I was never really a massive fan of the Batman franchise when I was growing up, but I have seen all the earlier movies, although I cannot really recollect them with much detail. However, superhero movies seem to be on a comeback at the moment with Superman, The Hulk, and Spiderman all making a splash on the movie scene, and therefore it was just a matter of time before they somehow bought Batman back again. And indeed in 2005, Batman made a comeback, but not quite as we thought.
Batman Begins actually takes us back to the creation of Batman, and how exactly he came about. The story starts with young Bruce Wayne, and the cruel murder of his parents. He is sent to live at Wayne House with butler Alfred but is soon led astray. We then rejoin Bruce as an adult, in an Asian jail where he has lost his way but is recruited by Ninja cult leader Ra's al Ghul. He eventually returns to Gotham City, which is now overrun by crime and poverty, and decides he has to do something to change the city his father loved so much. So Bruce Wayne sets about creating an alter-ego for himself, created from the animal he fears so much....
As you can see, it has actually taken me 3 years to watch this
film, but I'm not entirely sure why. The film has a fantastic cast list, boasting Christian Bale, Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, and Katie Holmes as its main headliners which is pretty good going! This cast list is what mainly attracted by fiance to watching the film, so I guess its a good one for people who like a pretty famous line of faces in a film. The idea of going back in time for an established superhero such as Batman could have proved problematic but to be honest, I feel it was a good idea and it did work, giving us a good, believable past life to Bruce Wayne, and the creation of Batman as well.
One thing which I was concerned about with this film was continuity with the older films, and we did indeed spot an error. My fiance noticed however was the fact that they have changed the killer of Bruce's parents, who in the Original Batman film of 1989 was shown to be The Joker, but in this film was just a homeless man. Its understandable minor details have to be adjusted to allow the film to flow properly, but this seemed a major error and I can't really see any way they can correct this in the sequel The Dark Knight, due for release this year. It's a shame because it is an obvious error for those who know the original films, and it is one which could have easily been avoided.
Following in the footsteps of Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer and George Clooney, British actor Christian Bale steps into the infamous Batman suit, and does an impeccable job. In my opinion, Bale is the best fit for the character of Batman, stepping into the role superbly and seamlessly, with the right amount of charisma and grit put into the role. He is a brooding actor, keeping emotions close to his chest but he really introduces a darker, much more serious element to the film and his performance was really impeccable. He was a joy to watch and is probably the best Batman so far, and I look forward to seeing him take on the next film later this year too.
The rest of the cast also do a superb job, with the possible exception of Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes, childhood friend of Bruce and now a District Attorney of Gotham City. Her performance is somewhat wooden, not having a great chemistry with Bale, and she didn't add a great deal to the film to be honest. My favourite co-str had to be the fab Michael Caine as Alfred. He doesn't have much screen time, but for the time he is, he lights up the screen with some great one liners which add a good element of comedy into the film. Liam Neeson is fantastic as dark and deluded crime lord Henri Ducard, offering a chilling performance, and the scenes between he and Bale are electric, really creating tension and a great portrayal of good and evil. Oldman and Freeman are also great in their roles, respectively playing a Cop and a Scientist working for the Wayne company.
I wasn't expecting too much of this film, the superhero genre isn't one of my favourites to be honest, but I really enjoyed every minute of it. The film is quite long at over 2 hours (2 hrs 20 minutes to be exact) but it was action packed from start to finish, and had a good enough storyline that it held your attention for the whole 140 minutes. Bale was super as Batman, giving a performance which was perfect, capturing the essence of Batman/Bruce Wayne in a fantastically believable way. It does boast a great cast list, and this is highlighted in the calibre of performance in the movie. It is definitely the darkest movie of all the Batman films, its very gritty and Gotham City is portrayed as hell on Earth, but it works as a great contrast to the humourous tone in previous movies. It's enjoyable, an interesting prequel to a very famous series, with just onecnotable error (which I wouldn't have noticed but will be problematic for Batman fans). I thoroughly enjoyed it, and look forward to the release of its sequel this year, I would definitely recommend this film to anyone, a fan of Superhero movies or not!
Written by Bob Kane and David S Goyer, and directed by Christopher Nolan. The film was released into the UK in June 2005, and has a certificate of 12A for violence and dark themes. Running time is 140 minutes / 2 hours 20 minutes. The 2 disc edition is available on Amazon for £6.98.
Main Cast: Christian Bale ... Bruce Wayne / Batman Michael Caine ... Alfred Liam Neeson ... Henri Ducard Katie Holmes ... Rachel Dawes Gary Oldman ... Jim Gordon Cillian Murphy ... Dr. Jonathan Crane Tom Wilkinson ... Carmine Falcone Rutger Hauer ... Earle Morgan Freeman ... Lucius Fox
Thank you for reading.
Pictures of Batman Begins (DVD)
The DVD cover
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![Batman Begins - 1 Disc Edition [DVD] [2005]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78485357.jpg "Batman Begins - 1 Disc Edition [DVD] [2005]")
![Batman Begins - 2 Disc Edition [DVD] [2005]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78484325.jpg "Batman Begins - 2 Disc Edition [DVD] [2005]")
Jul 10th, 2008
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