A great summer blockbuster  dark, interesting, exciting and more than an antidote to Schumacher's childish vision of the character

Rating: Null/10 (16 July 2005)

Bruce Wayne is not a happy fella. Being trapped in a cave full of bats as a child left him full of fear, and he can only blame himself for the death of his parents at the hands of a typical street thug. However time has perverted this hurt into a bitter, hollow anger that has led him to the Far East where he fights criminals behind bars, seemingly to seek to quench his thirst for what he sees as "justice". Taken into a remote training facility for the League of Shadows by Ducard, Wayne learns the arts of deception, movement, combat and others but when he understands that justice is death for this group he leaves and returns to Gotham City. In his absence, the city has fallen into corruption and crime and, seeking a symbol of fear for the criminals, Wayne uses his skills and considerable assets to try and bring down this rule by way of a vigilante personae  The Batman. However, with few allies in this fight, will he be able to counter more than the smaller fish in the pond?
Although I don't agree with those IMDb users who have put this film into the top 250 ever made, I do see why they did it, because after the decreasing returns of the modern Batman films I was almost relieved that Begins made a massive leap away from the childish mess that Joel Schumacher had produced. Although not perfect, Nolan's Batman is dark where Schumacher's was day-glow; interesting where the other was puerile; exciting where the other was tiresome; this Wayne is a person where the other's was a child's action figure; this film almost stays in the real world where the other was set in some fantasy world that Schumacher must see when he shuts his eyes. So I can see why people love this film so much  it is such a massive jump up in quality that it is easy to see it as the greatest film ever made; compared to Batman & Robin this IS Citizen Kane. The plot sounds silly at the start but the structure of flashbacks and desolate reality make you forget of the lack of logic (or even explanation) behind Wayne being in prison. From here the training is swift and exciting while more cuts give us the back-story we already know. Back in Gotham Batman truly begins and the build up is as good as the delivery  he is not full of quips, in fact at first he is barely seen. While building the usual "baddie with a big weapon" story the film blends characters, other baddies, themes and action so naturally that it makes it look easy  but Schumacher will assure you it is not.
Nolan's direction and the design of the film are big reasons for it working; although the material is fantastic, somehow it all feels like the real world and not like B&R for example. It feels gritty and it makes the characters more real and therefore interesting. Also appreciated is the fact that it is not only dark in visuals but also content. Personally I would have liked Wayne to have been more twisted and confused but what it did was good enough, more important though was how scary bits were  the Scarecrow, the paranoid visions, all combined to produce some dark images. Oh, and many thanks to the genius parents who saw this film advertised and thought "hmm, a darker Batman film with a rating for over 12's  I know, I'll take my 4 year old to see that"; needless to say several families in my screening will not be aware of the ending of the film  who'd have though a 12A would frighten pre-school children? Tossers.
The cast do well with what they have. Bale is a great Batman and I struggled to reconcile the man I saw with the man I saw a few months back in The Machinist. Although the script only gives him basic emotional building blocks and not a real inner struggle, Bale still does well with it and far from being the straightman to Batman's entertainer, his Wayne is the most interesting thing in the film. Neeson makes for a good trainer and his darkly interesting character does enough so that we accept the mythical body he represents. Holmes is OK, pretty good but really I could have coped without her character. Caine is a great choice for Albert and he seems to enjoy it. Freeman may have just followed the Alec Guinness model of taking the payday but he is also enjoyable Q to Bale's Bond (bet they wish their franchise had gotten him first). Murphy is interestingly creepy even before he becomes genuinely scary as his villain. Oldman does less than he is capable of but he is still a good addition  ditto with Wilkinson.
Overall this is not one of the best films ever made but it is a great summer movie and, more importantly, it is a massive improvement on the Batman that Schumacher gave us  everything that it failed to do, this does well. A worthy blockbuster that is engaging, dark, exciting, scary and fun  well worth seeing and probably one of the better blockbusters this year.