The Dark Knight's Ultimate Incarnation

Rating: 10/10 (15 June 2005)

I'm not here to tell you the plot of this movie. A review should not do that. I'm not here to blast off about my opinion mindlessly. I am certainly not here to demand everyone like this film.
I'm here to advise you, from one film-goer to another, that "Batman Begins" is officially worth your notice, comic book fan or no. Hollywood simply does not put out films like this very often.
Christopher Nolan's epic Batman origin tale is very different from the other movies made about the Dark Knight. Unlike Joel Schumacher and (to an extent) Tim Burton, Nolan is not interested in Batman's toys or his neuroticism nearly as much as he's interested in the city at stake, the people inside of it, and most of all the man who wants to save both. Ironically, this focus on human drama makes the toys far cooler and the mystique far more legit, because the film never feels like it's leaning on them.
Credit is owed to every single member of the cast, but some more than others. Christian Bale nails it, but the fans and the critics were pretty sure he was going to; he is the only man for this job. Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine have so much class and style it comes out of their ears. Liam Neeson, often jeered at for supposedly reprising his role as Qui-Gon Jinn here, actually constructs a vastly different type of tutor than his old Jedi master: a brutal, frightening, unforgiving man whose complex motives and dangerous beliefs are manifested perfectly throughout the film. He is as engaging as Bruce Wayne without ever upstaging him. We get the sense this man could have become Batman himself long ago, but did not. Also worth mentioning is Katie Holmes, who is getting collateral flak from fanboys displeased by her casting. Disregard such flak. She does a fine job, shaming Kim Basinger's helpless damsel and creating a real moral challenge for Bruce Wayne.
The last time David S. Goyer took part in writing a movie, he constructed the unforgivably bad "Blade: Trinity." When I saw it, I became very concerned for this film. It is now clear that Goyer had to hit his career low before he could nail his high. Although he has done some very enjoyable work in the past, this is the best film David Goyer has ever had anything to do with. All of the "Blade" trilogy combined can't take this beast for raw power.
Christopher Nolan, however, is still the man that ran this show, and had the vision for it in the beginning. As such, he is the man who deserves the biggest applause. He has succeeded in making a super-hero movie about something, a movie which completely succeeds in telling a rich, complicated story about what fear can do and how to overcome it. This theme is not subtle or passive, but actively influences every second of the movie, giving it incredible continuity and focus. Nolan gets the applause for that more than anyone else. It is his achievement that this film is so finely crafted; he was the beating heart of this animal, and he brought it to glorious life.
Underestimate "Batman Begins" at your own peril.