The prequel to Tim Burton's Batman follows a young Bruce Wayne as he witnesses his parents' murder, joins a group of ninjas and dons the black cape to rid Gotham City of evil.

Rating: 7/10 (8 July 2005)

The original revealed Batman within minutes but in Begins it takes an entire hour for him to get all spruced up. However, that doesn't mean the first half isn't crammed full of action. After getting out of a Chinese prison, Bruce joins The League of Shadows in a bid to become strong and powerful enough to fight crime and save Gotham City. Michael Caine provides the film with most of its humour as Bruce's butler, Alfred. He is sarcastic, quick-witted and doesn't get nearly enough screen time. The same applies to Morgan Freeman's character, Lucius Fox, who works for Wayne Enterprises and helps out with Bruce's quest to kick the asses of evil mobsters (Tom Wilkinson with a very dodgy accent) and the scarecrow. Cillian Murphy is terrifying as the scarecrow with the mask on and off. It is during his scenes that I wonder why Batman Begins only received a 12A certificate. The hallucinations are truly scary and enough to give children nightmares for a week. Christian Bale kicks some serious ass as the caped crusader and the bat-mobile could give James Bond a run for his money. However, the biggest drawback is the Spider Man 2-style climactic ending which is nowhere near as good as the original. Batman Begins brings something new to the genre while still leaving more to be developed in future films. This is one for Batman fans everywhere.