Batman Begins

8 years after Joel Schumacer and company tarnished the Batman name with the childish mess that was "Batman and Robin", Christopher Nolan finally brought Bruce Wayne to life with Batman Begins.

Batman Begins tells the story of Bruce Wayne's emergence from tragically scarred child to a symbol of heroism and darkness in a wonderfully realized Gotham City. After training with Ra's al Ghul, Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham in perfect mental and physical shape. What Nolan and screenwriter David Goyer do perfectly here, is inject Bruce Wayne with an emotion never before seen in a Batman movie. You can feel the pain and grief Wayne is experiencing and you can see why he decides to become a living symbol of good.

The first full origin story for Batman on film, Batman Begins gets everything absolutely right. The film is very much told from Bruce's point of view, as opposed to earlier Batman movies that focused more heavily on developing villains than developing the hero himself. With this approach you can clearly understand the emotions and motivations of the man behind the mask. The origin is also utterly believable. You can see why Bruce Wayne dresses like a bat, why he needs a cape, how he gets a super-car and super-gadgets, and why he hides in a cave. Still, Begins doesn't get too carried away with realism, retaining a comic book flair that its successor would forget.

While it does take a bit for Bruce Wayne to fully become the bat, it is worth it. There are a few jaw-dropping action scenes including a brilliant batmobile chase scene and a thrilling climax on Gotham's elevated trains. The atmosphere and feeling of Gotham City is nearly perfect. It has a bit of the Gothic look of Tim Burton's Batman universe blended beautifully with a more contemporary cityscape. The city feels like what a comic book world would be like if it actually existed. Batman himself is a dark, brooding, wonderfully realized character in his own right and he shares the screen with an ensemble of great actors, all giving great performances.

Batman Begins never loses a beat. The origin of Batman is engaging, engrossing, and exciting from start to finish. It's great to see how Batman became the legend he is today, and even more fun to see Batman in action. The Scarecrow villain is a little underutilized and it takes a while for Bruce Wayne to truly become Batman, but other than that, Batman Begins is a perfect Batman film.