Less a re-invention and more a bare-knuckled reaction to Batman – or at least to what the Dark Knight Franchise has become in its last few big screen incarnations – Batman Begins' whole raison d'etre seems grounded in making us forget the wretched excesses of those last two Joel Schumacher-helmed outings. The real problem with Batman Forever and Batman and Robin, however, wasn't just how quasi-kitschy dumb they were, but the simple lack of fun to be had – a vital nutrient that Batman Begins, for all its obsessive realigning, often fails to supply as well.
Never fear, though: While this is not a knock-your-socks-off special-effect love fest, it is a damned good comic book movie for grownups, probably the best we've had since the last X-Men flick. There are no nippled bat-suits, few bad puns during the heat of battle and, blessedly, no Robin to be found here, with director Christopher Nolan (Memento) taking the high road in terms of mood, atmosphere and even narrative – all unsullied by the faintest whiff of camp, surprisingly literate (at least for a summer blockbuster) and, for the most part, dark, dark, dark. Nolan and scripter David S. Goyer contemporize the Caped Crusader by turning him into a sort of vigilante ninja, while making him more mythic than ever by exploiting the psychological and emotional issues that lie at the heart of his character and persona. Gotham City is no longer the cool amusement park ride Tim Burton made it out to be, but the version here – a tasty blend of Lang's Metropolis and Fellini's Satyricon – will suffice, and Liam Neeson even shows up spouting a mix of Zen riddles and Nietzsche by way of the Sith. The whole movie sometimes seems like it's taking place in a romanticized version of Lucas' Dark Side, but you could do a lot worse. Also stars Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Rutger Hauger and Morgan Freeman.
Batman Begins (PG-13) opens June 17 at local theaters.
-Lance Goldenberg
This article appears in Jun 15-21, 2005.