Like blood from a stone springs the latest in the Batman series of films, Batman Begins. Having seen the gradual demise of the franchise with films like the heinous Batman forever, it begs the question why they felt a prequel would be the answer. I must admit that I am not a fan of comic books or their associated films; the sci-fi fantasy genres hold very little sway with me.

The pretence as I understood it was that the film follows the life of Bruce Wayne from the death of his parent up to his growth into Batman. Essentially filling in the gaps left by the initial Batman film. My main problem with this was that if it was considered so important why did the initial (highly successful) Batman film gloss over this period of growth? This was a question that the film adequately answered for me when I finally came around to watching it.

Unsurprisingly the film failed to really change my mind. The attempts at combining the serious traumas of everyman and the excesses of typical genre based action capitulated miserably. The slow lumbering tale of Batman's early years are briefly punctuated by violence and action to make a jarring and somewhat awkward film viewing. The portraiture of Wayne as a lost soul looking for a direction to take his life is taken to the typical comic book excesses. Imprisoned in a run down oriental jail for stealing Wayne Enterprise goods, he is released into the world with only a suited Liam Neeson offering any answers. His trials and tribulations in a mountain top martial arts school add little to the story and provides very little in the way of entertainment.

To keep it simple, my opinion is that the film never truly ignites. It is stuck in a half way house where it can't decide if it wants to be an all out action fantasy or a deep study into the human psyche and interaction. Lacklustre acting performances and a fairly woeful script of one liners and sound bites add little to the intensity of the film. Liam Neeson should stick to his 'serious' acting, I don't pretend to be a fan of his work but he looks like a fish out of water in this film. His credentials as a believable martial arts trainer and all round action hero are hampered by his inability to fully engage the audience and present himself as a credible fighter. He still looks like Oskar Schindler strutting around the Himalayas. As for Christian Bale and Katie Holmes I doubt this is the role which will truly galvanize their careers and show their ability to be serious actors. Bale should have stayed on the course he started with American Psycho and Holmes should just stick to doing children's television or something similar, she is far too dainty and cute for what I would describe as 'serious' acting. Michael Caine offers nothing but a little light relief and Gary Oldman's role, as commissioner Gordon is as understated as it is frankly bizarre.

The film as I understand it was designed to gratify comic book fans who wanted to see the intervening years between Batman's early years and the start of the first Batman film. But the film jumps around just like the first Batman film and still manages to overlook some of his growth as a man and a boy. The audience is thrust forward from his parent's death to his life in a Chinese prison without barely a mention of what happened in the middle. Only brief cryptic flashbacks provide any kind of answer to the ever-increasing riddle. Sequels rarely work and prequels never work, Batman Begins whiffs of a film that was all too eager to jump on the recent comic book to film conversion bandwagon. I can't pretend to know anything of the story of the Batman comics but as a film standing on it's own merits Batman Begins is a weak and lacklustre display.

Overall this is a disappointment, as unimaginative in the film concept as it is in its bonus features. Unless you really fell in love with film I would barely recommend trying this as a speculative purchase. Despite the roll call of distinguished actors and one of Hollywood's top young directors, Batman Begins falls short of its illustrious sequel. It tries to be too much rather than concentrating on what it is. The dark brooding atmosphere that it attempts to create rarely fires up, and when it does it is usually to the detriment of the film and it's characters. It will win no awards for originality and it barely gets going as a story, so in conclusion Batman Begins is best left well alone. Not my cup of tea at all.