Grade: A+ | Genre: Action Summary: Nolan resurrects the Batman franchise with stunning visuals, a stellar cast and a compelling script. Batman Begins is the new gold standard for the superhero genre. Understandably, I was a bit queasy when I first heard the rumor that Hollywood was making a new Batman. The last two of the series (Batman Forever, Batman & Robin) should have had Joel Schumacher run out of town on a rail. It is sacrilege to mistreat an American icon like that. My general dismay was shelved when I heard the brilliant director of Memento, Christopher Nolan, was going to be trying his hand at the franchise, and he'd tapped the impressive indie talent of Christian Bale to don the cowl of Batman. Substance over a marquee name is always a good bet. It seems my optimism was well placed as Nolan resurrects the Batman franchise with stunning visuals, a stellar cast and a compelling script. Not only does he surpass Tim Burton's original, but he's also made the best superhero flick captured on film to date.

The story of Batman is well known. He is a man turned superhero, not by the bite of a radioactive spider or landing from some faraway planet, but based on his strength, mental cunning and James Bond arsenal of toys. His high society parents were murdered in front of him as a boy, which forever instilled the desire to bring justice to those who abuse societies' laws. The power of this story is in the details, which Batman Begins recognizes. This film is the prequel of every Batman story you've ever seen. This is the transformation of Bruce Wayne (Bale) from vengeful, bitter teenager to street sweeper of graft and corruption that have overrun the dark alleyways of Gotham.

We begin this journey high in the Himalayas, as a young Wayne is in a third-world jail fighting hordes of men to cleanse himself of his dark fears and vengeful spirit. Ducard (Neeson) appears to lead him to the path of his internal salvation. Wayne trains among the League of Shadows in the ancient art of the ninja and jujitsu. Wayne comes to a cross roads in the final days of his training when he is asked to execute a prisoner. His compassion and his ideas of Gotham's salvation bring him into odds with the League of Shadows, causing him to battle his way back home.

Batman Begins Starring: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Katie Holmes, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson & Rutger Hauer Director: Christopher Nolan View the Trailer (Quicktime) You may also like... Batman Spiderman 2 Memento Email this article to a friend Buy Movie Tickets Online Don’t wait. Make sure you have Tickets & skip the box office line www.fandango.com Star Wars III DVD Just Announced, Pre-Order Now! $15.98, Coming in November 1. 2005 www.amazon.com Curves Discover a Gym Where Women Can Change their Lives 30 Minutes at a Time www.curves.com

Through his association with Lucious Fox (Freeman) in the applied sciences division at Wayne Enterprises, he assembles all sorts of cool gadgets: bullet proof Kevlar, fabric that can morph into a hang glider, grappling devices and the baddest batmobile you've ever seen. As you'd expect, he doesn't just start jumping off buildings and zipping through the night's sky. There is a hefty learning curve he has to conquer, but he's a quick study and adds new gadgets to assist in his nocturnal acrobatics. Besides the threat of Falcone's crew of goons, a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum (Murphy) is steadily polluting minds with his toxic gas, spewed from his burlap sack mask. He is the little utilized villain Scarecrow who works because of the simplicity in his transformation. Katie Holmes plays Rachael Daws, Wayne's boyhood crush, who fights Falcone and his cronies via the District Attorney's office. She seems to view Wayne with disappointment throughout the film as he's overtaken by his emotions, brimming with vengeance, after his parent's death then as his alter ego flitters his life away on plastic women and worldly possessions.

Even though this film operates in the realm of comics, it firmly bases itself in reality. When Wayne is first leaping off building, he clumsily takes out an entire fire escape and is painted black and blue the next morning. The fight scenes aren't Matrix inspired bouts where the boundaries of reality are flexible. This is the real deal, and it works for the context of this gritty, realistic feature. The grounding of this story in our everyday makes these characters very accessible, and you can almost see this Batman cropping up on the skyscrapers of modern day New York.

The cast is second to none. Nolan decided to go with talent over big names for the parts. Bale is brilliant as the brooding, complex Wayne. It's amazing that he not only put on all the weight, but also to stack on the muscle necessary for this part after playing the dangerously thin Trevor Reznik in the Machinist (review coming next week). Michael Caine gives Alfred a heart and soul as Wayne's butler and father figure. Gary Oldman's Sergeant Gordon shows that this talented actor can actually play the good cop. I was beginning to wonder after his clever turns to the dark side in Romeo is Bleeding and the Professional. The only one that struggles with the challenge of the role is Katie Holmes, but her scenes are fairly limited. These actors treat the story like it was Oscar worthy material, submersing themselves in these characters, and we really feel this story resonate through them.

For the first time on film Batman is truly the "Dark Knight." Previous incarnations have painted this superhero more as a Saturday morning TV character rather than the dark, brooding bat that instills petrifying fear in criminals. Gone are the silly one-liners and the goofy, comical villains. Filling their place is a deep psychological look at how the man became the bat. This is an adult drama for the kid inside all of us.

Originally Posted: June 15, 2005

Buy or rent Batman Begins tonight.