Product: Batman Begins (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (2005)
Rating: 4.0
Dark & Gritty...with room to grow even darker
This movie come close. Damn Close. The early comic book years of the Batman story were serious, but not sufficiently angry to explain WHY he becomes Batman. It was not, in my estimation, until Frank Miller began showing the dark side of the character that Batman became truly interesting. Readers like myself long to see the cold and cruel elements in ths world get what they deserve with the same cruelty they showed toward their victims.In BATMAN BEGINS, Bruce Wayne is shown as a truly angry character, who with the help of the League of Shadow, finds the path to become "something more", a legend. Even with this intensity and focus on the revenge Bruce Wayne is compelled to take, the character is still TOO WHOLESOME.In the Frank Miller-type characterizations, Batman is borderline psychotic. While trying not to slip into becoming a murderer like the villians, Batman is not above maiming or beating his enemies within an inch of their life (see Dark Knight Returns or Bruce Wayne: Murderer for some truly dark stories in which Bruce says his "mask" is SLIPPING).Still, this is a notable and worthwhile restart for the Dark Knight. I agree with many reviewers who complained that the intellectual and detective skills so prevelant in the comics was overlooked here. But, this can be explored in the follow-up versions.I hope Warner can be convinced to delve even darker, much like the recent SIN CITY release. If so, true Batman/Dark Knight fans will recognize the franchise as having returned and that Hollywood finally GETS the character.