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Movies / On DVD / Batman Begins
Batman Begins

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Batman Begins (2005)

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Reviews Counted:252

Fresh:213

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

US 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... 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, Morgan Freeman

Starring: Christian Bale, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Ken Watanabe, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, Lucy Russell, 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.

[See More Credits]

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Reviews for Batman Begins

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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Sweeping all questions aside, Batman Begins does rekindle the franchise: it will be commercially possible to remake Batman stories with this persona and this set of psychological principles underpinning a new series of films.

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

Full Review Source: Dark Horizons | comment Comment
10/30/06
Garth Franklin
Garth Franklin
Dark Horizons
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: In Film Australia | comment Comment
06/22/05
Luke Buckmaster
Luke Buckmaster
In Film Australia
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

So much is rich with ingenuity and daring that its constant missteps are exceptionally glaring.

Full Review Source: Film and Felt | comment Comment
09/26/09
Gabe Leibowitz
Gabe Leibowitz
Film and Felt

They finally got it right. Finally.

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

A blast of energy that reinvents the Dark Knight for a new generation of film-goers.

Full Review Source: Cinefantastique | comment Comment
03/10/09
Steve Biodrowski
Steve Biodrowski
Cinefantastique

An impressive cinematic renaissance for DC Comics' Dark Knight, and a blockbuster with more intelligence than most.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
10/29/08
Daniel Etherington
Daniel Etherington
Channel 4 Film

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.

Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | comment Comment
07/17/08
Tim Brayton
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy

Its edgy tone and dark atmosphere coupled with its comic-book theatrics make it a winning combination for older children and adults alike.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
07/07/08
John J. Puccio
John J. Puccio
DVDTown.com

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.

Full Review Source: Paste Magazine | comment Comment
06/05/08
Robert Davis
Robert Davis
Paste Magazine

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.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
07/23/07
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

Mr. Nolan's assured direction and pacing keep the movie feeling brisk even at its two-plus hour running time.

Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | comment Comment
07/14/07
Joe Lozito
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound

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.

Full Review Source: Princeton Town Topics | comment 2 Comments
06/27/07
Kam Williams
Kam Williams
Princeton Town Topics

A fragmented tale with a disconnect between sulking mood pieces and hi-tech urban warfare, whose logic always seems to be beside the point.

Full Review Source: Long Island Press | comment 9 Comments
03/26/07
Prairie Miller
Prairie Miller
Long Island Press

Both in and out of the suit, Bale owns the role in a way none of the previous three Batmen did.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
03/01/07
Ethan Alter
Ethan Alter
Film Journal International

Here's how any great franchise should start: with care, precision and delicately wrought atmosphere.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
02/03/07
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

fans of the Dark Knight, finally feel proud again

Full Review Source: Movies for the Masses | comment Comment
09/10/06
Joseph Proimakis
Joseph Proimakis
Movies for the Masses

This is a gritty and smart personal drama more than an action film. And it is what a Batman film always should have been.

Full Review Source: Christianity Today | comment Comment
09/08/06
Todd Hertz
Todd Hertz
Christianity Today

It's passable entertainment that our culture has wildly overrated.

Full Review Source: Cinema Writer | comment 5 Comments
08/20/06
Jay Antani
Jay Antani
Cinema Writer

Where the movie fails, ultimately and sadly, is in its capitulation to conventional action movie wisdom.

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment 21 Comments
05/15/06
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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