Batman Begins: Ra's al Ghul (Major Spoilers)

[Taelorn76]

This is a finally warning do read on if you have not seen the movie!!!!












My cousin and I saw Batman last night, and we had a little debate.
After watching the movie I commented on how I liked that Liam Neeson was the real Ra's and that Ken Watanabe's character was actualy a decoy. I used the scene at Bruce's Birthday party, when Bruce confronts Liam, and says something to the effect of
Bruce-"I see I am not the only one who mastered the ability to hide my true identity"
Another was by Ra's- " You burned my house I now return the favor"
(very loosly quoted)

My cousin on the other hand is of the mind the Liam's Ra's stepped up to replace Ken's Ra's when he died. That that way Ra's becomes an imortal figure. As one dies someone from the League of Shadows replaces him and asumes his identity.

I was wondering how others here saw that

 

[DonTadow]

Nah Neeson was Ra the entire time. Analyzing the conversation they had at the mansionl, Batman says something to the effect of "it was you all the time" and Neeson agrees. Plus looking at the comic book interpretation of Ra, the way RA acts in the movie is identical to the way Neeson acted the entire time. There's also the scenes in China when batman is training and Neeson emphasises how someone can hide in shadows and be a deadly enemy.. this is all foreshadow.

I kept watching hte movie and grimacing as I thought at first that Ra Ghul was horribly miscast. But, the twist was pleasant and made a lot of sense.

 

[Jarrod]

Unless Ra's was the actual Ra's, and now Batman only _thinks_ that Ducard was Ra's....



I thought it was amusing that while Wayne burned down Ra's' house, carried Ducard out, and made sure he would be cared for, Ducard just burned down the house. On the other hand, my wife did note that Wayne did leave Ra's for dead

 

[Captain Tagon]

Unless Ra's was the actual Ra's, and now Batman only _thinks_ that Ducard was Ra's....



I thought it was amusing that while Wayne burned down Ra's' house, carried Ducard out, and made sure he would be cared for, Ducard just burned down the house. On the other hand, my wife did note that Wayne did leave Ra's for dead

Well, Bruce checked on Ra's before leaving and it appeared that he was already dead.

 

[Vigilance]

I think Liam Neeson was Ra's the whole time. At first I wondered if it was a hereditary title and he was only metaphorically immortal, but after the line about sending ships loaded with plague rats into London, I decided he was there to see it.

What impressed me was that that movie didn't give it away during the ads. MANY movies give away key plot points in the trailers.

Chuck

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Liam being Ra's all the time is a neat twist - I thought he just took over from Watanabee, but it does make a lot of sense that he was the guy all along.

 

[Berandor]

IIRC the original (comic) Ra's Al Ghul was also a close friend and mentor to Batman, and Batman was shocked to learn who his enemy was. Ever since Liam Neeson was announced as Henry Ducard, I had hoped he'd be Ra's.

I have no doubt Watanabe was but a decoy; it's Ducard, after all, who does most of the speaking in the LOS.

 

[DonTadow]

IIRC the original (comic) Ra's Al Ghul was also a close friend and mentor to Batman, and Batman was shocked to learn who his enemy was. Ever since Liam Neeson was announced as Henry Ducard, I had hoped he'd be Ra's.

I have no doubt Watanabe was but a decoy; it's Ducard, after all, who does most of the speaking in the LOS.

The cool thing is that he's listed as Ducard in all the credits and on IMDB. It was a great twist and honestly leaves thing's open for a sequal. They introduced the Ra character without mentioning anything of the Lazereith pits or any lf Ra's super natural abilities.

 

[Darthjaye]

IIRC the original (comic) Ra's Al Ghul was also a close friend and mentor to Batman, and Batman was shocked to learn who his enemy was. Ever since Liam Neeson was announced as Henry Ducard, I had hoped he'd be Ra's.

I have no doubt Watanabe was but a decoy; it's Ducard, after all, who does most of the speaking in the LOS.

Actually somewhere in an interview with Nolan, he hinted (or it slipped) that Neeson was Ras. Before I had seen the first trailer I had known which character Neeson was playing. Watanabe was a decoy. Even in the credits (which they had to list him as Ras because they gave no other name for him). I do like the fact that by saving Ras, Bruce caused the problem at the end in Gotham. Had he let him die, none of that would have come to pass. More importantly, because of Scarecrow's meddling and screwing with the minds of all the criminals that he had admitted to Arkham, and Ras backing of Scarecrow, he helped create Batman's future problems with his "rogue's gallery". Screwing with all those criminals was a nice setup for this. The Joker bit was a nice touch at the end too.

So, in conclusion, by trying to rid the city of it's corruption, Ras went and made things infinitely worse. Ahhh....irony.

P.S. I also like the fact that they slipped several other future characters from the Bat-verse in there. Barbara Gordon was listed in the credits and she was only on screen long enough to be handed off to mommy before Gordon steps outside to end up talkling to Batman.

 

[Taelorn76]

Cool, I am glad I was not the only one who thought Liam was Ra's the whole time.