Terrific and overdue return to form for the Batman series

Rating: 8/10 (24 September 2005)

Prequel takes the Batman franchise into an altogether maturer dimension.
With an all-star cast, huge budget, polished production values and the great pedigree of the Batman name behind it you would be forgiven for expecting something which elevates this movie above the appalling turkeys in the series which preceded it like the truly dire Batman and Robin, Batman Forever and the quite embarrassingly awful spin off, Catwoman.
Well thankfully the Batman legacy is back in force to an ephemeral degree and this movie succeeds in single-handedly resurrecting the brilliance and darkness of the first 2 movies while adding yet more to them and evolving the overall name.
Christian Bale is the latest Batman, and while Michael Keaton was probably the best Batman, Bale is a *different* Batman because the purpose of this movie is to make the character far less of a comic book fantasy and much more of a believably human individual while still retaining just a *little* touch of supernatural influence.
The plot here takes us to Bruce Wayne's background, and explains his exact development from young boy to exceptionally angry young man who turns criminal and becomes lost in his own nightmare due to the circumstances surrounding him. It charts how his own fears become what drive him to become vengeful against those who have wronged him and his family in Gotham City, while also waging new wars against emerging enemies.
As mentioned before, an all star cast is resplendent in Batman Begins. The likes of Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Katy Holmes, Tom Wilkinson, Cilian Murphy, Rutger Hauer and the always superb Michael Caine provide outstanding support to Bale's haunted Bruce Wayne. There is absolutely no sense of upstaging in evidence, and all actors appear to be entirely respectful of one another. This show of solidarity as opposed to individual prima-donna style behaviour is a pleasure to see in a movie of this nature, and lets the story flow without disturbance.
The direction of them certainly takes some credit for this as well, plus also letting the action freely move forward. Sure, the fight sequences can occasionally get ever so slightly confusing, fast as they are, but this never gets in the way of enjoying the movie.
Part of enjoying this movie comes from Batman's wholly grounded humanism. Instead of being a superhuman creature, Batman Begins portrays him as a normal man who's benefitting from magnificent Martial Arts tutelage as well as the empire of his family which happens to involve a huge company responsible for much highly advanced army technology. It is this technology which he uses to become Batman, and combine it with his terrific fighting capacity and suddenly the whole Batman facade is almost believable. There are, however, just enough *slight* supernatural overtones just to keep it feeling like real Batman the fans can identify with.
Another great quality to the story is the superb cinematography - some of the camera work is truly extraordinary and frankly breathtaking. This is one impressive looking movie.
There is is a lot more to the movie as well, but rather than surmising any more of it I would simply recommend it as up there as one of, if not perhaps the best Batman movie yet.
Top class.