Batman Begins

July 17, 2012
by J.D. Cook

The theme of this film is justice and it tackles the subject with vigor! What is right and wrong? How do we enforce these concepts and where do we draw the line are huge questions brought up within this film. Liam Neeson is fantastic as Bruce Wayne’s teacher and primary antagonist but that is no surprise as it is Neeson after all. Nolan spent a painstakingly wonderful amount of time explaining all the things people took for granted about Batman; like why he had blades on his gauntlets or pointy ears! There are also three major enemies from his rogue’s gallery that appear in this film Scarecrow, Ra’s Al Ghul, and the often overlooked Victor Zsasz. All of these enemies are intriguing while none of them take over the film. This is the only Batman film to date that actually focuses on Batman and not his villains.

The supporting cast of Morgan Freeman, Rutger Hauer, and Michael Caine help balance and define Christian Bale’s brooding Bruce Wayne well. Usually origin stories feel stretched and dull but this one reinvents the super hero genre in more than one way as it stays based in reality and keeps things serious throughout. This is a solid film and probably lands just behind the Dark Knight and 1989’s Batman as the best film about the caped crusader. My only problem is that the end leaves me wanting to jump right into the sequel!

7 out of 10 Bigbluebullfrog Leaps

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Nutshell Reviews is a collection of very short reviews of the most significant movies, books, music, and video games, from both the present day and days gone passed.