100 Greatest Superhero Stories Ever
By Steve Lam
Image Courtesy of Warner Bros.
#5. Batman Begins
Medium
Live-Action Feature Film
Release Dates
May 31, 2005 (Tokyo)
June 15, 2005 (United States)
June 16, 2005 (United Kingdom)
Credits
Director: Christopher Nolan
Writers: Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer
Cast: Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman, Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth, Liam Neeson as Henri Ducard / Ra’s al Ghul, Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes, Gary Oldman as James Gordon, Cillian Murphy as Jonathan Craine / Scarecrow, Tom Wilkinson as Carmine Falcone, Rutger Hauer as Williame Earle, Ken Watanabe as Ra’s al Ghul’s Decoy, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, Mark Boone Junior as Arnold Flass, Linus Roache as Thomas Wayne, Sara Stewart as Martha Wayne, Richard Brake as Joe Chill, Tim Booth as Victor Zsasz
The Reason It’s Great
After the abomination known as Batman & Robin (1997), the overall Batman franchise was put on an almost decade long hiatus. Warner Bros. was looking to refresh it’s most prized property, but it didn’t have a good enough strategy.
The studio finally put their faith in then relative newcomer Christopher Nolan whose most famous films to-date, at the time, were 2000’s Memento and 2002’s Insominia. Nolan came in with a concept based on the “Batman: Year One” story arc. He was interested in showing Batman’s origin and how the character became a hero. Before Nolan came along, past Batman films had the Caped Crusader already established.
Nolan wanted to dive deep into Bruce Wayne’s pscyhe. On top of that, the auteur had a grounded vision for the Dark Knight. He wanted to know what a superhero would be like if this individual was to actually exist in the real world. To that end, viewers were graced with the start of what would become Nolan’s three-film masterpiece—The Dark Knight Trilogy.
At a young age, billionaire Bruce Wayne witnesses the senseless murder of his parents in a street mugging. As he reaches young adulthood, a need to understand the criminal mind and a means to fight it puts him on a journey to search the world for answers. He eventually encounters Henri Ducard and the League of Shadows. Honing his mind and body to near perfection, Bruce returns to Gotham City—vowing to fight evil and corruption.
He dons the guise of Batman—a symbol of hope to the citizens of Gotham, and a means to instill fear in those who harm the innocent. As he embarks on a crusade for justice, he gains allies—Commissioner James Gordon, Lucius Fox, and Rachel Dawes—as well as enemies.
Batman Begins had a somewhat quiet release, but soon gained momentum as the breakout film of 2005 and garnered critical acclaim. Christopher Nolan would go on to helm two more Batman films—The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rise—and become synonymous with the Batman name. The overall trilogy has been noted as one of the greatest film franchises of all time.