One Of The Best Comic Book/Superhero Films Ever Made. A Great Start To A Excellent Trilogy.

Rating: 10/10 (1 May 2013)

Batman Begins is one of the best Comic Book/Superhero films ever made and a landmark film in the Superhero/Comic Book genre. Filled with great direction,wonderful performances and amazing Action scenes this is Christopher Nolan at his best.
Set in the fictional town of Gotham City,Batman Begins tells the story of a young billionaire Bruce Wayne(Christian Bale)who as a little boy saw his parents killed in a mugging and is scarred. When Bruce grows up and sees Gotham ravaged by Crime and death,Bruce decides to become a masked crime fighter and calls himself Batman. Now,Batman has to battle and stop the villain know as Scarecrow/Dr. Jonathan Crane(Cillian Murphy)while the same trying to save Gotham.
Batman Begins is a great Comic Book film that brought Batman back to the dark and brooding character he was. At first when I heard that Warner Brothers was making a new,rebooted Batman film I was not to excited mainly because I loved Tim Burton's Batman films and I thought the series should not be relaunched. But after Joel Shumacher's campy and candy colored films Batman Forever(which is not that bad)and Batman & Robin(no comment on that film)Batman and the Batman series was saved an rebooted by Christopher Nolan with Batman Begins and with this film gave us a great start to The Dark Knight Trilogy. What separates this film from other Batman films is that BB shows how Bruce Wayne became Batman and the complexity of the character Bruce Wayne. Nolan's film shows viewers how Bruce Wayne became Batman with years of training and building up to becoming a crime fighter with weapons,fighting skills and striking fear in the hearts of the criminals who roam the streets of Gotham City. Bruce trains as Batman in not only the physical and fighting advantage but also the mental advantage by using the dark and shadows. Nolan also shows Bruce Wayne trying to balance out being Batman and Billionaire Bruce Wayne and showing that while Wayne is grown up is still affected by the murders of his parents. BB also shows viewers trying to form and reform relationships because of Bruce's isolation from the city and it's people. What I also love about BB and The Dark Knight Trilogy as a whole is how realistic they are and that while they are Comic Book films they don't feel like Comic Book films. Nolan bought a realism and grittiness to Comic Book/Superhero film that had not been seen much with Nolan giving us a world where Batman could exist in the real world without question and the things that happened in the film are not fantasy but reality. The realistic style of The Dark Knight Trilogy has been imitated since. I also liked how Gotham City looks and is portrayed in this film because it is not the dark and Gothic look of the Burton films or the candy colored campy look of the Schumacher films but a realistic world a Film-Noir world where Gotham is surrounded by cloud,smoke and rain and where criminals rule the streets and it feels real and makes you feel like you are in Gotham. Gotham would play a much bigger part in the other two films. Nolan is a master at pacing a film and BB moves at a great pace and when you watch the movie you would think the film was 90 minutes rather than 140 minutes. The Action and fight sequences are well-done by Nolan and match the tone of the film and Nolan would raise the Action and fight scenes to greater heights in The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. The ending of the film is great and Nolan shows viewers that with BB Nolan was just warming up and would give us much bigger,larger and more ambitious films in The Dark Knight Saga.
The whole cast does great jobs in their roles. Christian Bale is excellent as Batman/Bruce Wayne,with Bale bringing a depth and complex personality to the role. Michael Caine is wonderful as Alfred,Bruce's longtime Butler and friend. Caine has great scenes and chemistry with Bale. Liam Neeson is fabulous in his role as Ducard,a man who trains Bruce. Katie Holmes does a good job as Rachel,Bruce's best friend and love interest. Gary Oldman is great as always in the role of Cop Jim Gordan,a cop who helps Batman. Cillain Murphy is creepy and menacing as the Dr. Crane/Scarecrow,Batman's opponent. Tom Wilkinson is fantastic as Carmine Falcone,a Gotham City crime boss. Morgan Freeman is wonderful as Lucius Fox,Bruce's weapon and car maker. Rutger Hauer is good and memorable as Earle,an employee at Wayne corporations. Ken Watanabe is wonderfully mysterious as Ra's Al Ghul,Ducard's boss and associate. Mark Boone Junior is memorable as Flass,Gordan's corrupt partner.
The direction by Christopher Nolan is excellent,with Nolan giving the film an intense and dark visual style constantly moving the camera with over head shots while Nolan also does a great job with the Action scenes. Great direction from Nolan.
The score by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard is brilliant and epic and matches the dark and visual tone of the film. A great score by Zimmer and Howard.
In final word,if you a fan of Christopher Nolan,Batman,Comic Book films,Superhero films or films or cinema in general,I highly suggest you see Batman Begins,one of the best Comic Book films ever made and a great start to a brilliant trilogy. Highly Recommended. 10/10.