Reviews by Matt

What do you do when a movie franchise has lost its luster? How do you resurrect a character that has become campy and lost all credibility? The answer is simple; you go back to the beginning and reinvent him. Sometimes it is best to start over instead of trying to fix something that is as broken as the Batman series was. The last Batman movie had strayed so far from what Batman was that it was in need of a major overhaul. That is what Christopher Nolan (Memento) did when he wrote and directed “Batman Begins.” He started fresh and in doing so, gave us the best comic book movie adaptation ever.
The movie starts with Bruce as a child playing in Wayne Manor. He falls down a hole into the cave that will one day become the Bat cave and is rescued by his father and the butler, Alfred (Michael Caine.) It then flashes forward to Bruce (Christian Bale) in jail. He has disappeared from Gotham and become a criminal. He is rescued by a man named Herri Ducard (Liam Nesson,) who wants him to join the League of Shadows, lead by Ra’s Al Ghul (Ken Watannabe.) Through flashbacks, we see the death of his parents, a straining friendship with childhood sweetheart Rachel Dawes (Katie Homes,) until we are brought back to the present and his training with The League of Shadows. After he discovers that he was chosen to lead the league into Gotham to destroy it. He chooses not to and fights his way out and returns to Gotham to become Batman in order to save the city. Using one of the few honest cops, Jim Gordan (Gary Oldman,) he starts his fight by taking on Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson.)
One of the things that makes this movie different from the previous films is that the city is much darker. At one point Rachel asks Bruce; “What chance does Gotham have when the good people do nothing?” This sums up the city. The city is run by corrupt leaders who ignore the mob and the extreme poverty. As long as they can live in ignorance they can live happy.
Christian Bale plays Batman/Bruce Wayne in this movie. He is able to do something that the actor cast as Batman before him (George Clooney,) could not do. He gives us the tortured hero. He struggles with the balance Wayne and Batman. He must keep up appearances as Bruce Wayne during the day and Batman at night. Living a duel life is not easy and we can see it take it’s toll on Bruce. One of the things I like about Christian Bale as an actor is he throws himself into the roles he chooses. The role he had before this in “The Machinist” required him to lose a lot of weight, and he got deathly skinny for this role. (See pic included.) He had to gain 30 pounds in order to get the role as Batman. He gives the best performance in the film and is the best Batman yet.
One of the things that was done was to make the movie more realistic. They made the movie feel like Batman could really exist. Bruce goes to Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman,) who is the head of the “applied sciences department.” On a tour Bruce asks Fox to borrow a few items that he uses as the bat suit, cape, and a few of the Batman gadgets and even the Batmobile. They keep everything down to earth, nothing is extravagant. One of the most impressive realistic elements was the Batmobile. It was designed as a tanke to jump rivers to tow cables to make bridges.
“Batman Begins” is a new take on an old character. Updated and made real. Christopher Nolan has breathed new life into a dead franchise Batman has been given a second chance and so far it is the best of the DC comic book movies, if not the best of all comic book movies. The Dark Knight has returned and the Batsignal is relit. If they can keep up the quality, Batman has a bright future.

9 out of 10
Rated PG-13 for intense action violence, disturbing images and some thematic elements.
Runtime: 141 min