Lives up to all the rage and hype!!

Rating: 9/10 (20 June 2005)

So intensely close to perfect, it's frightening. The Batman franchise created by Bob Kane has stood the test of time for over 6 decades and there has to be a reason for that? Use the basics, don't stray from what was created and that's what Batman Begins has done. Batman is about Bruce Wayne and his quest for vengeance and justice, what created him, how does he fight so well?? Batman Begins gives us all that and so much more.
Bruce Wayne treks across the world to escape the guilt he feels about his parents' brutal murder by a street thug. He comes across the mysterious Ducard who works for someone named Ra's Al Ghul who is in command of "The League of Shadows." Ducard leads Wayne to their temple and begins to train him mercilessly and purge him of his fears and guilt creating the perfect vigilante skilled in the arts of Ninja and utilizing fear. Wayne is distraught to learn that Ra's Al Ghul only trained him to lead a ninja army back to Gotham and destroy it believing it to be an evil city that needs to be wiped out. Wayne destroys the temple and only saves Ducard. He returns to Gotham where he has been absent for 7 years. His company, Wayne Enterprises is being broken up and sold on the public stock market, and his faithful butler and former guardian Alfred meets him to welcome him home. Wayne explains his plans to become a symbol of justice and fear against the evil. With the help of Wayne Enterprises Tech man Lucius Fox Wayne gets everything he needs to become the thing he feared the most...The Bat. Big time mobster Carmine Falcone is moving drugs into Gotham for an investor who he is communicating with him through Jonathan Crane. Crane is using the drugs to experiment on patients in Arkham Asylum. The drugs cause the patients to go insane with fear. Crane himself is donning a mask that gases his victims and taking on the moniker of the Scarecrow. No one in law enforcement will touch Falcone, either being paid off by him or afraid to go after him by themselves like the district attorney, and Sargent Jim Gordon, a good cop without any help. Batman goes after him gets all the necessary leverage to help Gordon take him down and have him arrested. Bruce Wayne does his best to keep up his double life as Wayne and Batman until Crane's boss makes himself known, and will be Bruce Wayne and Batman's ultimate adversary in a battle to save Gotham from being completely obliterated with the insanity toxin.
I so badly want to tack a huge 10 out of 10 on this but there is some slight downfalls to this fantastic film. Katie Holmes...she might be a good actress, I don't know, but she's not right for this role or this film. She sticks out from the rest of the cast and never fits. The ending of the film felt a little tacked on, like it was trying to wrap things up too quickly. I was a little disappointed with the entirely redesigned Batmobile which was more of a battle tank and the whole sliding under thing for the guns looked a bit ridiculous. Don't let any of that steer you away from the truly amazing job Christopher Nolan did with this film, not to mention the incredible actors in the film. How did Nolan bring the amazing Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman into this film?? Michael Caine as Alfred was a risky move. Caine is a big screen presence and could have overshadowed Christian Bale but they utilize him very carefully and make him an important part of Bruce Wayne's existence, as he should be, not just a butler but his friend, father figure, protector, partner. Liam Neeson also adds to this amazing cast as Wayne's trainer and mentor and also in a less than familiar role that I won't get into so as to not spoil the entire movie. Morgan Freeman plays a small but important role as the tech guy giving Bruce Wayne everything he needs to be Batman. Finally you have Gary Oldman who usually gets on my nerves but he's cleverly done up and plays a soft spoken yet honest cop in the future Commissioner Gordon. This cast clicks together amazingly.
And finally and perhaps most importantly the absolutely stunning casting job of Christian Bale. This guy was MADE to play Bruce Wayne and Batman. Bale is like straight from the comic books into the movies. Both his portrayals are remarkable and he couldn't be any more DEAD ON!!! This guy ROCKS!! This film is so dead on accurate to the comics and yet translates it to the screen so flawlessly. Gotham is beautifully depicted and one of the greatest things is this film DOES NOT USE CGI or at least cleverly disguises it. A HUGE HATS OFF to Nolan for creating such an amazing action film with such little obvious CGI, it can be done!! This film takes us from Wayne's beginnings to his becoming The Batman. It shows us his fear, his emotions, his raw side. As Batman he shows anger, and revenge. The film is almost epic in scale and never focus' on just one aspect of Wayne or Batman. For any Batman, Super hero fan you need to see this film. I think they can definitely turn this into the new series and obliterate the mistakes made with the previous installments, but they have to keep the same level of class and creativity with it. The film is NOT as dark as everyone claims it to be but it's just right and fits the bill. A MUST SEE!! 9/10