Batman Begins

Director Chris Nolan just can't resist telling a story in non-chronological order.

So after Following and Memento comes his take on the origin of Batman.


And – this is meant to be a compliment - he is actually too good at it.

Nolan exposes Bruce Wayne's inner motivation and path to donning the pointy-eared suit so well, that when the fancy-dress costume finally does show up, it's actually a disappointment. What I mean is that by that stage, I was really far more interested in the personal journey of this one tortured soul, than in giving it all up to instead start watching a superhero flick.

But suddenly there's the costume, the gadgets, and the menacing voice, none of which quite tally with the mission that poor old Bruce Wayne seems to be on. Maybe, as well as seeking to clean up Gotham, he is also a fan of comicbooks, and coming-up with a persona like Batman is his idea of having some fun along the way? That's the only way I could reconcile it.

This is a terrific version of Gotham too. One thing that always disappoints me about superhero tales is the presence of a super-villain, but this film doesn't really have one, lending the story a rare quality of believability. (obviously you decide that Batman himself is believable before you even sit down to watch the film)

All this, plus Captain Scarlet and an unstoppable monorail.

Not really my sort of film, but absolutely brilliant.

Available here.
Review of Batman: Gotham Knight here.
Review of The Dark Knight here.
Review of The Dark Knight Rises here.