Batman Begins explores the origins of the Batman legend and the Dark Knight's emergence as a force for good in Gotham. In the wake of his parents' murder, disillusioned industrial heir Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) travels the world seeking the means to fight injustice and turn fear against those who prey on the fearful. He returns to Gotham and unveils his alter-ego: Batman, a masked crusader who uses his strength, intellect and an array of high tech deceptions to fight the sinister forces that threaten the city.
Batman Begins discards the previous four films in the series and recasts the Caped Crusader as a fearsome avenging angel. That's good news, because the series, which had gotten off to a rousing start under Tim Burton, had gradually dissolved into self-parody by 1997's Batman & Robin. As the title implies, Batman Begins tells the story anew, when Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) flees Western civilization following the murder of his parents. He is taken in by a mysterious instructor named Ducard (Liam Neeson in another mentor role) and urged to become a ninja in the League of Shadows, but he instead returns to his native Gotham City resolved to end the mob rule that is strangling it. But are there forces even more sinister at hand?
Co-written by the team of David S. Goyer (a veteran comic book writer) and director Christopher Nolan (Memento), Batman Begins is a welcome return to the grim and gritty version of the Dark Knight, owing a great debt to the graphic novels that preceded it. It doesn't have the razzle dazzle, or the mass appeal, of Spider-Man 2 (though the Batmobile is cool), and retelling the origin means it starts slowly, like most "first" superhero movies. But it's certainly the best Bat-film since Burton's original, and one of the best superhero movies of its time. Bale cuts a good figure as Batman, intense and dangerous but with some of the lightheartedness Michael Keaton brought to the character. Michael Caine provides much of the film's humor as the family butler, Alfred, and as the love interest, Katie Holmes (Dawson's Creek) is surprisingly believable in her first adult role. Also featuring Gary Oldman as the young police officer Jim Gordon, Morgan Freeman as a Q-like gadgets expert, and Cillian Murphy as the vile Jonathan Crane. --David Horiuchi
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Stills from Batman Begins (click for larger images)
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Justice!:
I'm very late in doing a review here. As a big fan of movies I have decided only just recently to start posting reviews (look for my first on 'DETERRENCE'). Batman Begins is so cooooooool. It destroyed all those cheeeezy films made before about Batman, especially when each one is played by a different actor, (nothing worse than sequels that do that) and they were just s**t anyway.
Christian Bale is first class. Being English I shocked myself when I first realised he was English, (not American) he's an... more info
Batman Begins-an outstanding Batman flick!:
Batman Begins scored very well earning five full stars in my book. This film can almost be guaranteed not to disappoint. It portrayed for the first time on the big screen the origins of the bat providing a good story and script, fine performances, excellent costumes, great sets coordinated with corresponding miniatures and CGI. The well presented martial arts sequences between the Bat and our favorite Jedi Master were thrilling. The Blu Ray transfer from film to DVD was excellent and hours of... more info
Well Done:
When I first went into the theaters to see this film I was hesitant in the knowledge that this film could of been a really good film, upstaging previous films or it could of been a poor excuse of a Batman movie, in which, the studio was trying to sqeeze every penny out of people as humanly possible before leaving the once great Batman to rest. However, I found the theartical movie very well done. Which leads me to this DVD version of Batman Begins.
I found this DVD a well contrived movie in which... more info
PREPARE TO BE BATMAN-IZED:
2005'S 4 STAR **** HIT, ****BATMAN BEGINS****, MADE CHRISTIAN BALE AN INSTANT CLASSIC. GOOD ACTOR, INTELLEGENT, EXTRADINARY! ****
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