Batman Begins

After what I would call to be definite failures in the Batman franchise following Kilmer and Clooney's stints as Batman. The story is as good an origin story as you'll find - covering all the major (true-to-the-comic) events, and not wasting ages on them. We see Wayne's all-important training period and his connection to the Tibetan shadow-ninja clan led by Ra's Al Ghul. We see Bruce come up with ideas for his symbol, his costume, his gadgets, his car, his cave - it all fits so perfectly. Batman has always been my favorite superhero and so it has been great to see Batman come back with a great vengeance.

At the time of the releasing of Batman Begins I had never heard of the director Christopher Nolan, yet after seeing this movie I can definitively say that Nolan's directing surpasses that of Tim Burton's version of Batman. While a lot may say that is sacrilegious to go against Tim Burton's Batman, his Batman was still very cartoony and very over the top. One of the strongest features for Batman Begins is that it manages to be able to suck us in to believing that a superhero like Batman could be a reality one day. The technology is current, and we are not allowed to forget that Batman is still a flawed man under the costume who is not invincible like we can get sucked into so easily with a superhero movie.

For me the greatest aspect of this movie is that with it being an origin movie it is more of a focus on the character of Bruce Wayne and not just Batman. the movie focuses on the years of training and preparation to becoming Batman. You are almost teased throughout the first half of the movie, waiting to see the excellent Christian Bale in the costume, as it keeps holding back to keep you in anticipation. When Batman does finally turn up on screen, it is well worth the wait. In my opinion, Bale was born for this role and for the first time when watching a Batman film, I enjoyed the scenes of Wayne being Wayne as much as Wayne being Batman.

It is amazing the cast that they got for this movie such an all star cast. Everyone shines in there roles and really all the different characters do a great job at being solid without taking from anyone else in the scenes. For the comic book fans Bale's portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman is what they all long for a dark, brooding and tortured by his past, yet the hero we have come to love. Cillian Murphy plays an amazingly creepy, mad nemesis who has some outstanding scary effects.

The musical score provide by James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer give a great score to accompany this movie. The thing that makes the score so powerful is that it does anything but overpower any of the scenes. The music is so subtle throughout the film that you barely notice it, yet it does one of the greatest things that music can do to us and that is enhance our emotions and feelings, which they are able to successfully enhance and boost the scenes.

This is not only just one of my favorite superhero movies but one of my favorite movies. The performances are amazing and Bale restores the power that Batman can bring to the theater. I love the new dark, gritty Batman that is more centered on the real life and not with all the outrageous over the top parts taken away. I am giving this movie four buckets of popcorn out of five. This is definitely a must have for anyone that is a true movie fan and any collection is not complete without it.

-The Movie Man-