Starts slowly, picks up steam, ends with a bang

Rating: 7/10 (7 August 2006)

Batman Begins, the Batman movie that is not actually about Batman. This is the story of Bruce Wayne. The fact that Bruce Wayne will eventually be Batman is almost besides the point. It takes a lot of guts to try and resurrect a comic book movie franchise without having the comic book hero in question appear in the film until it is halfway finished. So give director Christopher Nolan his due credit for having the guts to tell the Batman story in a way it had never before been seen on the big screen. The film he gives us is not perfect by any means but it's certainly something worthwhile and, most importantly, something different. Batman Begins is a refreshing change from the same old, same old we've seen before.
Batman Begins sets out to tell the story of how exactly Bruce Wayne became Batman. As conceived by Nolan, Bruce Wayne's journey is quite a remarkable one. And in a story that is so much about one man's personal journey the actor playing Bruce was always going to be critical, with the film's success ultimately dependent on his performance. Christian Bale does not disappoint. His performance is spot-on. Intense or light-hearted, brooding or playful...whatever is called on in the moment Bale delivers. Bale's performance is the key but there are plenty of other standouts as well. Michael Caine as Bruce's trusted butler Alfred and Morgan Freeman as scientist Lucius Fox, who should get as much credit as Bruce himself for "inventing" Batman, are both excellent in their roles. Gary Oldman gets to play a good guy for a change as Lt. Gordon and brings real heart to the role. Gary Oldman's got a heart, who knew? Cillian Murphy is appropriately creepy as the villainous Scarecrow, Liam Neeson is reliable as ever as Bruce's mentor at the outset of his journey in the film. Perhaps the only disappointment is Katie Holmes who in neither looks nor actions ever seems mature enough to be believable in the role of an assistant D.A. which she is given. But that's a minor quibble, her screen time is fairly minimal and she's not that bad, she's just not very good either. She's just kind of there.
The story here is an ultimately fascinating one but it does take some time to get going. The film begins with Bruce Wayne's rather extensive training with the mysterious Neeson character and you may after a while find yourself saying, "Be Batman already!" But it is nice to get a different spin on the Batman character and ultimately the payoff is worth the wait. Christian Bale makes a good Batman and he's an excellent Bruce Wayne, which in this film is clearly the more important of the dual roles. It may begin slowly but the film picks up steam throughout and builds towards a surprising and exciting climactic final showdown. There are a few lulls along the way but ultimately Bruce Wayne's journey is one well worth seeing.