There has never yet been a Batman story with quite this kind of psychological trauma. If Ingmar Bergman had ever directed a superhero movie, it would have looked quite a bit like this.
Batman Begins (2005)
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Reviews Counted: 249
Fresh: 210
Rotten:39
Average Rating: 7.7/10
Consensus: Brooding and dark, but also exciting and smart, Batman Begins is a film that understands the essence of one of the definitive superheroes.
Runtime: 2 hrs 21 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Theatrical Release: Jun 15, 2005 Wide
Box Office: $205,197,285
Synopsis: Genius of mystery and intrigue Christopher Nolan (MEMENTO, FOLLOWING, INSOMNIA) helms this prequel to the Batman films based on the DC Comics series, explaining how Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale)--the billionaire prince of Gotham whose... Genius of mystery and intrigue Christopher Nolan (MEMENTO, FOLLOWING, INSOMNIA) helms this prequel to the Batman films based on the DC Comics series, explaining how Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale)--the billionaire prince of Gotham whose parents were killed in an alleyway mugging--transformed into the crime-fighting superhero. With flashbacks to his privileged childhood, young Master Wayne, as he is called by the butler Alfred (Michael Caine), develops a terrible fear of bats when he falls through the backyard garden into a hidden cave. As a young adult, Wayne lives among the League of Shadows, a martial arts group in the mountains of Asia. His leaders Ra's al Ghul (Ken Watanabe) and Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) teach him strength, endurance, and--unfortunately--evil, against which he naturally rebels. Returning to Gotham and reinstating himself as a dapper socialite and the rightful heir to his parents' enterprise, Wayne quickly devises his secret identity, commanding help from the gadgetry expert Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman). With one eye on his childhood playmate Rachel (Katie Holmes)--now a beautiful woman and dedicated lawyer--and the other on his mission to save Gotham from criminal corruption, Batman makes his fledgling debut. But when the blue-blooded mastermind Dr. Crane (Cillian Murphy)--who steals every scene with chilling menace--taints the water system with a hallucinatory substance, Batman realizes he has met his first true opponent. An attitude of grave seriousness elevates BATMAN BEGINS above more cartoony Batman movies, as Nolan crafts a dark drama that thrives on sci-fi intrigue. Bale strides into the role with grace, adding refinement that is seldom seen in action-oriented films. And while the action scenes explode with high-tech glitz and fast-moving thrills, they are evenly placed among sequences of plot and character development, making for a complex and satisfying viewing experience. [More]
Starring: Christian Bale, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Ken Watanabe
Starring: Christian Bale, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Ken Watanabe, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, Lucy Russell, Morgan Freeman, Sara Stewart
Director: Christopher Nolan
Director: Christopher Nolan
Screenwriter: David S. Goyer, Christopher Nolan
Producer: Emma Thomas, Charles Roven, Larry J. Franco
Composer: Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard
Studio: Warner Bros.
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Reviews for Batman Begins
A blast of energy that reinvents the Dark Knight for a new generation of film-goers.
Its edgy tone and dark atmosphere coupled with its comic-book theatrics make it a winning combination for older children and adults alike.
Not only do we see Gotham in the daylight, but Christian Bale may also be the first Bruce Wayne who's more at home crouching in a monastery with his hair in his eyes than attending a dinner party for which he'd have to trim his nails.
The movie takes such time and care to set up Bruce/Batman that it's a bit of a bummer when it launches into summer-movie overdrive.
Mr. Nolan's assured direction and pacing keep the movie feeling brisk even at its two-plus hour running time.
Works splendidly because it dispenses with the idea that Batman's archenemies have to be quirky, colorful, superficial savants, àla the campy television series from the sixties.
A fragmented tale with a disconnect between sulking mood pieces and hi-tech urban warfare, whose logic always seems to be beside the point.
Both in and out of the suit, Bale owns the role in a way none of the previous three Batmen did.
Here's how any great franchise should start: with care, precision and delicately wrought atmosphere.
Easily the best Batman film by far, the most accurate to the comic, pretty much the best comic adaptation ever, the best film so far this year
This is a gritty and smart personal drama more than an action film. And it is what a Batman film always should have been.
It's passable entertainment that our culture has wildly overrated.
Where the movie fails, ultimately and sadly, is in its capitulation to conventional action movie wisdom.
Se trata de un filme oscuro pero muy humano y, por lo mismo, inolvidable. Un digno renacimiento para un gran héroe.
Nolan has created a dark, realistic and believable hero who fights personal demons like the rest of us. Burton's fantasy was fun but Nolan's is better.
Une des meilleures adaptations de bandes dessinées à ce jour, sinon la plus accomplie.
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