A brilliant and long overdue comeback from the caped crusader

Rating: 10/10 (22 July 2005)

Batman Begins
After Schumacher's "Batman Forever" and "Batman & Robin" it proved difficult to imagine the Dark Knight ever being as strong as he once was when Burton was at the helm. But thanks to the amazing Christopher Nolan and the extremely dedicated Christian Bale, Batman is back and better than ever. This movie seriously kicks ass and although it cannot undo Schumacher's unforgivable attempts at not 1 but 2 Batman films, it provides more than excellent consolation.
The Plot: This film is unlike the previous 4 as it takes a completely different slant on the character of Batman all together. "Batman Begins" is more about Bruce Wayne than anything else. The film effectively follows his life and shows the viewers where Batman came from and why. The story is brilliantly told and I do feel that this is a film which never fails to deliver. We see Bruce grow up carrying the guilt surrounding his parents murders and after a court hearing where the murderer is offered early release, Bruce disappears from his home of Gotham City, a place that is rotting under the power of men such as Carmine Falcone, a big time gangster who "owns" the city of Gotham. During a 7 year absence, Bruce learns the art of deception and theatricality along with other values from a man named Ducard and his group The League of Shadows. This training inspires Bruce to "save" his city and resurrect Gotham to the place it once was when his parents were alive.
Some viewers may be disappointed that Batman doesn't actually appear until more than an hour into the film, but if you look at the film in detail and learn to appreciate the story, you will see as I said before, it is a movie about Bruce Wayne, not Batman, hence the title "Batman Begins".
Other characters include Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) and Bruce's ever faithful butler Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine) who provides most of the laughs in this movie. Bruce's love interest, Rachel Dawes, a district attorney for the city of Gotham, is played by Katie Holmesyes the one from Dawson's Creek and yesthe one that is now engaged to Tom Cruise. Even though she is not an original character, I have to say she acts the part well and is a character that is needed as she does give something to the movie. The villains are really the only ones that were left to pick-The Scarecrow and Ra's Al Ghulscary. I've often wondered that if the scarecrow were to be picked, how on earth they would pull of a man that wears a potato sack on his head, but much to my delight and anticipation, he does look fantastic.
The only downside to this film, and believe me it isn't easy to find one, is the unfortunate change in the story of Bruce's past. Any true Batman fan will know that Bruce's parents were murdered by Jack Napier, who later becomes The Joker. However, because the joker has already been used as a villain (In Tim Burton's "Batman"), he couldn't be used again. This is why Bruce's parents are murdered by some no bodyalso, this means that if a sequel were to be made, it may complicate things further.., but apart from that, I would recommend this film to anyone. It's one of those movies that deserves to be seen more than once and it is a delight to see The Dark Knight soaring the skies of Gotham city again, back to how he used to be before Schumacher got his hands on him, sinister, Gothic and bloody scary.