Back in black and it feels so good.

Rating: 9/10 (15 June 2005)

Okay, I know I'm gonna catch Hell for this, but I still love BATMAN FOREVER as my favorite Batman movie. BATMAN BEGINS, however, is a very, very, VERY close second. I just knew that they couldn't let the franchise end with the dismal BATMAN & ROBIN and I guess the best way to revive it was to go back to the beginning. Christopher Nolan of MEMENTO fame takes over the director's reins and practically gives the movie a British flavor (or would that be "flavour"?). Christian Bale takes over as Bruce Wayne/Batman, who we first see in an Asian prison where he beats up six men attacking him. The guards then take Wayne to protective custody, "I don't need protection!" Wayne tells them. "Not you," a guard tells Wayne, "Them." referring to the now unconscious prisoners. Wayne is then trained in the art of ninjitsu by Ra's Al Ghul (Ken Watanabe) and his right hand man Henri Duchard (Liam Neeson). Duchard tries to get Wayne to the point where he will kill for justice, Wayne doesn't want to go that far. We then see flashbacks of the night his parents were murdered as they left the opera "Mefistofeles" (wouldn't "Die Fledermous" (German for "The Bat") been a better choice? just asking). Bruce feels guilty over this and almost murders his parents' killer. When he unable to, he then goes on a journey that takes him into criminal organizations around the world. This prepares him to understanding the criminal mind, Duchard and Al Ghul's training gives him the ability to fight and vanish at a moment's notice.
Wayne returns home to Alfred (Michael Caine), the faithful family butler how still oversees Wayne Manor and assists him in his quest for justice. Wayne also finds out that Gotham City has now fallen into even deeper corruption under the hands of crime boss Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson, a long way from THE FULL MONTY) and Dr. Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy), who moonlights as the Scarecrow and drives Falcone's enemies insane with a fear gas. It would seem that the only two honest people left in Gotham are police Sgt. Jame Gordon (Gary Oldman) and ADA Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes), an old friend of Bruce's. We also learn that Bruce as a fear and obsession with bats stemming from a childhood incident. He adapts the bat as his symbol to give criminals a taste of his own fear. He then gets gadgets from Wayne Enterprises inventor Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), including a Batmobile that looks like the love child of a Humvee and a Lamborghini.
The set designs have a real feel to them, just like the previous Batman films, only more so because some of BATMAN BEGINS was filmed right here in Chicago (ah, if only there REALLY was a monorail going down LaSalle Street . . .). Thus freeing the film from a studio-bound feel. The performances are good, especially Bale, who can snarl with the best of them. I was a little disappointed in that one of my favorite villains from the comic books, Ra's Al Ghul (whose name here is pronounced differently than it is in the comics) is only in the film for a short time. Also, some of the fight scenes could have used better editing, all we see are a blur of fist and feet. It's like showing a dancer on film but only showing his feet instead of his whole body as he moves. But, overall, BATMAN BEGINS is a good return to the Dark Knight's roots laid down by the late Bob Kane back in 1939. With Superman set to return to the big screen next year, might we start putting in our bid now for the crossover film that just HAS to get made one of these days?