The Original Batman Legend

Rating: 10/10 (20 June 2005)

What will you want to see when you go for a Batman movie which tells you of how Bruce Wayne becomes the Dark Knight of Gotham? An introduction to his childhood, his deepest fears which become the stimulus for what grows within him, his aimless wanderings around the world, his methodical training, his realization to where he should put himself in this world despite what his training demands him of, his preparations for his new life, the slow and very slow ways of introducing his secret self, teasing glimpses of his style and action, and a prodigious ending where all of what he is, is displayed full, as the colossal BATMAN.
This movie has it all.
Christian Bale is one of my favorite actors since Equilibrium (2002). He has given a very responsible and matured performance. I liked Michael Keaton. I liked Val Kilmer. And Bale? From his post-adolescent age, through the wanderer period and till the end as a superhero, he has shown significant differences in every stage of his acting. He is born for this role.
Bale has given a performance through which the subtleties of his character of a Batman growing from scratches are very carefully depicted. For an instance, even after wearing the hood, his manners and ways of delivering speech are full of emotions. He shouts, swears, worries. But as his personality builds on and on, he becomes more silent, more methodic, more dark and more a Batman.
Liam Neeson is as usual the screen stunner. He is as cool as he was as Qui Gon Jinn (Star Wars - Episode I) and as Godfrey (Kingdom of Heaven). I loved watching him train Bale exhibiting his arrogant confidence. Morgan Freeman comes only in a few scenes but makes his mark. His witty talks and the proud-but-humble way he displays his inventions to Bale are some on the lighter side of the movie. Hats off to Sir Michael Caine as Alfred. No one else would suite better, particularly when he has to say - "Never".
Every character and every scene has been chosen properly. The deliberate minor imperfections in clothing, weaponry and action scenes vividly reminds us that this is a prequel portraying a beginner and not an advanced superhero. The gripping score from Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard constitutes the power drive for those amazing 141 on-screen minutes. Ultimately, the movie has justified its title.
I have never seen Batman so dark and so powerful. This movie is a dream come true for a die-hard fan like me. Extending his black wings the Dark Knight vanishes in flight before we could even realize it. Nolan has teased us to the core but has made sure to leave those awing flashes behind our eyes which tells us of... what Batman means!