Batman Begins

Rating: 7/10 (12 November 2019)

After Tim Burton reinvented Batman for the movies in 1989 with his darker and disturbed vision.
The subsequent sequels directed by Joel Schumacher got sillier and campier. Also Warner Brothers could not keep hold of their dark knight. The replacements Val Kilmer and George Clooney just did not look right in the batsuit.
Christopher Nolan was bought in to launch a new series of films. He went back to basics with a prequel and a reinvention of the character.
The first third of the film is an origins film. Bruce Wayne travels the world learning combat and find his purpose in life. He encounters the League of Shadows led by Ra's al Ghul in the Far East. However Wayne rejects their twisted message of destroying Gotham.
He returns to Gotham as Bruce Wayne the playboy, his family company being run by an unscrupulous executive.
However Gotham is a corrupt cesspit run by organised crime. Wayne develops his Batman persona with the aid of prototype technology developed by Lucius Fox.
Christian Bale does his best Clint Eastwood impression when he has his bat suit on. There is enough playfulness in his public Bruce Wayne identity.
Batman Begins is a much needed return to form for the Batman movies. In part Nolan takes this opportunity to fulfil a lifelong ambition. Direct a James Bond type action adventure. The finale is very much like a Bond film.