Product: Batman Begins (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (2005)
Rating: 5.0
Dark, Inspiring, Genuinley Gripping
If you've watched Tim Burton's wonderful 1989 interpretation of "Batman", then you probably know that almost none of the other films in the franchise lived up to that film, especially Joel Schumacher's turkey "Batman & Robin", a film that was more like a commercial for Happy Meals than an actual movie. "Batman Begins" is something completely different. No, really it is; It has absolutely nothing to do with any of the four other films, and it is the first live-action Batman movie to actually explain his origin. While the Burton/Schumacher films focused more on the insane villains rather than on the hero, "Begins's" focus is on Batman's story. Speaking of villains, there are about three: There's Dr. Jonathan Crane, a corrupt psychiatrist who, under the guise of "The Scarecrow", poisons people with psychotropic drugs in order to make them have terrifying visons. Irish actor Cillian Murphy plays the character with unnerving calm, menace, and sardonic wit (At one point, he lights Batman on fire, telling him to "lighten up"). Tom Wilkinson plays Carmine Falcone, a ruthless crime boss who has the city of Gotham "bought and paid for". And then there's another mysterious figure who poses an even bigger threat to the city, someone who Bruce Wayne himself once had as a mentor. I will not give the indentity of this character away, as it will spoil one of the biggest plot points of the movie. A huge theme of the movie is how screwed up the criminal justice system is. At one point, we see a judge who apparently is associated with Carmine Falcone, even eating in the same restaurant with him. Overall, this is a story about the life of a man dissillusioned with the way justice is handled in the city and decides to take it into his own hands, and it is not about cartoonish special effects or over-the-top villains.