Review of Batman Begins (2005) by Victor T — 19 Nov 2014

By 2005, audiences were only interested in the last of "Star Wars" prequels and the superhero genre had already begun thanks to "Spider Man" and "X-Men". With the genre rising, DC finally decided to revive one of their most popular characters: Batman. But after the disaster that was "Batman & Robin", DC needed a new take on the story of the Cape Crusader so they decided to assign this huge task on promising director Christopher Nolan.

Bruce Wayne is an orphan man who travels the world looking to understand "the criminal mind" and how to dominate fear. This search will eventually lead him to a man named Ducard who promise to show Wayne how to dominate his fear and how to use it as a weapon against criminals.

On the first half of the 2000´s, audiences expected fun and over the top comedy from a superhero film (these same expectations apply on today's status of the superhero genre) but Nolan managed to show the true potential these fictional characters have on the game changer "Batman Begins". The first thing that stands out in Nolan´s reimagining of the character is the "realistic" vibe it has, instead of going to big battles between our hero and the villain "Batman Begins" is focused on Batman´s psychological struggles, making Gotham City as develop as a character and showing the logistics of being Batman. "Batman Begins" also counts with great acting by almost every actor on screen (with certain female lead being the only exception), expertly executed themes, gorgeous cinematography, a subtle but enhancing score, a well written script, memorable dialog, exciting action sequences, a perfectly done "dark atmosphere", memorable villains, impressive imagery, little doses of actually funny comedy, impressive direction, storytelling focus on the characters and story instead of the action sequences (as it should be), complex characters (primary and supporting) and, most important, an exciting story that counts with a great portray of the Cape Crusader by the greatly cast Christian Bale. Another element worthy of being mention is Goyer´s knowledge about Batman comics, he managed to put in this film minor characters who I taught would never appear on the big screen, nowadays Marvel is doing the same thing but unlike here, it fells force to build a new hero that will satisfy the demands of their fans.

"Batman Begins" is probably the best reboot in cinema history and undeniably one of the best superhero films ever made (it's easily on the top 5) and possible future classic. Nolan has yet again proved he is one of the best filmmakers working today. If you like superhero films with big doses of comedy, you hate dramas or you don't like "depressing films", you should skip Nolan´s reimagining of the character.