Product: Batman Begins (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (2005)
Rating: 5.0
A nearly perfect comic book movie
Batman fans have been waiting a long time for a really awesome Batman movie, and well, the wait is finally over. Seven years after the franchise was nearly ruined by Joel Schumacher's attempt to make Batman "family friendly", ace director Christopher Nolan along with comic-nerd screenwiter David S. Goyer wipe the slate clean and go back to the drawing board. What they've come up with is a brilliant comic book movie. Batman Begins is so good in fact that it even blows aways last year's excellent Spider-Man 2. This is simply an Oscar-worthy movie. It may be a little far-fetched for a superhero movie to be up for Best Picture consideration, but if ever a superhero movie had a chance, Batman Begins is certainly it. Never before has the character seemed so real and believable as he does in this movie, and never before has the audience been so motivated to care about him. Never before have we had an actor of Christian Bale's caliber in the role of Bruce Wayne. With a supporting cast that includes Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman, Tom Wilkinson, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine, how can you lose? With a brilliant director like Christopher Nolan at the helm, you can't.The film explores the origins of the character and, for the first time in a Batman movie, actually gives us a plausible reason for a grown man to put on a costume and mask and fight crime. The movie makes the character seem less silly and more believable. For the first time, we get a true portrait of Bruce Wayne: a haunted, bitter man who is angry at the world around him yet wants to make it better at the same time. Batman Begins delves deeper in the psychology of a "super hero" than any movie of its sort ever has before. Less believable is the second-half plot in which Scarecrow (the excellent Cillian Murphy) wants to spread a fear-inducing drug through Gotham City's water supply. However, the story is so well conceived and executed that you won't mind its far-fetched aspects.Batman Begins should certainly solidify Christopher Nolan's status as one of the finest young directors in the business today. He made a seldom seen yet impressive debut (1998's Following), followed by a crime-thriller masterpiece (2001's Memento), then a superb psychological thriller (2002's Insomnia), now he presents a stunning comic book movie to re-energize a dying franchise. I do eagerly await Nolan's next project, nearly as much as I await Quentin Tarantino's and P.T. Anderson's.Batman Begins was not only probably the best movie of this past summer, it is one of the best movies of the year.