Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins is a grounded, yet exciting take on the caped crusader’s origin story. The film follows Bruce Wayne from his early childhood, to his training in the league of shadows, and finally to his early days as Batman with lots of references along the way that fans of the comics can appreciate. It was released June 15, 2005 and was critically and commercially successful. Following the extensive catalog of 70 years of Batman media and the disappointment that was Batman & Robin, released in 1997, Christopher Nolan had a monumental task in creating a Movie about Batman and he didn’t disappoint.
Bruce Wayne is lost after his parents are killed right in front of him, so he travels to Asia for seven years where he joins and trains in the league of shadows. After discovering their plan to destroy Gotham, he defects and shares his plan to fight crime with his Butler, Alfred, played by Michael Caine. Bruce Wayne reclaims the Business his father built and uses it to acquire tech from Lucius Fox, played by Morgan Freeman, to help in his fight against crime. Bruce then dons the iconic suit, takes on Scarecrow, played by Cillian Murphy, and uncovers a sinister plot to destroy Gotham.
This is overall a very good movie and offers some very exciting action sequences and even a car chase but it also has some flaws. The dialogue can feel cheesy at some points of the movie, and Bale’s Batman voice is a little goofy. That’s not to take away from his amazing portrayal of the character but his low-pitched growl definitely takes some getting used to. I would have also liked to have seen more screen time with Scarecrow. One spot where this movie shines is its grounded portrayal of the character. It was fun to see a more realistic take on this hero in comparison to cartoonish and silly depictions that came before it. This film was very successful when it first came out, receiving an 84% from rotten tomatoes and recently found itself trending on Netflix. I would personally give this movie a 8/10 as it definitely worth watching.
