Quite a surprise!

Rating: 9/10 (7 July 2012)

The first few times I saw the previews for "Batman Begins", I didn't know what to make of it. With the way "Batman and Robin" turned out, I was careful not to get too excited for this one. Plus, based on the trailers it looked a bit too dark for me. So my attitude was "wait and see".
I didn't really pay much attention to the popularity it received that summer (2005), and when school started, I read some of the reviews and was a bit surprised at how positive they were. So I decided to give it a chance. After I watched it, I can tell you how completely off my first impression was. It is amazing! It's basically an account of the origin story of how Bruce Wayne became Batman, and it's the exact story you want to see. Bruce Wayne's parents are killed right in front of him by a mugger named Joe Chill, and years later when Chill is released on parole Bruce tries to get revenge for his parents death but fails. With nothing left in Gotham, he leaves and travels the world to understand the criminal mind. Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) who is a member of the League of Shadows takes Bruce under his wing and trains him in numerous fighting methods. He later betrays the league when he learns they are using him to attack Gotham and destroy it in order to bring peace to the city. He burns the house down leaving the league's leader Ra's Al Ghul to die, but saves Henri Ducard.
Bruce then returns to Gotham, and becomes Batman in order to fight the criminals and corrupt officials that have taken control of the city. (Spoiler Alert) He discovers a bigger plot run by Henri Ducard who reveals himself to be the real Ra's Al Ghul, and is intending to destroy Gotham. Bruce as Batman is able to stop him, and is hailed as a public hero.
Acting: Christian Bale is the best actor to play Bruce Wayne/Batman ever. He's good at capturing the struggles that Bruce goes through as he starts to lead a double life, and is able to show the anger Bruce still feels over his parents' death. Michael Caine does a terrific job as Alfred who is Bruce's butler, Gary Oldman does great as Jim Gordon, Liam Neeson is as great as ever as Henri Ducard/Ra's Al Ghul, Morgan Freeman who plays Lucius Fox is awesome as he always is, and I love the interactions between him and Bruce Wayne. Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes is OK, and the rest of the cast such as Tom Wilkinson (Carmine Falcone) and Cillian Murphy (Dr. Johnathan Crane/Scarecrow) are excellent.
Overall: I love how the director, Christopher Nolan was able to reinvent Batman and make him more realistic than he has ever been, how he was able to make Gotham city look like a real life modern city like Chicago where most of it was filmed, and the musical score by Hans Zimmer is excellent! Most of all, it felt like Batman and that's what I like. After the credits started rolling I said, "That's it! That's Batman movie I've been waiting for!"