Batman at His Best

Rating: 9/10 (17 June 2005)

"Batman Begins" joins the Superman films of the 1980s and both Spiderman movies as an example of a movie comic book adaptation at its best. This is no surprise with Chrisopher Nolan at the helm, the man who brought us "Memento." True to the unique take that Nolan has on Batman, this film is not a sequel to the other four, but rather a new beginning for the caped crusader (as the name suggests). Like the other films, Batman faces multiple villains at the same time, including an old-style gangster named Carmine Falcone (played remarkably convincingly by Tom Wilkinson, who would not have been my first choice), and a devious psychiatrist named Dr. Crane (who proves that looks can be deceptive). There is a third villain whose arrival on the scene comes as a shock to the audience as well as to Batman (no, it is probably not who you think it is!). Naturally, I will not give anything away, except to say that there is a history between Batman and this person that makes facing him or her a psychological challenge as well as a physical one.
Of course on the down side, Nolan continues the comic book practice of giving the villains a stupid plot to attack Gotham City, but that is to be expected. I have yet to see a comic book adaptation where the bad guys came up with any truly brilliant ideas. Instead they come up with ideas like harvesting people's brain waves so that the villain can become smarter (an actual scheme from another Batman movie).
Every comic book hero must have his love interest, who thankfully is usually an intelligent woman. In this movie, it is a young and idealistic assistant D.A. played by Katie Holmes, who does a fair job of it. Among the other supporting actors- Michael Caine is good as Alfred, and Morgan Freeman brings his usual professionalism to the role of Lucius Fox (who in spite of the name is not a pimp, but rather a developer of advanced technology for Wayne Enterprises). Liam Neeson and Ken Watanabe are particularly good as the martial art experts who train Bruce Wayne, and the future Commissioner Gordon makes his appearance in the form of Gary Oldman, who has always been one of my favorite actors.
This film is wonderful from beginning to end, although the scenes in the ice village at the beginning of the film were somewhat confusing, and required a great deal of concentration to follow. Hang in there, and it will pay off.