Batman Begins2005

85/100 The superhero origin movie that every superhero origin movie from then on wanted to be, and the beginning of one of the most well regarded movie trilogies. Batman (1989) might have started the superhero craze, but in my eyes, this movie really is when Batman truly begins. Like most of Christopher Nolan's movies, this one has a central theme: one of fear. Bruce Wayne adopts the Batman persona to strike fear in criminals, Carmine Falcone rules the city through fear, Scarecrow is a major villain and the whole climax is centered around Gotham tearing itself apart through fear. This theme is very well executed and shows how fear can be shown, but must not be allowed to rule over or defeat us. In addition to this theme, the film is carried along by great characters and story. Christian Bale makes a great Bruce Wayne as well as a good Batman, and this is the second incarnation of the character I've seen to bring up the no-kill rule and (mostly) stick to it. The villains are also consistently good. Carmine Falcone serves as a good starter and I like how he isn't glorified unlike some other portrayals and is just portrayed as scum. Ra's al Ghul is also very well-executed and I love the twist on the usual immortality where instead of the Lazarus pits, its executed through passing down a mantle to make him seem immortal. My favourite villain though, is Cillian Murphy's Scarecrow. Its a very unusual take on the character, but I enjoy his "madman" persona, especially in the finale when he gets to let loose. This character would appear in all three films, but sadly would become less of a threat with each one. The side characters are also executed pretty well. Alfred is great as usual, as is Commissioner Gordon. One of my few complaint about this film is Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes. She looks way too young, is constantly smirking and is just generally unfit for such a no-nonsense character. However, this film's main appeal is Batman's origin story, which is executed beautifully. The people working on this recognized the importance of even small details like what opera the Waynes were watching the night they died and managed to integrate them nicely. This film really makes you earn the cape and the cowl, with it being close to halfway through before you see it. However, the buildup is so well executed it doesn't even matter. However, this film isn't perfect. My main problem with this film are the fight scenes, shot frantically and shakily. It works most of the time and I can generally make out what's going on, but in certain sequences its just unbearable. The final battle suffers heavily from this. Its also where we get the infamous "I don't have to save you" scene, which I don't agree with. Some people try to argue for that scene and I have defended Batman killing indirectly before, but to me this scene displays Batman intentionally leaving someone to die in a situation he engineered, which I really don't like. However, bad scenes like this are uncommon and a minor stain on what still remains one of the best superhero origin movies to this day.