Batman Begins: The IMAX Experience Review

"BATMAN BEGINS" reviews

Movie

BATMAN BEGINS

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2005-10-25 21:09:37

Provider

MRIB

Review

Tim Burton brought the true darkness of Gotham and the mystique of the caped crusader to the big screen with Batman and Batman Returns and now Christopher Nolan delves deeper and reveals his history with the capable Christian Bale in the main role.

Batman Begins commences with Bruce Wayne as a child and the tragic loss of his parents which leads to pent up rage. As he grows up, raised by Alfred the butler (Michael Caine), he learns to channel his aggression with help from martial arts mentor Henri Ducard, who's played admirably by Liam Neeson.

However, Ducard soon reveals an ulterior motive which involves battling evil but also supporting a new world order (a possible war on terror reference in a Batman film?). Bruce rejects this and his life is threatened. He returns to Gotham City following a seven-year absence where he has to deal with a dodgy CEO (Rutger Hauer) running the family business (Bruce was thought to be dead), local crime lord Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson) and Dr. Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy), a.k.a. Scarecrow.

Bruce and Albert set up base beneath Wayne Manor and Bruce finds some much needed allies in former Wayne Enterprises board member Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), policeman Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and childhood friend and assistant D.A. Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes).

The script is intelligent and some characters are quite complex making the film far more than simple good versus evil superhero fare and Bale's supporting cast is excellent, which in Freeman, Neeson, Caine and Oldman's case almost goes without saying.

Former Dawson's Creek cutie Holmes is also impressive in a role that could truly kick-start her cinematic career. Although it has occasional light relief, this is as dark as Batman stories have ever been and as far from the camp '60s Batman as you can get. Needless to say there will be sequels but after being captivated by this story that can only be a good thing.

Copyright © MRIB 2005.