Batman Begins Review Country : USA Year: 2005 Genre: Superhero/Action Format: Theater Running Time: 141 minutes Distributor: Warner Bros. As corruption and ruin settles upon a city, a new hero arises with the resolve to re-establish order..... Credits Directed by Chris Nolan. Written by David S. Goyer. Starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy and Morgan Freeman. Batman Begins is a gothic nightmare. With a view of Gotham that is every bit as bleak and dazzling as the urban panoramas presented in Tim Burton’s Batman and Blade Runner, this film makes it clear from the outset that wherever its flaws may lie, they will not be in the realm of visual presentation. Indeed, not only is Batman Begins a feast for the eyes, but it collides violently with another sense, utilizing a high decibel soundtrack to keep the energy level up. The only complaint I do have with this film is that some of the action sequences are hard to make out, however, director Christopher Nolan more than makes up for it by the time the credits roll. A new restart of the Batman franchise under the helm of Memento Director Chris Nolan and more in tone with the early Batman: Year One style comics. As a boy a young Bruce Wayne watched in horror as his millionaire parents were slain in front of his eyes, a trauma which led him to become obsessed with revenge but his chance is cruelly taken away from him by fate. After disappearing to the East where he seeks counsel with the dangerous but honorable ninja cult leader known as Ra's Al-Ghul, he returns to his now decaying Gotham City overrun by organized crime and dangerous individuals manipulating the system whilst the company he inherited is slowly being pulled out from under him. The discovery of a cave under his mansion, and a prototype armored suit leads him to take on a new persona, one which will strike fear into the hearts of men who do wrong - he becomes Batman. In the new guise, and with the help of rising cop Jim Gordon, Batman sets out to take down the various nefarious schemes in motion by individuals such as Mafia Don Falcone, the twisted doctor/drug dealer Jonathan 'The Scarecrow' Crane, and a mysterious third party that is quite familiar with Wayne and waiting to strike when the time is right. (plot summary from IMDB). Batman Begins allows no room for the viewer to take a breath, as it blazes with breakneck speed from scene to scene. This motion picture moves (clocking in at 2 hours 20 minutes), and that makes up for a number of character and plot deficiencies. Admittedly, the appeal of Batman is typically entirely visceral. Usually, there's nothing intellectual about flying batmen and evil ghouls hell-bent on the destruction of Gotham City. No matter how stylish the direction and how captivating the action scenes. However, director Nolan and writer David (Blade trilogy) S. Goyer pull it off incredibly well and bring the once fantasy universe of Batman into our world, the real world. The decision to tell the story, at least in part, from the perspective of young Bruce (Gus Lewis) is an effective choice. By utilizing his point-of-view, Batman Begins attains an emotional level that it would not otherwise have reached. This is one of the few occasions when a flashback works to advance, rather than hinder, the story. Most of the comic relief is provided by Morgan Freeman’s excellent character, Lucius Fox and Michael Caine as Alfred ‘The Butler of Wayne Manor’, who also adds an incredible sense of realism to the film. Gary Oldman puts in another excellent performance as a budding Commissioner Gordon and truly shows once again, this guy can do anything. Katie Holmes character, Rachel Dawes is basically a throw away love interest that is only there for aesthetic purposes. I was very pleased that for once in a Batman film, we didn’t have silly love story sub-plot dragging it down. Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later) dons the mask of ‘Scarecrow’ and comes off believably insane and sadistic. Liam Neeson as mentor and villain Ducard flows perfectly. As for Bruce Wayne/Batman, hats off to Christian (American Psycho) Bale for doing a bang-up job on both characters. Bale breathes life into both characters, which is something Keaton, Kilmer, and Clooney could never do. Over the past few years, the flow of action movies has slowed, but that hasn't meant an overall increase in quality. Batman Begins is the rare exception -- something that stands out because it's different and exciting. The end is of course left wide open for the series to continue in a new, fresh, and dark direction. Something I have been waiting for since I was a kid. OFFICIAL SITE Review by John Gray, for Pitofhorror.com