BATMAN BEGINS (2005)

Batman has returned, again. This time however, he's back with a vengeance. Batman Begins, just as its title suggests, starts the Batman franchise over from scratch. Joel Schumacher's Batman Forever and Batman & Robin are now just distant nightmares. Christopher Nolan's vision of the Batman universe is darker and much more faithful to the DC comic than all of the other Batman movies, and it also happens to be the best one yet.
Christian Bale is perfect in every aspect as the capped crusader and brings a whole new dimension to the Batman character. Not only does Bale superbly portray our hero and his real life alter ego millionaire Bruce Wayne, he also tackles a younger Bruce whose mind is lost to a revengeful rage contemplating murder in an attempt to set right the murder of his mother and father. When his opportunity to kill the man is missed, he runs away to a far off country and sets about learning the criminal mind. Eventually he meets Ducard, played brilliantly by Liam Neeson, who offers Wayne the chance to better himself through rigorous physical and mental training, focusing his fear as a deadly weapon against his foes. Bale is always fantastic no matter what, and Batman Begins is no exception. He plays each phase of his character with an intensity that many other actors, especially those who have donned the cowl before him, don't come close too. His gravelly voiced performance is dead on and his dedication to his acting endeavors becomes apparent after seeing his transformation from living skeleton in The Machinist to ripped fighting machine. What's even more amazing is how Bale has managed to dodge an Academy Award for so long, but I'm sure he'll get the recognition he deserves one day.

The fight scenes are shot with a high degree of chaos and often appear a little too quick for the human eye to focus on. On the big screen this isn't all that bad and actually enhances the sudden sweeping attack which is incorporated with Batman 2005, but how well this transfers to DVD will be anyone's guess. Tim Burton's approach to his Batman and Batman Returns movies incorporated a much slower and deliberately more stylish polish to the action segments making everything appear perfectly clear. You always saw what Batman was doing when he fought an enemy, you saw the hits connect and everything looked great. In Christopher Nolan's interpretation you see quick cuts of fists and kicks flying and then an enemy crumples to the ground. Its obviously a matter of taste which style you prefer, but why show something if you can't really see it? Continuing along the comparison front, Burton's films seem to have incorporated a slightly better Batman costume design including the manner in which the Batman character was lit and shot. The Batman costume in Begins looks black and menacing alright, but the lighting is often far too bright and offers little mystery.
In every other aspect though, this film is a knockout. 28 Days Later star Cillian Murphy plays the evil Scarecrow, and his quirky performance is awesome. Christopher Nolan presents the scarecrow character with perfection, and Murphy just nails the part. He looks completely deranged even when he's not in villain mode. The all star cast is extremely strong including the always' reliable (OK, forget about Dreamcatcher) Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine as Alfred complete with stunning cockney accent, Tom Wilkinson as the mob king pin Carmine Falcone, the cute Katie Holmes as Bruce Waynes squeeze Rachel Dawes and the brilliant but terribly underused Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon in his genre movie return. It's also good to see Rutger Hauer appearing in a top flight movie instead of the b-movie dross he usually appears in.

This film is the Batman story that has never been told in the movies before. Tim Burton nailed Batman from a different perspective. His movies were more about mood and had an over-the-top, fantasy vein running through their core. Christpoher Nolan's vision is more gritty and darker than Burton's because it's much more realistic. Gotham City feels real and so do all the characters. Nolan's Gotham feels like a place you could go and visit right now by just getting on the highway, while Tim Burton's Gotham felt like another world entirely. This realism and a brilliantly told story are what elevates Batman Begins over previous entries. And although it is more realistic, the action is big and lots of fun to watch. The villains are great and done just the way most fans of the comics would love. Ra's Al Ghul's story is particularly engaging. The Batmobile is cooler than ever and there are a few action scenes in the movie that will blow you away. Batman has never been cooler and I can't wait for the next one. Seriously though, I really can't wait. I need a sequel right now. I feel like I'm going through Batman withdrawal. Help me somebody......