By the time we see Wayne don the cowl we've seen him as a man who has learned to quell revenge.

Rating: 9/10 (18 February 2020)

He has learned the value of anonymity to hide his identity and to protect his friends, that a symbol has nothing to lose and that his fear can be turned against his enemies. When batman appears he has learned his limits, he doesn't execute, he is a trained martial artist, and he knows the difference between petty and serious crime and criminals. It's really a clever tableau that builds over non-linear clever editing and rich development of this team around Wayne until he is, detective skills notwithstanding, the Batman we know from many comics with clever amalgams of comic stories built in well.
Hallmarks of a growing Nolan are present: Those rich landscapes and the quick editing, in Nolan-traditional non linear style. Here he is cutting his teeth on cutting in to scenes late and exiting out fast. The score is brilliant, there's few themes, but it's truly a rich tapestry of mood.
There are lots of little pleasing quirks; The way Gordon does his best to connect to the recently orphaned Wayne with his sweet, earnest face in what is a very sad moment. Bale is a sweet goofy Wayne when he shows us his real side - but his masks get in the way, and he's a man stalled in development flipping between masks.
Lots of minor villains make sense instead of the usual clutter of big villains. They support each other well even though they rarely overlap on screen which works tremendously, in fact they each take an act of the film which keeps them grounded, hidden and effective.
The foundation of Begins is still Goyer though. And that means it's got a broad, cheesy base and it contains cliche and obvious beats - but for a reboot these are restrained and reasonably pleasant when reigned in by Nolan. As with all Goyer, all of his good scripts are annotated by the good directors. (See Blade 2 and this for good, and Man of Steel or Blade Trinity for the bad.)
So the fight scenes are disorientating and ugly and in many ways I think the film will age badly in general, and Bale looks completely silly in the Batman outfit. But it's brisk, ingenious, bold and it knew itself when it came out. It's got flourishes of creativity and a gravitas that keeps it alive.
Also Bruce Wayne says he doesn't execute people and then he blows up the entire monastery and kills loads of them. Hah.