Product: Batman Begins (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (2005)
Rating: 5.0
Let's Start at the Very Beginning.
In 1989 the long awaited film debut of the Dark Knight, BATMAN, was released. The movie was directed by Tim Burton and Burton, with his child-like imagination, gave the world a BATMAN movie that was worth waiting for. Despite the "controversy" about the nipples on the Batsuit and the casting of Michael Keaton as Batman, Burton's BATMAN has remained as the best of all Batman films and one of the better film adaptations of a comic book. As brilliant as Burton's film was, in his own way he began the downfall of the franchise with BATMAN RETURNS. That movie, like the first was rather dark and sinister, but too much so and the characterizations which had developed in the original were thrown by the wayside in favor of a macabre worldview. After Burton gave up directing the franchise, things went totally downhill, first with BATMAN FOREVER and then with the cartoonish romp, BATMAN AND ROBIN (the Batman tv series was better than that). Warner Brothers was in deep trouble and with a flagship franchise on the verge of completing sinking, they got serious and took help from those who knew best.After years of entaglement, rewrites, changes in directors, etc. BATMAN BEGINS arrived. It was worth the wait.BATMAN BEGINS revises the original Batman films. Christopher Nolan and company probably knew there was no point in trying to continue the series (and there was no way to salvage anything from the last two films in the series), so pulling their own "DC revision" they rewrote Batman's origins. Batman doesn't even appear on camera until about 1/2-2/3rds of the way through the film. Instead, the audience is presented with the struggles of Bruce Wayne. His fall down into a cave where hundreds of bats swarmed around him, the callous murder of his parents (sadly the Zorro reference has been altered in the film), his aimless wanderings around the world to discover his identity are all explored. These experiences make Bruce Wayne the man he is and in turn, allow him to become the Dark Knight.Those who are more inclined for an action-filled picture will abhor the first 1/2 of the movie. However, it is essential to the plot and makes the characters on screen much more believable and realistic. However, once Batman shows up, the action quickly picks up until a dramatic showdown on a runaway train.For a picture based upon a comic book, the acting is superb. But of course with a cast that includes two Oscar-winners and a few more nominees, one shouldn't expect less. Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman is the best person in the role to date--he fits both as Bruce Wayne and as Batman. Michael Caine is a wonderful Alfred, Morgan Freeman is perfect portraying Lucius Fox, and Gary Oldman (one of the most underrated actors today) does a remarkable job of pulling off a young Jim Gordon. Katie Holmes looks beautiful, but despite the working-class roots of her character comes off as little more than a piece of eye-candy. Unlike Man of Steel, Batman is a knight, and a true knight can never be with the lady he loves.All in all, BATMAN BEGINS is a great action movie and the best Batman picture since Burton's 1989 adaptation.