Batman Begins was the start of Christopher Nolan’s iconic Batman trilogy. Unfortunately, The Dark Knight gets all the hype, and Batman Begins is often overlooked. It is the perfect origin film for Batman. It takes what could easily be a goofy character and makes him realistic. Batman Begins is equally interested in Bruce Wayne as it is Batman. While everybody knows the origin story, it takes time to explain how it is the true building block of this character. Batman Begins is laser-focused on its theme of “fear.” It connects Bruce Wayne’s past, Batman’s origins, the antagonists, and their plan to destroy Gotham. It is a wonderfully interwoven creation. Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman is a phenomenal casting. He essentially has three different performances in one role: Batman, playboy Bruce, and normal Bruce. Each of them is just as believable as the other. He balances the suave attractiveness of the playboy with the sad emo man he is inside. His balancing act is what makes Bale, in my humble opinion, the best Batman. 

The film begins with Bruce Wayne dreaming about his childhood when he was playing with his family friend Rachel Dawes and then fell into the depths of an empty well. He wakes up in prison, where he has been “exploring the criminal fraternity.” He’s learned how to fight, and he easily deals with the seven men who attack him. He’s visited in solitary by Ducard, portrayed by Liam Neeson. Although he presents himself as a spokesperson for Ra’s al Ghul, we learn later in the film he actually is him. He’s the leader of the League of Shadows, an organization that has served justice to the world for over 1000 years and is feared by the criminal underworld. The concept of the League of Shadows sounds ridiculous and the name itself could potentially be corny, but Neeson’s gravitas easily sells the idea to us the viewers (and to Bruce) as a legitimate institution. Ducard knows he is Bruce Wayne, and he offers him a chance to discover the best way to fight injustice and use fear to do so. He instructs Bruce to bring a blue flower to the compound which seems insignificant, but this flower is the key to much of the film. 

Under the guise of fake Ra’s al Ghul, Bruce learns how the League of Shadows operates. He learns their purpose and their beliefs. He continues to learn to fight; he learns how to be a ninja and use theatricality to get an edge on his opponents. Liam Neeson’s massive body is beneficial in making Ducard a legitimate opponent to Bruce. Bale became an absolute unit, not focusing on being cut and the more aesthetic aspects of working out but being brawny, just as Batman would hypothetically be. He learns to face his fears and how to use them against others. Bruce’s final test is that he must kill a man who the League has accused of murder. He finds this abhorrent and insists he should have a trial. This is where Ducard and Batman’s ideology differs. Both believe in justice but only Batman believes in due process and doesn’t kill. A college-aged Bruce Wayne was going to kill his parents’s murderer, Chill, if he was released on parole, but he never got the chance for vengeance, which was ultimately for the better. Instead, he burns down the League of Shadows complex and heads back to Gotham, now with a better idea of how to turn the city around using the techniques he learned from Ducard. 

Back in Gotham Wayne Enterprises is going public, Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson) has spies at every level of government, and Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes) is getting on Dr. Jonathan Crane’s (Cillian Murphy) ass because he testified that multiple mob members must be transferred from prison to Arkham Asylum. Rachel is an Assistant District Attorney and childhood friend of Bruce Wayne. She is a brand new character made specifically for this movie, which I’m sure was a surprise in 2005. Although he has romantic partners in the comics, Batman doesn’t have a consistent partner like Superman and Lois Lane or the Flash and Iris West, so her creation isn’t a problem. In fact, considering how Batman is so connected to his childhood, it makes sense that he would also be attached to the first girl he ever loved. Also, her role as ADA connects her perfectly to the story, making them two sides of justice. Rachel taught Bruce that justice is about more than revenge, which is something he carries into his Batman persona. Katie Holmes does a solid job of being the sweet and pure-of-heart character of Rachel. It is fun to see her be a thorn in the side of Dr. Crane. We are all aware that Batman Begins is where Nolan’s obsession with Murphy began. He auditioned for Batman, and although Nolan knew he wasn’t the right fit, he was mesmerized by Cillian’s blue eyes and talent and insisted that he have the part of Dr. Crane, a.k.a. Scarecrow. He makes the most of every moment on screen. The way he says, “The Batman” is forever etched into my brain. Scarecrow and Falcone are pawns for the League of Shadows. They instructed Crane to place their hallucinogenic toxin derived from the blue flowers on the hillside of their compound into Falcone’s drugs. Then, he dumped it into the water supply under Arkham so that the League could intoxicate every person and use fear to have the city tear itself apart, although Crane didn’t know the full extent of the League’s plans. This plan perfectly integrates three different Batman villains in a way that makes sense story-wise and with the “fear” theme. 

As the plot is being set up, Bruce is figuring out how to become Batman and become a legend to become the most effective crime fighter he can be with Alfred (Michael Caine) at his side helping. Caine is the secret sauce of the movie. He is Bruce’s conscience, his reflection. Alfred steps in as a father figure for him after his parents die, but he’s not without his jokes. He wants nothing more than what is best for Bruce. The two are a team and they are family. They build the Batcave together. Bruce claims to be looking for a job in the company he is pretending to not care about. He meets Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) in the nearly forgotten division of Applied Sciences. Earle (Rutger Hauer), the CEO, is happy to shove him off there, and now it is a free-for-all so Bruce can take any of the cool gadgets that Applied Sciences created long ago. It takes a lot of trial and error to develop into Batman. It takes about an hour to see a fully functional Batman, and once we do, it is so insanely satisfying. He takes Carmine Falcone down and provides Sergeant Gordon (Gary Oldman) and Rachel with everything they need to take him down permanently while simultaneously creating his iconic Bat-Signal. Bruce also gets the tank-like Batmobile and this is where he learns about the microwave emitter that will come into play in the final section of the film. 

The finale of Batman Begins starts when the League of Shadows and Ducard appear at Wayne Manor pretending to be guests for Bruce’s 30th birthday party. It is now personal to him because he considers Bruce his greatest student, and he is also there to get retribution for Bruce burning down his compound by destroying the mansion. Most importantly he is there to enact the plan to have the city of Gotham fall through the aerosolized hallucinogen spread to all citizens via the microwave emitter on Thomas Wayne’s train leading to the central water supply of the city under Wayne Enterprises. They are responsible for other “great” cities falling whenever corruption has overcome good, like Rome and London. They used economics for Gotham, although Thomas Wayne unknowingly put up a good fight. They believe in a purge in order to create balance and justice. Through Rachel and Gordon, Batman is able to stop the League from destroying Gotham. He finds a loophole in his moral stance, not actively killing Ducard but not saving him either. His morality is more flexible than that of a character like Superman’s, once again rooting the story in realism. This act is so surprisingly short, with most of the film focusing on Batman’s origins. Everything in the third act is set up so brilliantly throughout the movie you can enjoy the ride to the very end. 

The denouement of the film reveals that Bruce bought the majority of shares of Wayne Enterprises through all the fake corporations he created to buy parts for his Batsuit. He fired Earle and installed Lucius Fox as CEO. He is starting to rebuild Wayne Manor back to almost its original form, finally coming to reconnect with his family history in a positive way. Also, Rachel acknowledges she knows he is Batman, and that she loves him, but his dual identities are such an impediment that they can’t be together with it. She knows what he’s doing is important, but it’s an impossible situation to be in. Finally, the newly minted Lieutenant Gordon and Batman discuss the future since many Arkham inmates are still running free, and everything is likely to escalate on both sides. Nolan teases the Joker here by showing his calling card, and we are to assume he was one of the mental patients released by the League of Shadows. This was the perfect level of connection between the films. 

Not to be basic, but Christopher Nolan is one of my favorite directors, and Batman Begins is one of my favorites of his movies. There is such an ease to his direction. Everything makes sense, it’s easy to follow, especially with the out-of-order timeline in the first half of the film. The action sequences are electric, including the powerhouse of a car chase in the Batmobile. The script that Nolan co-wrote with David S. Goyer is so elegant. Every line of dialogue contributes perfectly to the themes. Also, “Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves back up” is a simple but utterly effective saying that resonates so well with the character of Batman. There are also bits of naturalistic humor that don’t break the story. “Nice coat” for example. While I’ve pointed out the theme of fear the most, legacy is another theme that makes its way into the story. Alfred does a good job of reminding Bruce of his family history, that good deeds are tied to the Wayne family. The mansion was a part of the Underground Railroad, and his dad nearly bankrupted the company to fight poverty. Batman, although unorthodox, is just the new way the Waynes are saving Gotham. “It’s not who you are underneath, it’s what you do that defines you” is another line that feels particularly resonant in the film and today. 

Nolan’s direction wouldn’t hit the same if the craftwork underneath weren’t as brilliant as it is. Wayne Manor is the most obvious, gorgeous example of the production design. It feels like a British castle, which is exactly where it was filmed. It feels so distinctly Nolan, but it works on a character level, too. The actual setup of the city is so cool, the above-ground public transportation, Wayne Enterprises being the center of the city, and the concept of the Narrows especially. It is an island district in the Gotham River. Essentially, it’s where the poorest people live which is depressing, but its geography plays an integral role in the story. The aesthetic of Gotham is dark and rainy. This atmosphere lends itself greatly to the idea that the whole city has been corrupted, but it makes for one hell of a vibe. Gotham feels like a real city. So much of the film being shot on location makes a difference. Its one and only Oscar nomination was a cinematography nomination for Wally Pfister, which it rightfully deserved. He captured BatmanBegins brilliantly. I’d probably give it a couple more nominations at least, but it wouldn’t be until The Dark Knight when the Academy would change its rules to allow some more genre films to enter the mix. The score by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard went hand-in-hand with the production design. It is powerful and inspirational. It stays away from intricacy, leaning more toward a simple, primal sound that mirrors Bruce’s transformation into Batman. It does get tender whenever we see Bruce’s flashbacks to his childhood with his parents. 

Looking back, Batman Begins box office feels so ridiculously low, only generating $371.8 million, a stark contrast to the next two films, each of which grossed over a billion. Batman Begins came out at a time when superhero films were a joke and after Batman & Robin which is generally considered the worst Batman film. It was critically lauded for its realism and darkness, and given a four out of four by Robert Ebert who was not a fan of previous Batman films. Where a few criticized the film was the lack of sparks between Bale and Holmes, which I don’t find to be a problem. Their connection is innocent, both acting younger than their age in each other’s presence. They are sweet and sensitive to each other, and considering they haven’t seen each other in seven years, it’s understandable. 

Underneath the rough and tough exterior of Batman Begins is a story about compassion, even for those who don’t deserve it. Bruce is a man who fought his fears and figured out how to channel them in a positive way. He learned that actions make a person who they are. It’s also about helping those who need it however you can, especially if you have the means to do so. Batman Begins is the perfect origin story for Bruce Wayne, and his journey can teach everyone who watches a thing or two, as well.