Batman Begins ***** (2005, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Cillian Murphy, Liam Neeson, Ken Watanabe, Katie Holmes, Rutger Hauer, Morgan Freeman, Tom Wilkinson) – Classic Movie Review 846

The darkness falls over Gotham City and co-writer/director Christopher Nolan’s thrilling 2005 Batman/Dark Knight reboot is a triumph, and so is Christian Bale’s sombre Bruce Wayne/Batman, who is centre stage all the way as we discover the character’s previously unexplored origins and early days.

In David S Goyer’s beginnings story, young millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne’s parents are killed and he moves to Asia where he is mentored by expert manhunter and deadly killer from France Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) and Ra’s Al Ghul (Ken Watanabe) in how to fight evil. Bruce comes up with ideas for his symbol, costume, gadgets, car and cave.

After a stay of seven years, Batman then heads home to begin his war on crime to free Gotham City from the  web of corruption that the Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) and the League of Shadows have brought onto it.

Nolan’s and Goyer’s screenplay is an involving, engrossing one, and Nolan’s direction intense and dynamic. Their attention is all where it should be to realise their vision and the movie’s all about the tormented hero, the villains, the fights, the gadgets, the cityscape backgrounds, and the menacing atmosphere.

The performances are smooth, polished and disarmingly underplayed. Among Bale’s backup team. Murphy is outstanding as a disturbingly scary Scarecrow, while Neeson, Michael Caine (Alfred), Gary Oldman (young Commissioner Gordon), Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox) and Rutger Hauer (Earle) are their usual reliable selves, with enough to do to make an impression but still keep in the background. Only Katie Holmes seems a bit stranded as love interest Rachel Dawes.

James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer’s score, Wally Pfister’s cinematography, Nathan Crowley’s Production Designs and the Special Visual Effects by Janek Sirrs, Dan Glass, Chris Corbould and Paul J. Franklin are all amazing behind-the-scenes contributions to the movie, all typically ignored at awards time.

Batman Begins doesn’t supplant Tim Burton’s Batman (1989), but adds to it and the whole of the myth and mythology. It is not as much fun as the Burton version, but the quality is there big time, especially for all those of a serious disposition. This is a comic book movie for folk who like their fun deadly serious and earnest, and enjoy a strong and potent flavour of reality and realism around the fantasy.

Some will miss the humour of the two Burton movies, a few may even miss the camp of the Kilmer and Clooney Batman movies. But with a new beginning, there had to be a new vision. And few will deny that Nolan gets it exactly right for a Noughties origins reboot.

Sixties TV Batman and Batman: The Movie (1966) star Adam West opined: ‘It’s well crafted and those guys are really talented. Nolan and Bale are marvellous and they’re all true to the Gothic take. It was smart to revive the franchise by showing Batman at the beginning as Bruce Wayne as a kid and how he became psychologically tortured and such a nut.’

It is followed by The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012).

Batman Begins is the first DC Comics film to have their logo on it, and it is a new 2005 design.

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