Product: Batman Begins (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (2005)
Rating: 5.0
The Batman movie I've been waiting a long time for...
Since there have been hundreds of other reviews already written, I will keep my remarks brief. Suffice to say that I found Tim Burton's work with Batman, 1) Self-indulgent (I didn't want Gotham City to be the work of Beetlejuice), and 2)overrated. The script was a travesty, and the second movie wasn't much better. The real tragedy in this is the fact that so many *fantastic* graphic novels have been written for the Dark Knight in the last 20 years, there should have been no shortage of good material.Finally Nolan gets it right. Borrowing heavily from the superb "Batman: Year One", we finally understand how a scarred child like Bruce Wayne can become this seemingly unstoppable superhuman legend such as Batman, The Dark Knight. Heck, plenty of people lose a loved one in violent fashion, but what would make a man punish himself to become what Bruce became? Even with great wealth, that isn't easy. Nolan spends about 50% of the movie taking us on that journey, and it is a journey well worth taking.Those of you looking for constant action in the cape will be somewhat disappointed, but this origin story is extremely well told. Once again, it is proven that even in a superhero movie, a good story well told is worth more than a billion in special effects. We're introduced to many characters that comics fans know and love, Morgan Freeman as Lucious Fox, Liam Neesom as Henri Ducard are two that I suspect will be recurring characters, and Gary Oldman absolutely nails a young Jim Gordon, a character that was totally neglected in the previous Batman movies.Not only was this a great movie, it sets up the sequels (yes, plural) in a big way.