Alfred and Gordon in Batman Begins

[The Laughing Fish]

As much as I don't like this movie at all, I thought the best things going for it were Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon and Michael Caine as Alfred.

Gary Oldman in this movie was the best Gordon in live action to date (although I've heard great things about Ben McKenzie on TV's Gotham). This is a cop who was stuck in a corrupt town with nobody to turn to until, for better or worse, the bungling Batman gave him somebody he could trust and work with. Gordon had his limitations in what he could do, but he still had enough intelligence to play a crucial part in stopping Ra's al Ghul and saving Gotham.

Michael Caine's Alfred played as a concerned father figure to Bruce; similar to how Michael Gough played him in the Burton/Schumacher era. He was frustrated with Bruce's recklessness, but at the same time, he acknowledged that something had to be done about the crime situation in Gotham and supported Bruce's crusade. Alfred always gave his support while Bruce was growing up. And no matter how stupid and careless Bruce was behaving as he got older, Alfred never abandoned him.

Sadly, that's as far as it goes to say anything positive about these two characters, because they only get ruined as the trilogy progresses. Gordon's fake death subplot falls apart if you try to think about it, and his involvement in the Dent cover-up, as well as sending all the cops underground in the third movie, was unforgivable. Even Oldman's acting in the sequels isn't as good as his performance in the first film. As good as Michael Caine is, I was extremely put off by how callous he behaved while  Bruce was mourning over Rachel's death in TDK, and his constant monologues throughout the film got on my nerves.  His decision to hide Rachel's letter for eight years only did more harm than good. If Alfred had any common sense, he would've told Bruce the truth a long time ago. And needless to say, his decision to leave Bruce goes against everything he stood for in BB.

But despite how much I grew to dislike them in the sequels, their behaviours still doesn't affect my appreciation for their characters in the first film.