Batman Begins (2005)

After Joel Schumacher had put his stinking, dirty paws on the Batman-franchise, it needed something spectacular to find its way back into the light. Cue Cristopher Nolan.

Nolan starts the trilogy off by skipping about in time. Quite nicely, keeping it informative and relevant without boring the viewer and without introducing too many characters in the process. Nolan's introduction clearly displays how Bruce Wayne has been scarred by the death of his parents, and although he more or less copies half the shooting scene from Tim Burton's "Batman", this is forgivable.

It's easy to see that the is a labor of love. They have put thought into most details here instead of just Bay'ing it (stupid, illogical explanation or explanation left out all together) and when separating a fine film from a brilliant one, that is important.

As for the actors, Bale and Neeson are very good but Gary Oldman is fantastic. All the more impressive then, that Michael Caine still is a step above the rest. Whether angry, disappointed, scared or simply a British butler, Caine steals every single scene he's in from an already outstanding cast. Even Katie Holmes is good here, although a bit lightweight. Cillian Murphy is most unpleasant and brings that eerie little discomfort with him. Tom Wilkinson perhaps not as interesting but not bad. In particular Nolan gets a credible inner conflict out of Wayne as he clearly struggles to portray himself as a shallow playboy in order to keep his secret, portrayed best in a scene with Katie Holmes.

Nolan allows for drama and his actors subtleties, as can be seen on the amount of facial close-ups and with his brilliant cast he is handsomely rewarded. It's almost amazing how many characters he manages to portray with some depth here, and how gritty realistic he manages to make a movie about a man in a batsuit. Good drama is most rare for a superhero-flick. The tone however is very dark and without depth in the characters, you can't really get a good, dark tone. Without simply turning the lights off.

Even the City of Gotham's fall from grace is made believable through small nuances and little hints here and there, in what is an exceptionally thorough script. The paranoia that has Gotham shaking is tense, without overdoing it. And of course... there is action, violence and outstanding set-pieces. All in galore.

You know that brilliant jaw-dropping scene that fills you with awe? Where the soundtrack and the film meet the script in a brilliantly filmed twist? Very few films have this. "Batman Begins" does. At 1:53:00. Enjoy.

Nolan even dares to avoid the happy ending, leaving Bruce with difficult truths to handle and an uncertain future.

As a film, this is brilliant. As the first installment in a trilogy, it's so good even Peter Jackson should be taking notes.

9/10