Product: Batman Begins (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (2005)
Rating: 5.0
Christopher Nolan: YOU are the best!
Batman Begins is, without a doubt, the best movie of the franchise. Less a crowd-pleasing pop video (Batman & Robin, diak!) and much more a true disturbing, adult film, this is the best approximation of Bob Kane's comic book, if not a "literal" version, which I applaud.The film, directed by genius Christopher Nolan, has at its core, the real struggle of a man who's not perfect, makes mistakes, has a lot of anger but at the same time, tries to balance all those nasty inner feelings by doing something for the "greater good", but as a flawed man, can't control feeling a little bit excited by tormenting other disguise as a bat (which is a little sick, but understandable).It's complex movie, filled with contradictions that play beautifully against each other. At the core if the plot is, of course, Bruce Wayne, a multimillionaire boy that watches how his loving parents are killed by a mugger, and from that day, becomes a whirl of rage and anger. Guardian by his faithful butler, Alfred (wonderful Michael Caine), Wayne grows intensifying his guilt and hatred, until he leaves to study the natures of evil, and meets Ducard (Liam Neeson), a man who becomes his mentor and teaches him to confront his fears.Wayne decides to return to Gotham City to fight crime and injustice, and in the process decides to use a bat as a symbol to terrorize the criminals that have plagued his natal but very corrupted city. In his fight, some allies help him (Morgan Freeman's Lucius Fox, Gary Oldman's Sergeant Gordon and Katie Holmes' Rachel) in one way or other to achieve his goal, although I must say, with lots of ups and downs.We discover why Wayne identifies with bats, why he hates evil, and this story is given to us with depth and a complex psychological background. The process itself of becoming a hero is slow and full of mistakes. Batman isn't born from one day to other. It takes painful lessons that we are pleased to see.I didn't feel there were a lot of special effects in the movie, but I was grateful for that. Moviemakers often confuse saturation of effects with plot development, and Batman is not one of those films (Episode III is). The characters are given a lot to do to cement the storyline. And there are not cheesy love plots like the past movies, although I must say Holmes's character, though tries to be sort of a working class girl, is so irrelevant (because of her acting, it's like watching Dawson's Creek) we don't mind her fate.Everything in this movie is dark and gritty, from the production design to the characters, and it's a welcome change. The gadgets, the batsuit, even the car is raw and not fancy modern items like they were purchased from a sharper image catalog.In terms of acting, Bale comes strong like the caped crusader, and I can't wait to see him evolve in the next chapter. Freeman and Caine are the other two rocks of this movie, and I loved Gary Oldman vulnerable Sergeatn Gordon.Kudos also to the screenwriter and Chris Nolan, for creating such an remarkable film and the very ultimate definition of what a superhero movie should be. I cant' wait to buy the DVD!