"Are You Ready To Begin?"

Rating: 9/10 (12 September 2008)

Seven years after Batman's last woeful appearance on the big screen, the Dark knight would receive a second chance to start a big screen franchise. The result was a Batman film 180 degrees different from its predecessors in its tone and presentation. In fact the title said it all: Batman Begins.
Christian Bale makes a remarkable Btamn / Bruce Wayne in the film. Like Christoher Reeve in Superman The Movie almost three decades earlier, Bale makes the remarkable journey to superhero seem believable. Whjat makes Bale's performance (and arguably the character's journey as well) all the more remarkable is the fact that batman is not just your average superhero either. Bale makes the journey from man to symbol remarkably and believable. The one downside to Bale is really his voice as Batman which is unbelievably deep to put it nicely. Yet despite that he makes a good candidate from the best film Btamn yet from this film alone.
Like how director Richard Donner surrounded Christopher Reeve in Superman The Movie with an all star supporting cat, director Christopher Nolan surrounded Bale in much the same way. There is Michael Caine who makes a wonderful Alfred with a terrificly understated performance, Gary Oldman's realistic Jim Gordon and Morgan Freeman's excellent Lucius Fox for a start. Then there's the villains like Tom Wilkinson's mob boss and Cillian Murphy's Dr. Crane. Don't forget a the stand-out performance of Liam Neesom as Dukar who helps to firmly anchor the film in reality. There are one or two miscasts like Katie Holmes and Ritger Hauer who both seem nowhere near in their roles as the rest of the cast. Overall though it is an excellent supporting cast backing up an excellent leading man.
One of the big reasons this film works is that, unlike the art deco inspired films of Tim Burton or the overly stylized films of Joel Schumacuer, Nolan choose to put his Batman in something close to the real world. Everything about this film from its real world technology(or thereabouts)to Gotham itself signals this. Nolan and fellow writer David S. Goyer have taken the Btman mythology out of the comic book and into the real world. This is a dark world for the Dark Knight indeed.
What would a Batman film be without action? Though it is essentially action less for much of its first third, the film has no shortage of action after wisely allowing for plenty of time for character development. Nolan wisely chooses not to fall into the usual trap of having a plot that revolves around the need for action sequences every few minutes. In fact Batman Begins is quite the opposite by using action to forward the plot. The action might be amazing but it never overwhelms the human drama going or the most important thing: the story. And that is how it should be.
From strong performances to a real world setting and amazing action sequences, Batman Begins is a terrific action film. It is more then that though. With its blend of human drama with action it is a new beginning for a amazing hero. As the title says: Batman Begins.