Without doubt the best and most realistic interpretation of Batman's character and origins till now

Rating: 9/10 (20 August 2008)

I have always enjoyed the Batman movies, even Joel Schumacher's comedic installments, since they were enjoyable after all (even if in a totally different dimension than Tim Burton's). However, unlike Schumacher's campy installments or Burton's fantasy-like worlds, Batman Begins aims for a realistic, 'crime-epic' like attitude. So, when Batman Begins came around, I knew that I had to give it a try and see how things turn out this time. So here's what I thought about the movie:
The story of Batman Begins is dark, foreboding, and definitely far more mature than any previous installments. As the title may suggest, the movie makes full efforts at explaining Batman's origins, how and why Bruce Wayne transformed into Batman. The origins part (roughly the first quarter) of Batman Begins is particularly intriguing, convincing and imbued throughout the movie. The ubiquity of the psychological elements of the story  the themes of fear, remorse and conscience  are a huge reason for the plot's tight cohesion and imposingness. I was also impressed by how the plot strongly relates to Batman's origins even in the movie's second half, when the focus shifts to the villains.
Batman Begins' presentation is also superb most of the time, although there are times  such as Liam Neeson's philosophical lines during Bruce's training with the League of Shadows and when the Wayne Manor is being burned down  when the dialogue seems to stand in for story elements left out in the visual presentation, which I thought was a rather cheap way of storytelling. The lines spoken by Tom Wilkinson during Carmine Falcone's introduction to Bruce Wayne were also rather clichéd.
It's also worth noting that Batman's "playground", Gotham City, sees its grittiest interpretation yet in Batman Begins. A good part of the movie takes place in the Narrows, Gotham's shantytowns, and it looks as organically squalid as could be. In contrast, downtown Gotham features gleaming skyscrapers and a monorail connecting the entire city, which not only results in some impressive cinematography, but also perfectly conveys the sense of inequality the movie tries to show. Aside, the production design is dark and top-notch everywhere else. The movie also appropriately accentuates its darkness by primarily using dank color palettes.
The acting in Batman Begins is also overwhelmingly positive. Christian Bale's portrayal of a playboy Bruce Wayne who hides dark secrets inside him is very interesting, although his raspy 'Bat-voice' sounded dangerously over-the-top to me. Katie Holmes (13 years old in this movie, apparently) is definitely the weakest point in the movie's cast; her exaggerated expressions just don't cut it, and her chemistry with Christian Bale is frustratingly poor. However, the best acting IMO goes to Cillian Murphy as Dr. Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow, whose subtly sinister demeanor is startlingly realistic and goes hand-in-hand with the movie's mood. Bale himself comes at a close second, while the other cast members, notably Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Tom Wilkinson, all do a great job in their respective roles. Michael Caine in particular, with his grandfatherly figure, is very amusing every time he comes on screen.
And while Batman and Bruce Wayne's character development is as great as could possibly be, Jonathan Crane's Scarecrow doesn't have a background story to explain his motives, and the development of the love story between Bruce and Rachel is underwhelming at times. The microwave emitter subplot, which eventually evolves into the climax, should also have had more time devoted to it  as a result of which, the story convolutes towards the climax, which comes a bit too quick (and goes away rather quickly as well).
Although the action sequences in Batman Begins are well-choreographed and clear despite the darkness they take place in, I found the movie to be lacking in 'combat action' and nearly all of the movie's high-impact action is stored away for the climax, but it's forgivable considering Nolan's focus on the origins and the psychological side of the story. There are also certain lines said by Bruce / Batman that should have been avoided, such as "I'm no executioner" and "I don't have to kill you, but I don't have to save you either", since he does kill deserving people both directly and indirectly (and both as Bruce Wayne and Batman) over the course of the movie; it would've been better to leave Batman's morals more ambiguous and hence avoid unnecessary convolutions.
While Batman Begins might not be very well-suited for the action-hungry crowd, it does a wonderful job of explaining the character's origins, something important that hadn't been done in a live-action Batman movie till now  and now that it's been done, I might add that it's done very, very impressively. This movie definitely has its flaws, even in an otherwise awesome story, but that didn't do much to ruin the movie for me. Batman Begins defines the origins and character of Batman in a mature, refreshingly original and thoroughly entertaining way. RATING: 8.5/10.