Batman Begins

Raising the bar significantly, Batman Begins is the ultimate benchmark in the comic book genre.
Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, and Morgan Freeman
Written By: Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer, and Bob Kane
Directed By: Christopher Nolan

The Batman story, while already thoroughly covered on the big screen, has never fully realized the importance of the history of Bruce Wayne as a character. This is a fault seen in many of the other movies that are all within the same comic-book based vein. In Batman begins however, we are introduced to the very core of Bruce Wayne's character and as such the essence of what Batman is really all about, and while almost anyone (particularly those familiar with Batman's story) knows his history, to see it fully flushed on film is nearly unheard of. As such, Batman/Bruce Wayne becomes more of a complete hero, rather than just being the masked crusader who beats up the bad guys. Christopher Nolan's direction is remarkable, straying away from the inconsistent and overly-dark thematics that earlier movies featured, instead creating a world where Gotham (which is a CGI-enhanced Chicago) is much more a reflection of the world we in and a much more tangible place, and also keeping true to the original concept that makes Batman so popular. In truth Christopher Nolan doesn't reinvent the wheel, he just refines it. The formula is still mostly the same, Batman is still the ultimate "vengeance" story, but we instead see deeper into that mindset and with a great screenplay as well as extremely well-done character and plot development, Batman Begins is that much stronger. Christian Bale is superb in his role as the protagonist, easily outperforming all previous Batmans (including Michael Keaton). He perfectly balances the bitterness reflected from his painful past, and also the desire the his character continuously shows to save his own city. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman both also perform wonderfully in their supporting roles of Alfred and Lucius Fox, respectively, each guiding Bruce Wayne through his up-and-coming glory. Neither actor appears to be dull in their approach, giving the standard treatment rather than fully immersing themselves into character, instead they (especially Michael Caine) almost seem natural in playing their characters. Equally so, Liam Neeson, Cillian Murphy, and yes even Tom Wilkinson are very convincing for each of their bad guy roles, being incredulously menacing or, in the case of the former two, even downright creepy. Tom Wilkinson and Cillian Murphy in particular make distant departures from their typical "nice-guy" roles, Tom Wilkinson is surprisingly convincing (complete with atypical "mobster" American accent) as a no-good crimelord, Carmine Falcone. Cillian Murphy's character on the other hand, Dr. Jonathon Crane, who has an apparent obsession with fears and the mind of people, is often mind-numbingly creepy in his approach, not to mention his general world view. The final great facet of Batman Begins is the integration of such themes of how people react to fears, and also people's constant (and need of) adaptation, which adds a psychological depth unforeseen in many of the other movies that fall within this genre. All in all, Batman Begins is a very surprising and inspiring movie, and is the one big film that everyone had been waiting for, and is also the movie that Spider-Man really should have been. Finally, sixteen years after the original film was released, there is a crowning achievement in the Batman portfolio.

★★★★★