Simply superb!

Rating: 10/10 (26 June 2005)

Finally a film which lives up the hype, and more. If George Clooney killed Batman, Christian Bale has well and truly brought him back to life, with a vengeance. Batman Begins is as about as far removed from the Joel Schumacher-inspired disaster that was Batman and Robin as is possible to be. Where Schumacher seemed to just throw a full palette of colour at the film, Christopher Nolan has returned to Batman's roots, and has brought back the original, and definitive Dark Knight. He is once again the heroic anti-hero, and not the cut-from-the-template typical clean-cut hero that Schumacher turned him in to. Spiderman/Peter Parker he ain't. The new Batman is a much darker creature, not solely driven by the inane desire to do good. Instead he is revealed to be a much more complicated individual, angry, grief-stricken.and driven by desire to wreak vengeance on the criminal underworld of Gotham City that took his parents from him.
The film reflects this new, less clean-cut, almost more sinister Batman. The tone is one of a delicious darkness, with precious little sunlight allowed in. Taking it's source material from the Batman: Year One comics, the campness of the 1960s Adam West series is well and truly gone. And no Robin in sight! The plot is an unusual one though, as rather than having just one nemesis to battle, he faces many different foes throughout the film, highlighting the desolate, God-forsaken nature of Gotham, and the size of Batman's task to restore justice to the city - and mirroring the task of director Nolan to resurrect the Batman franchise!
However, this darkness is more than compensated for by the sheer star power present in the film. Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman, Linus Roache, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer, Katie Holmes, and Ken Watanabe all provide superb stellar support. Caine in particular clearly revels in the role of Alfred, Bruce Wayne's butler and mentor. Oldman, playing completely against type, is the world-weary but honest sergeant Gordon (obviously destined to become Commissioner Gordon) and, for a man so often a brilliantly effective bad guy, is surprisingly believable as a nice guy.
The star of the piece though, is of course Christian Bale. The ultimate method actor who famously slimmed down to a walking skeleton for the Machinist, after bulking up for American Psycho, has regained his former muscular frame to be Bruce Wayne. He brings a new intensity to the role which really captures the full essence of being Batman, something even Michael Keaton did not fully manage.
The film has everything required to be a top film. Adrenaline-pumping action, a wide array of gadgets, an exhilarating car chase and a fight against evil (as well as the obligatory romance). But the important core of the story is one of a man's struggle with himself, the fight to find a purpose for his life amidst his inner conflict, and overcome his own demons of grief and anger. At the film's heart is a real human story, and all the action and gadgets serves to amplify rather than obscure or pad out the film.
Most probably the best Batman yet, the way is set for Bale to don the cape once more in a sequel to the prequel, and for once it will be a sequel welcomed with open arms. The only question remains at the end is whether or not this film (or films) will tie in with Tim Burton's original Batman, or if it will plough its own, new path. The intriguing ending leaves both options open.