The start of something spectacular... !

Rating: 10/10 (17 June 2005)

... It's time for all those irate comic-book fans to finally purge their memories completely of the gaudy "Batman Forever" and the frankly awful "Batman & Robin" and kneel at the altar of one Christopher Nolan... He has given you back your franchise in a stunningly bedecked velvet box and given everyone a Dark Knight outing that's more than worthy of the name. It's suggested we take a leaf from the book of the "Halloween" series and simply ignore those incarnations that we judged were not up to snuff; for this, as the title suggests, is where the Batman series TRULY Begins - and boy, what an inception we're treated to... ! You can all see those 10 gold stars at the top of the review, right? To give you a clearer idea of how much I hold this wonderful film in high regard; I rated Tim Burton's very respectable first effort a '7'... All of the 'untapped potential' the source material provides is utilised to stunning effect in 2005...
'Fear' is the key, here, and it's nice to see all of the villains of the piece doing their bit to keep Mr. Wayne's torment fresh, without going over the top and seeming to inhabit another galaxy altogether, as previous antagonists had tended to do. Particularly pleasing for me was yet another authoritative turn by Mr. Liam Neeson, lending his considerable 'gravitas' to the benefit of one more veritable institution... All of the impressive cast pull their collective weight, though - obviously drawn in by a hot young director and his daring back-to-basics vision, rather than simply a massive paycheck...
Ample time is spent allowing us to understand Bruce Wayne, too, and not just his alter-ego... Bale's acting is perfectly adept at conveying inner turmoil and outward charm, at the same time. Some moments of grim humour are allowed to poke through, every now and then; but never in the gleefully campy spirit of yore that would have ruined the atmospherically foreboding set-up. Indeed, like Spiderman, Batman's escapades invoke a lot of responsibility; and never slow to remind him of this, is Alfred! Scenes of concern for emotional wellbeing allow Bale and Caine to partner very effectively, and pack just as much 'wallop' - albeit of a different kind - as the jaw-dropping set-pieces. Most impressive above all, character definitely comes first, here; and with such a talented array of players and a range of issues to explore, how can you lose, really? ... all of which makes it paramount that as many of the same crew as practical are kept on board for possible continuation... ! From being just your averagely excited moviegoer beforehand, I've now been converted into a raving fanatic! This may be a great beginning for Batman, but it's decidedly mouthwatering to think of the places he can go, next...