The Matrix vs. Batman Begins got to the point where I was going to start asking random people for their opinions. But as I approached, I started wondering if I had something stuck in my teeth (its usually spinach) or if I had a hanging booger (I usually do- every season is allergy season), which gave me second thoughts and forced me to veer left, as if that’s what I meant to do all along, even if it meant walking into a table full of Rachael Ray cookbooks at the bookstore. That’s going to leave a bruise.
This is the final match for the Pink Raygun Association of Associated Movie Watchers Associated 2007 Tournament. The winner will automatically have a spot in the 2008 Tournament (more details on that in a later post). And now. . . the championship begins.
Neither Batman Begins nor The Matrix can be credited with originality. Batman Begins takes its story from previous Batman comic book storylines, The Matrix borrows elements from Ghost in the Shell, The Invsibles, John Byrne’s Next Men and The Terminator, just to name the obvious ones.
Batman Begins trumps The Matrix on casting and acting. The crew of The Matrix does a passable job, and even Keanu Reeves managed get some actual acting in, as well as his trademark “whoa”. Even though it’s obvious that Joey Pants is the traitor, I never quite buy that he is as miserable as his actions say. Batman Begins has Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer and Cillian Murphey, all doing much more than collecting a paycheck.
Alert Raygun reader Madame Miaow made an observation of Batman Begins that I had never considered before. “Bruce Wayne/Batman is up against Ra’s al Ghul, charismatic leader of an eastern death cult philosophy intent on using fear itself to destroy Gotham due to its irredeemable corruption,” she says. “Wayne Manor, bastion of an American liberalism eclipsed by evil neo-con corporate baddies, comes tumbling down and has to be rebuilt by the likes of Bruce.”
Batman Begins is dealing with the politics of fear and the corporation vs. the individual very subtlely, mostly through plot and action, rather than outright statements. Outright statements are saved for criminality in society and the government’s treatment of its soldiers. At one point, Ducard says “criminals thrive on the indulgence of society’s understanding” in reference to our tendency, almost eagerness, to view criminals as victims of their environment. Lucious Fox says of Wayne’s body armor, “The government didn’t think a soldier’s life was worth three hundred thousand dollars.”
The winner of the PRGAAMA 2007 Tournament is. . . The Matrix.
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Lisa Fary's earliest influences are Princess Leia, Rainbow Bright, Astronaut Barbie, and her 6th grade teacher, Ms. Palmer. She's angry that it's 2011 and she still doesn't have a hovercraft, but will accept a jetpack as consolation. That jetpack had better be pink with a rhinestone monogram. 
I think you nailed it…I loved Batman Begins and thought it was a great movie. But I will never forget that moment when I was watching The Matrix and Neo wakes up in the pod after taking the red pill. I was completely taken by surprise by that revelation, which is a rare thing in movies these days.
The Matrix? Gott in himmel! This film has NO diggers in it! NONE. Not one bloomin’ earth mover. Space ships, PVC and Larry Fishbone brooding all over the shop but not one bit of dig-earth, pick-up-earth, move-earth, drop-earth action. WHAT ARE THEY LIKE?
At least in Batman they have a giant robot with the capability to change into a digger AND combine with other construction vehicles to make an even bigger robot. THAT SPEAKS and says “PREPARE FOR EXTERMINATION!!”
Oh hang on. Thats Transformers: The Movie. But you get my drift I’m sure.
Yay for Matrix! Good call. (Although I love Christian Bale so very much. *swoon*)
Yup – had to be! Batman Begins is probably my favourite Batman movie (although it’s a close run thing between that and Adam West’s 1966 classic!) and possibly even my favourite super hero movie. In years to come, though, Batman Begins will be seen as just another good movie alongside a hundred other good movies but the Matrix will always be seen as something truly groundbreaking.