Product: Batman Begins (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (2005)
Rating: 3.0
unfocused, poorly written, but worthwhile in many ways
This is the dark side of DC comic come to life. Batman has always been the most complex and interesting superhero. He has no special powers. He appears to be neurotic if not psychotic. He is as creepy as any of his foes.The film shows the origin of the character, from the murder of Wayne's parents, to his rebellion leading to indoctination into a secret cult that opposes corrupt societies. In a cult ceremony, he is asked to murder a convicted killer. He refuses, as he cant break with societies mores, and feels the man must bear trial. Not judgment by the cult. Yet Wayne then kills several cult members in the process of destroying the ceremony. This makes sense how? Not exactly well written.Yet these scenes as a cult knight, with Liam Neeson's cult leader, are the best in the film. Batman's uniform, skills and mission all spawn directly from this cult, thus 'the dark knight.' The film then diverges for 90 minutes and is pretty conventional Batman. Only at the end does Batman meet his creator/nemesis in the form of the knight leader. The whole film would have been more interesting if it kept its focus on how the cult's principles form Wayne's own, his break from the knights, and realization that the cult is responsible for many of the problems of the society it undermines.While this is the 'hip' Batman, the Batman-Joker axis with Nicholson was truly more complex and interesting. Worth seeing.