Product: Batman Begins (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (2005)
Rating: 5.0
Best one since the original 1989 film. 4.5 stars.
This film is brooding and dark, but also exciting and smart, Batman Begins is a film that understands the essence of one of the definitive superheroes."Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale)--the billionaire prince of Gotham whose parents were killed in an alleyway mugging--transformed into the crime-fighting superhero. With flashbacks to his privileged childhood, young Master Wayne, as he is called by the butler Alfred (Michael Caine), develops a terrible fear of bats when he falls through the backyard garden into a hidden cave. As a young adult, Wayne lives among the League of Shadows, a martial arts group in the mountains of Asia. His leaders Ra's al Ghul (Ken Watanabe) and Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) teach him strength, endurance, and--unfortunately--evil, against which he naturally rebels. Returning to Gotham and reinstating himself as a dapper socialite and the rightful heir to his parents' enterprise, Wayne quickly devises his secret identity, commanding help from the gadgetry expert Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman). With one eye on his childhood playmate Rachel (Katie Holmes)--now a beautiful woman and dedicated lawyer--and the other on his mission to save Gotham from criminal corruption, Batman makes his fledgling debut. But when the blue-blooded mastermind Dr. Crane (Cillian Murphy)--who steals every scene with chilling menace--taints the water system with a hallucinatory substance, Batman realizes he has met his first true opponent."Good story, excellent character developement, and awesome action scenes make this the best batman movie to come out in years. Only complaint is that the scarecrow didn't get enough screen time, but he'll be back. This is a definite must see for fans and non fans of the series alike. This year lady and gentlemen, Batman Begins!