**THE GOOD: ‘BATMAN BEGINS’**

WRITING: 85
ACTING: 90
LOOK: 85
SOUND: 85
FEEL: 80
NOVELTY: 95
ENJOYMENT: 85
RE-WATCHABILITY: 90
INTRIGUE: 85
EXPECTATIONS: 90

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**THE GOOD:**

Rewatching Batman Begins all these years later, it still strikes me just how different Nolan’s Batman trilogy is from pretty much any other film within the genre. This film reinvigorated the gritty, realistic and noirish take on the comic book movie not seen since Tim Burton’s classic Batman films. This is a far cry from Marvel’s colourful sci-fi adventures or the bleak and convoluted messes that are the DCEU films.

As the title suggests, this is the origin story of Batman, but also Bruce Wayne. The core story from the comics is there, but Nolan goes much deeper than that, adding layers of psychological and emotional depth to allow the origin story to fill out the entire run-time of the film. Bruce isn’t truly Bruce or Batman until the end of the film, after having faced his biggest fears.

One of the reasons Nolan’s Batman trilogy is so successful is the fact that he has been allowed to freely utilize Batman’s rich comic history while adding his own flair to the story. Batman begins is very recognizably a Nolan film in terms of the somewhat non-linear plot structure and the psychological layers embedded within the story, but it is also an enjoyably refreshing superhero thriller.

The cast is so iconic, it’s difficult to imagine anyone else doing these roles. Christian Bale offers a fascinatingly layered and charismatic lead performance while being supported by the equally fantastic likes of Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Cillian Murphy.

Friends of dark, realistic and mature superhero movies will find lots to love with Batman Begins, as will those who enjoy big action set pieces and quick, but steady cuts. Nolan proves he can handle dramatic content just as well as superhero action and puts immeasurable energy into making every scene dynamically interesting.

Nolan explores Bruce and the people closest to him more thoroughly than any Batman director before him does. This means we understand the people involved better than ever before, which adds to the realism of Nolan’s Gotham. The Batman stuff is given a background position, while the script slowly puts all relevant pieces together before the satisfying introduction of Gotham’s new symbol during the second act.

The Scarecrow sequences have been realised very well, to truly capture that chaos and fear the character is known for creating. He comes across as a formidable enough villain for the fresh superhero.

After the low build-up, the third act feels bombastic, bold and satisfying. Batman Begins isn’t an action-filled film, and most of it is saved for the final 40 minutes of the film. Despite this, nothing of what comes before feels slow or undeserved.

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**THE BAD:**

The first act might be somewhat hard to get into for a casual viewer. It introduces multiple plot strands and characters in a short amount of time, before slowing down and fleshing out the story more.

Nolan still shows weakness when it comes to writing compelling female characters. Rachel is mostly lost under all the heavy-hitters among the male cast and her part in the story never feels satisfying. She’s mostly there to be looked after by Batman, which doesn’t give her much to do.

Crane/Scarecrow could have been utilized more throughout the story. At times she feels like a character added just to have supervillain fitted into the story, and his part in the big picture doesn't feel as dynamic as with other villains in the sequels. As Batman himself says, Crane is “just a pawn”, and that’s a shame given the character’s potential.

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**THE UGLY:**

This film proves that Game of Thrones and Nolan’s Batman trilogy exist in the same universe.

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**VERDICT:**

_Batman Begins is a mix of serious comic book movie-making and Nolan’ visionary filmmaking and one of the strongest openers to any film trilogy so far._

**87% = :white_check_mark: = GOOD**

**Batman Begins opened the door for the new age of superhero cinema with its realistic, grounded approach and excellent quality.**

Many may not realize the groundbreaking impact Batman Begins had on the superhero genre. While Spider-man and X-Men were popular films, many still rejected comic book films as only for kids. Incredibly cheesy films like Catwoman and Batman + Robin didn’t help make the more grown-up audiences have much faith in the genre. But Batman Begins changed all that. Batman was stripped of all the goofy comic book shtick and thrust into a gritty real world that spent time developing the character and making a rich man dressed like a bat and jumping off of buildings suddenly seem not just possible but awesome. Nolan’s serious and dark aesthetics and tone changed the landscape of superhero films and paved the way for the soon-to-come Marvel universe. With a brilliant director like Christopher Nolan and a cast boasting Christian Bale, Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, and Morgan Freeman, the film carried a weight and quality that was new and fresh for comic book films and signaled the beginning of a new era for superhero movies.

It's not who I am underneath, but what I do that defines me.

Bruce Wayne is constantly tortured by his childhood memories when he witnessed his parents being murdered. Taken under the wing of The League Of Shadows, a deadly ninja assassin army devoted to erasing crime with their own brand of harsh justice. After completing training, Wayne refuses to join them on account of not agreeing with their methods, he returns to Gotham City to reek his own one man war against crime.

Director Christopher Nolan literally goes back to Batman origins to not just give the dead franchise a kiss of life, but actually to spark it into a sort of triumphant homecoming. Gone is all forms of camp veneer so evident in Joel Schumacher's offerings, and in place we have a darkly rich picture intent on fleshing out Batman's motives, and crucially, his fractured persona.

One of the most pleasing things to me was that Nolan paced this picture to perfection, the build up of character, and then birth of the Bat, dominates for practically the first hour of the piece. This gives Batman Begins some crucial heart, it really helps us to focus on this weird super-hero now that we have some meat on his bones. We then follow Wayne from a Chinese prison to The League Of Shadows monastery, watching his transformation from brawling man of anger into a controlled fighting machine. A machine that still roams with a revenge laden heart.

Then its to Gotham City where he then births Batman and all bad guys are on his agenda. Mob boss Falcone, the mysterious Scarecrow, and also a face from his past that rears its surprising head. Wayne is driven by powerful motives, and it's here in the second part of the film that Batman Begins rewards those who indulged in the character build up. In come the stunts and outrageous sequences, all played out in Nolan's desperately dank Gotham City (a far cry from Tim Burton's dark Oz like scapes). This Gotham is pot boiling to disaster and is crying out for the Bat to sweep all before it, and thankfully Nolan and his cast fulfil all the early promise to deliver a wonderful action fantasy that caters for all ages.

Christian Bale dons the Batsuit and it fits like a glove, his Bruce Wayne may lack the ebullient charisma that Michael Keaton's had, but his Batman is mean and moody and comfortable with the zippy dialogue. Michael Caine plays Alfred the loyal servant to the Wayne family, much heart and emotive drive from Caine ensures the role is a roaring success. Cillian Murphy is Dr Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow who actually scares more as Crane with his piercing eyes and devilishly smirky leer, whilst both Gary Oldman (Jim Gordon) & Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox) are solid with what little they actually have to do. Liam Neeson gets his teeth into a meaty role as Henri Ducard, and as a character arc he gets the best scenes (Nolan clearly having great fun here).

Minnor let downs to me without hurting the picture are Katie Holmes (pretty but hardly convincing as Assistant D.A. Rachael Dawes) and Rutger Hauer as Earle (a little bit of menace wouldn't go amiss here Rutger old man). Still, as I said they are very minor let downs because as comic book adaptations go, Batman Begins is from the top draw, a franchise re-suited, rebooted and completely reinvigorated. But now the test comes with that all important sequel... 9/10

Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale are at the top of their games with this enthralling interpretation of just how "Batman" came to be. "Bruce", the young sone of the billionaire "Wayne" family finds himself unexpectedly orphaned and is soon aimlessly bumming his way around Asia. It's when he encounters "Ducard" (Liam Neeson) and is lured high into the Himalayan mountains that he is set to training by the legendary Ra's Al Ghul (Ken Watanabe) so that he can join the "League of Shadows" - an uniquely skilled ninja-esque group of elite warriors. He plans to use his training to return to the largely lawless Gotham City and act as a force for good. Soon, though, he learns that all in his highland sanctuary is not what it seems and after a battle royale, finds himself back at his manor house with his faithful retainer "Alfred" (Sir Michael Caine) and at the helm of his company - just as it is about to be sold by "Earle" (Rutger Hauer) making him an even more immensely wealthy man. His scientific guru - a sort of equivalent of "Q" - is "Lucius Fox" (Morgan Freeman) and together with the like-minded police officer "Gordon" (Gary Oldman) they set about taking down the city's kingpin "Falcone" (Tom Wilkinson) before he can contaminate the water supply with an opiate that will bring wholesale fear and destruction. This is a cracking action adventure film that rarely has a dull moment. Nolan and accomplished writer David S. Goyer take this character by the scruff of the neck and it really works. No more silly thwacks and pows; this is a dark and gritty tale of corruption, jealousy and revenge that is superbly photographed and has gadgets galore. I did struggle with Wilkinson, to be honest - he has all the menace of a wet cabbage; and Katie Holmes's "Rachel", though providing additional humanity, sadly offers little as this plots twists and turns like a cobra on steroids. Certainly never my favourite super-hero, "Batman", but this is certainly up there as one of my favourite superhero films. No laser eyes or magnetic powers; just a decent man with vengeance on his mind.

i'm beginning to think people only say a movie is good because of it being long and having a good camera. to me the only highlight was cillian murphy's performance. the rest of this was just some dumb, boring trek.