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Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Ruger Hauer, Ken Watanabe, Linus Roache

Reinventing a popular character is always a dangerous business. Christopher Nolan (“Momento”, “Following”, “Insomnia”) and co-writer David Goyer (“Blade”, “Blade Trinity”) take to the task like a bat flying on a dark night. Nolan and Goyer discovered a major crucial flaw of the Batman films previously done; none of the films were truly about Batman but the villains. So Nolan and Goyer set out to discover the motivation behind the Dark Knight and figure out what creates a vigilante. Reinventing some of the elements of the comic book and incorporating elements that worked well in the first two Batman films (every film after that was, truly, not up o par), Nolan and Goyer created a Bruce Wayne/Batman every bit as dark, compelling and memorable as the Joker, the Penguin and Cat Woman. ***

After millionaire Bruce Wayne’s (Christian Bale) parents are murdered, Wayne wanders the world blaming himself for his parents deaths and uncomfortable in his own skin. He ends up in China near Tibet where he develops his skills of survival without escaping his past. When he’s approach by Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) aproaches Wayne in a local jail cell about becoming part of a bigger cause. He tells Wayne that there is one name feared by the dark underworld of crime—Ra al Ghul a mythical vigilante who trains others to turn the tables on criminals by becoming stealthy fighters for justice. Wayne agrees to be tutored by Ra al Ghul’s. There he discovers how to be a relentless, merciless avenger. When Wayne disagrees with Ra al Ghul’s decision to execute a criminal, he leaves his tutelage and returns to Gotham resuming his life as Bruce Wayne but with a mind to become the avenging angel of justice that the dark, disturbed city needs. Assisted by his butler and surrogate parent Alfred (Michael Caine) Batman is born. When Batman attempts to take down the crime organization behind his father’s death and the injustice visited upon the city, Batman finds that, with the exception of Lt. Gordon (Gary Oldman) one of the few honest police officers on the Gotham Police Force and his ex-girlfriend Assistant District Attorney Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes), he is alone in the fight against crime in the city. ***

Although a slightly flawed film with a sprawling narrative, “Batman Begins” stands as both the darkest and most powerful film of the “Batman” franchise putting to shame even Tim Burton’s two films about the caped crusader made in the 80’s and 90’s. Nolan’s film dwells as much on the psychology that creates Batman as he does the criminals that run rampant in Gotham. That doesn’t mean the film lacks action—it is completely action packed but since this is the story of Batman’s untold origins (the comic book and films never addressed how Batman came to be beyond the story of the murder of the Waynes) so it does take a bit of time before the Dark Knight appears in the film. The early part of the film focuses on Wayne learning the skills that he demonstrtes as Batman later in the film and also how he developed all those “toys” (as the character of the Joker puts it in “Batman”) he uses so well. ***

Bale gives a performance that focuses on both the depth of Wayne’s anguish but also captures his sense of humanity as well. Caine and Neeson likewise bring depth and make their characters more than just supporting characters in the film. The only misstep in casting is Katie Holmes who is completely unconvincing in her role as Rachel Dawes. Also, it takes too long for Cillian Murphy to metamorphsize into the villain the Scarecrow. Since the focus is much more on Batman, though, the narrative does have to take some shortcutsin regards to the villains of the film. Luckily, Nolan and Goyer have an ingenious plot twist that gives additional depth to the villains and brings the film full circle.

Featuring a beautiful 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer, the image quality is top notch throughout. The blacks as deep and dark as Batman’s costume and the colors are bold where they need to be and have a muted aspect (in the opening sequence set in China) that favors the original theatrical version of the film. There’s a bit of digital artifacting in a couple of sequences but overall the look and detail of the film is quite pleasing. I would have preferred a simpler menu with no extras on the first disc freezing up additional bit space for the image and sound. That’s not to suggest that they are bad but it would have given a little more room for deeper, richer images than are on display in this edition of the film. The 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround track makes effective use of theformat spreading the effects around the system and enveloping you in the environment.

The standard single disc edition comes pretty much no frills with the exception of “Tankman Begins” a parody that played on MTV featuring Saturday Night Live’s Jimmy Fallon. We also get the original theatrical trailer and a DVD-ROM game that’s a demo for the “Batman Begins”. I doubt I’ll be playing this game all that much. ***

The second disc holds most of the extras for the deluxe edition and includes a clever interactive comic book. You can actually access some bonus content or you can go directly to the final menu which can be accessed via the last page of the comic book. “Batman –The Journey Begins” is a thoughtful featurette giving us a glimpse into how Nolan and Goyer eventually got involved in the project. “Gotham City Rises” focuses on the sets and set design. “The Cape and the Cowl” focuses naturally on the costumes designed for the film. “Shaping Body and Mind” looks at the physical training that Christian Bale had to undergo for the production. “Path to Discovery” focuses on the development of the film itself with plenty of brief interviews and clips from the film. “Genesis of the Bat compares the comic book to the film. “Batman-The Tumbler” is a 14 minute featurette follows the new Batmobile from design to final construction. We also get “Confidential Files” which provides text background on the various characters and hardware on display in the film. The art gallery section allows you to see the various posters designed for the film. Finally there’s a 70 page comic book included in the package. The comic features three stories including a reproduction of the origin story for Batman. Middle-aged fans may want to break out their reading glasses as the text can be a bit difficult to read at times. ---

A terrific movie that captures the comic book flavor of Batman amazingly well, “Batman Begins” almost becomes a bit of a let down by the time Bruce Wayne becomes Batman. It’s a well crafted film that breathes new life into a franchise that died at the hands of lesser film directors. I’d definitely go for the deluxe edition if you want all the background on the film.