Batman Begins

(USA, 2005, 140 minutes)

Disgusted with the cavalier disregard of the Gotham City authorities for justice, millionaire heir Bruce Wayne returns to the metropolis after a spell exploring the underworld and sets himself up as a masked avenger saving the corrupt city from its criminal element. Although the fifth in the contemporary series of Batman adventures, this is in fact the first of a new series that retells the “origin story” of the comic-book super-hero in darker, grittier and more realistic terms and with a surprisingly mature ambiguity in its approach to themes of heroism, courage and justice. Not exactly kids' entertainment, and all the better for it.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents a Syncopy/Patalex III Productions production. Starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer, Ken Watanabe, Mark Boone Junior, Linus Roache; and Morgan Freeman. Directed by Christopher Nolan; produced by Emma Thomas, Charles Roven, Larry Franco; screenplay by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer, based on a story by David S. Goyer and on the comic-book character created by Bob Kane; music by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard; director of photography (Technicolor prints, Panavision), Wally Pfister; production designer, Nathan Crowley; costume designer, Lindy Hemming; film editor, Lee Smith; visual effects supervisors, Janek Sirrs, Dan Glass.