.: Roberts' Reviews - Movie Reviews :.

When it comes to superhero movies, Hollywood has had its share of hits (X-Men), misses (The Hulk), franchises (Spider-Man) and just plain embarrassments (Catwoman). Going back as far as the late 70's with Richard Donner's acclaimed Superman, films based on characters created on the comic book page have always been in some sort of development phase.

But as much as Superman might have got the ball rolling, it was really Tim Burton's Batman that changed the landscape for hero films in the years succeeding its release. With its dark and mysterious millionaire Bruce Wayne and alter ego Batman fighting the evil Joker in the city of Gotham, Batman had fans lining up round the block (this writer included) for the chance to be the first to see our caper crusader fight his most notorious foe.

That film proved to be everything and more to Warner Bros. studio. The movie grossed over $250 million domestically, easily surpassing the third Indiana Jones entry, Ghostbusters 2 and The Little Mermaid as the highest grossing film of 1989. More importantly, the movie launched a franchise that saw Burton back behind the camera again for Batman Returns. This time, our nocturnal insectivorous flying savior was battling both The Penguin and Catwoman. The second installment didn't have the magic or originality of the first and a bunch of penguins running around Gotham with missiles strapped to their backs reminded us too much of the camp television Batman starring Adam West.

Burton then passed the baton to Joel Schumacher in 1995 where the Dark Knight squared off against The Riddler and Two-Face. Val Kilmer supplanted Michael Keaton as our masked hero and the film fared slightly better than Returns with its audience. But that was the last time that the franchise was even remotely credible. By the time Batman & Robin was released in 1997, not even the presence of George Clooney, Uma Thurman or Arnold Schwarzenegger could have saved the franchise.

The franchise seemed brain dead, but still on life support. And as it lay in its coma for the next six years, rumors in the trades were consistently reporting a new Batman movie being negotiated. Even a Superman vs. Batman script was drafted with stars including Nicholas Cage at one time supposedly on board.

With directors ranging from David Fincher to Clint Eastwood - yes, Dirty Harry - being at one time considered, it was Christopher Nolan (Memento) who was eventually given the reins in 2003. With two dark films under his young directorial belt (Memento and Insomnia), this Brit was the perfect choice to breathe some new life and resurrect what was once considered the new flagship of the Warner Bros. enterprise.

So did he accomplish the feat with Batman Begins? Hell yeah.

Batman Begins stars Christian Bale as the Dark Knight and as the title suggests, starts at the beginning of our crusader's journey into the world of crime fighting. The opening scenes methodically follow a young Bruce Wayne as it tells the story explaining his fear and later affinity towards bats. This fear indirectly puts his parents in the back alley of an Opera House where they are confronted by a mugger that takes the lives of the two elders.

The death of Wayne's parents is his defining moment. And 14 years later when the criminal responsible for their death is set free from prison, Bruce leaves Gotham and ends up in an undisclosed foreign country where he eventually meets Ducard (Liam Nesson), a member of an elite killing force called the League of Assassins that bring their own form of justice to a world believed to be without punishment. Here, Wayne gets trained in sword fighting, martial arts and weaponry. He develops the skills that were taken for granted in the Burton versions. By the time he returns to Gotham, he is a new man, intent on using his new fighting skills to help the helpless.

Luckily for the returning billionaire, he is able to leverage the services of a long serving employee of Wayne Enterprises played with just the right dose of smarts and smart-alecks by Oscar winner Morgan Freeman. Working as an inventor and weapons specialist, the two new friends are able to both devise and utilize new revolutionary devices to help in the fight for justice.

And this fight will not be easy. At the root of Gotham's problems lies Dr. Jonathan Crane (also known as The Scarecrow). With the help of a local gangster, he has devised an only-in-the-comic-books plan to poison the city's water supply and then use a military device to vaporize the hallucinogenic making the drug airborne. The plots climatic scene has another villain reveal and a race to the central water supply to save the citizens of the fair city.

To put it in a simple word, Batman Begins ROCKS. I know it is a teenage word. A youthful word. But that was the first word that came into my pea-brain when the screening was over. Everything that was wrong with the first four installments has been corrected and updated to the highest level of satisfaction. Gotham doesn't look like the Hunter S. Thompson bad dream as it did in the Schumacher/Burton versions, the batmobile is cooler than ever as a cross between a tank and a Humvee and finally there is a story that might be a bit out there, but it isn't within the chuckling distance of its predecessors. Oh yeah, the batsuit doesn't have nipples either.

Whether it was the intense battle sequences or the car chase scene between the batmobile and a fleet of Gotham's finest men in blue, Batman Begins gives us just enough of everything without going over the top that I kept my popcorn soggy with the salivating drool that was dripping from my lower lip. The final sequence aboard the ell train while Officer Gordon (Gary Oldman in an almost unrecognizable contained performance) races beneath in the batmobile rocked the theatre floor with the sound of each turned corner and explosion that erupted on the screen. The late night audience cheered out loud on a few occasions and the exhausted multitude clapped at the movie's conclusion (However, take this with a grain of salt as the members of the audience were scattered with enthusiasts that were in full Batman drag).

Everyone in the film seemed to understand their role and played each part without overplaying the character. Michael Caine as butler Alfred, Rutger Hauer as the head of Wayne Enterprises and even young Katie Holmes all give just enough to keep their characters interesting without taking the focus off the shoulders of what is Bale's movie to win or lose.

Now, 12 hours removed from the experience, I can't think of anything particularly glaring about the film that could be improved upon. The audience enjoyed themselves and I got a thrill ride I wasn't expecting from a franchise I had given up on years ago. When the concluding chapter reveals a segue for a sequel, I sat with schoolboy exuberance at the notion that there will be another installment.

Batman Begins therefore is not just one of the best popcorn movies you are going to see this summer, but it also ups the ante and is one of the best pictures of the early year. High praise indeed, but I went batty.

So thank you Christopher Nolan. Thank you Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine. Thank you Christian Bale and thank you DC Comics and Warner Bros. for helping me remember the feelings I got as a youth when I read and collected comics and for taking me back to the excitement I felt as I waited in line 15+ years ago to see a Batman movie that now falls to number two in the best of the series.