A New Spin on The Batman Mythology

Rating: 10/10 (30 November 2005)

"Batman Begins," under the direction of Christohper Nolan (Memento), breathes new life into a franchise that was nearly demolished with "Batman And Robin." Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne/Batman is more dark than Michael Keaton's version. Bruce clearly has issues with bats and the death of his parents (His fear of bats caused him to want to leave the theater the night his parents where killed). Gotham City is a cesspool of corruption, with gangster Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson)running the town. During Bruce's journey, he is soon trained by Ducard (Liam Neeson)to perfect his fighting skills. Working with a cult run by Ra's Al-Ghul (Ken Watanabe), he starts to take shape into becoming The Dark Knight.
Returning to Gotham City, Wayne sees that things have gotten worse. With the help of Alfred his butler (Michael Caine),Luscious Fox, an employee of Wayne Enterprises (Morgan Freeman)and the assistance of a policeman named Gordon (Gary Oldman, playing a good guy for once), the legend of Batman grows. However, with Falcone and The Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy)trying to run Gotham City, it's not an easy task. Plus, there is an unexpected wrinkle in the mix as well.
With the exception of Katie Holmes as Wayne's childhood friend (And prosecuting attorney)Rachel Dawes, all of the performances are first rate (Particularly Oldman, with a bit of comedy relief). It is also interesting in seeing how the Batcave and The Batmobile had evolved (The Batmobile looking like a huge ATV). There is lots of action from start to finish, and a glimpse of things to come (Particularly a playing card with a joker on it!). I am looking forward to what comes next.