I'm not a comic book buff in the slightest, however when Marvel set the world alight with the Spiderman movies, the superhero film seemed to be back in fashion. DC Comics took their big step in bringing Batman back to the big screen in 2005 with Batman Begins, and boy did they do it in a big way. I'm sure most people have seen a Batman film in the past, although with the special effects directors can now include in their movies, this was going to be something special. Batman Begins shows how the story starts, in this an era of when people want to know what started the chain of events.

The film opens with a young Bruce Wayne playing around in the garden of his rich family manor with a female friend, who we later see the grown up version of as well. Unfortunately a fun game of 'Finders, Keepers' goes wrong and as Bruce gets away with what he has found the wood covering a well falls away and Bruce falls down with it. Suddenly the squeaking and the sound of bats comes closer and closer, until young Bruce is left terrified after being attacked by the bats. Bruce's father, Thomas Wayne (Linus Roache), explains to him that the bats were more scared of him than he was of them (how many times have you heard parents tell children that before?) and explains the reason that we fall is so that we can learn how to pick ourselves back up. This sets the tone for the movie in a sort of 'with great power comes great responsibility' sort of way.

Batman is a symbol that most children will look at and know, and I'm sure there is a whole line of toys brought out for it, although for me there is a strong adult tone to the movie. The certificate is a 12, although I'm sure that wouldn't deter many parents from allowing young children to watch it as they probably think the certificate is a simple deterrant. In actual fact, Batman Begins is quite dark and also includes some quite scary characters. Dr Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy) is working for the bad guys, just like most of the characters in the film are, and his character is the owner of an insane asylum. There's a lot of horrible people that he needs kept on the street to help him do his dirty work, and that is why when they are minutes away from jail he will throw out an insane plea and get them sent to be under his watch. But what's the best way to make someone seem insane? You make them insane. Some gas that Crane uses makes people hillucinate and then he puts on a mask that scares the living daylights out of them, and I'm sure this could scare some viewers at home. This mask is what earns Crane the alias of 'Scarecrow'.

The film does get started about half an hour through, and then it moves up further levels when something happens to the water supply. I won't go any further than that, because, well, I don't want to ruin the storyline. The movie does last for 134 minutes so there's plenty of time for them to do a lot with this film, and in terms with how quickly the time pasts I would agree that it does feel about 2 hours in length but it's not a chore to watch. Even including drug references, this truly is the adult Batman movie. Favourite characters like Bruce's butler, Alfred (Michael Caine), are nice touches - afterall Alfred was responsible for Bruce's upbringing in the absense of his parents. There is also explinaiton for how he gets all his high-tech gadgets and elevators leading from his mansion to the caves below, which is good to see because you know people would just question everything otherwise. This has been quite a rave review, although I wouldn't say it is a perfect film - maybe for Batman fanatics, but not for me. There is a love story between Bruce and Rachel, and you slightly wonder if he will tell her that he is Batman, but you don't really care. Not quite a Peter Parker/MJ lovestory.