Batman Begins (2005)

Director: Christopher Nolan

Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy

After training with his mentor, Batman begins his fight to free crime-ridden Gotham City from corruption.

And so the story begins. Well, according to ‘Batman Begins’ anyway. This is a very long film, but if offers a detailed account of Bruce Wayne’s life, and for the first time in the franchise we really get to know the character. We know where he comes from, what motivates him, and understand why he becomes Batman. Bruce becoming Batman is shown in detail, and I enjoyed that.

Despite being fantasy, the clever storytelling makes it feel realistic. I liked the idea that Bruce failed on numerous accounts. This showed that – behind the mask and cape – he was still just human, and not an actual superhero with powers. He is vulnerable, he hurts, he falls, and picks himself up again. None of the other Batman films so effectively illustrated the character as a human being. Bruce overcoming his fear is also well done.

‘Batman Begins’ is visually stunning, with a great production design, and incredible action sequences. As with all the other Batman movies, there are more than one antagonist. The first antagonist is crime lord Falcone (Tom Wilkinson). He is then dethroned by antagonist Crane (Cillian Murphy), who – in my opinion – is the film’s main antagonist. Then we also have Ducard (Liam Neeson), and even Earle (Rutger Hauer) turns out to be a villain. Too many antagonists for one film? Surprisingly, here, it works well.

Batman must stop Crane, who dumps toxins into Gotham City’s water supply, and Ducard, who wants to destroy Gotham City. The result is an action-packed thriller that delivers! The film also features a great score by Hans Zimmer

‘Batman Begins’ $373.6 million on a $150 million budget. It received 92 award nominations including an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography. On IMDB, ‘Batman Begins’ is currently the 137th top rated movie of all time.

Would I watch it again? Yes.