sign that Rachel is the Goddess in this film is the fact that she inspires Bruce to be the man who he is by telling him "its not who you are underneath. Its what you do that defines you".

"Atonement with the Father" is when Luscious discovers that Bruce is batman when he is poisoned by Scarecrow and Alfred has to contact Luscious to create a cure in order to save Bruce. The "Apotheosis" is this story is Ras Al Ghul's power to wipe out the whole entire city by using the device developed by Wayne industries.

"The Ultimate Boon" is the moment in the film when you realise that Bruce is no longer as he was earlier in the film making simple errors and is in fact a fully complete hero. You realise this moment when Bruce rescues  Rachel in the batcar as the police are in hot pursuit.

"The magic fight" is when Ras Al Ghul starts chemical warfare by releasing the toxin to the occupants of Gotham making them turn on each other almost like a magic spell. Like the previous stage the next is a very simple one to realise which is the "Rescue From without", this is when Jim Gordon Destroys the train bridge ruining Ras Al Ghuls plans of getting to the the city centre.

"The crossing of the return Threshold" is when batman yet again fights Ras but not as a student learning from his master but as his enemy and his equal. "The master of two worlds" is quiet clearly when batman has defeated Ras and says "I'm not going to kill you but I don't have to save you" this shows that he has stayed true to his code of honour but willing to break the rules in certain circumstances. "Freedom to live" is the final stage of the hero's journey and is at the end of the movie when Bruce buys back his parents company.   

Illustration List

Figure1 : http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/batman/images/1/1e/Batman_Begins_poster6.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20111218145155