Batman Begins

Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman, with Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer, Ken Watanabe, and Morgan Freeman in supporting roles.

The film reboots the Batman film series, telling the origin story of Bruce Wayne from the death of his parents to his journey to become Batman and his fight to stop Ra’s al Ghul and the Scarecrow from plunging Gotham City into chaos.

After Batman & Robin was panned by critics and underperformed at the box office, Warner Bros. Pictures cancelled future Batman films, including Joel Schumacher’s planned Batman Unchained.

Between 1998 and 2003, several filmmakers collaborated with Warner Bros. in attempting to reboot the franchise. After the studio rejected a Batman origin story reboot Joss Whedon pitched in December 2002, Warner Bros.

hired Nolan in January 2003 to direct a new film. Nolan and Goyer began development on the film in early 2003.

Aiming for a darker, more realistic tone compared to the previous films, a primary goal for their vision was to engage the audience’s emotional investment in both the Batman and Bruce Wayne identities of the lead character.

The film, which was principally shot in the United Kingdom, Iceland and Chicago, relied heavily on traditional stunts and miniature effects, with computer-generated imagery being used in a minimal capacity compared to other action films.

Comic book storylines such as The Man Who Falls, Batman: Year One, and Batman: The Long Halloween served as inspiration.

Expectations for Batman Begins ranged from moderate to low, which originated from the poor reception of Batman & Robin that was credited with stalling the Batman film series in 1997.

After premiering in Tokyo on May 31, 2005, the film was released on June 15, 2005. It received highly positive reviews from critics, who deemed the film an improvement over the Schumacher films. The film grossed over $371.

9 million worldwide, becoming the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2005 and was the second highest grossing Batman film at the time behind Tim Burton’s Batman (1989).

Receiving a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, the film elevated Bale to leading man status while it made Nolan a high-profile director.

Since its release, Batman Begins has often been cited as one of the most influential films of the 2000s. It was credited for revitalizing the Batman character in popular culture, shifting its tone towards a darker and more serious tone and style.

The film helped popularise the term reboot in Hollywood, inspiring studios and filmmakers to revive franchises with realistic and serious tones.

It was followed by The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012), with the three films constituting The Dark Knight Trilogy.

At the opera with his parents, Bruce becomes unsettled by performers masquerading as bats and asks to leave.

Outside, mugger Joe Chill murders Bruce’s parents in front of him. Bruce is raised by the family butler, Alfred Pennyworth. Fourteen years later, Chill testifies against the mafia crime boss, Carmine Falcone, and is paroled.

Bruce intends to murder Chill to avenge his parents, but one of Falcone’s hitmen does so first. Bruce’s childhood friend, Rachel Dawes, berates him for acting outside the justice system.

After confronting Falcone, who says real power comes from being feared, Bruce spends the next seven years traveling the world, training in combat, and immersing himself in the criminal underworld.

In a Bhutan prison, he is approached by Henri Ducard, who recruits him to the League of Shadows, led by Ra’s al Ghul. The League believes Gotham is beyond saving and intends to destroy it.

After completing his training, Bruce rejects the League and its mandate that killing is necessary. He escapes, burning down their temple in the process. Ra’s is killed by falling debris, while Bruce saves the unconscious Ducard.

Intent on fighting crime, Bruce returns to Gotham and takes an interest in his family’s company, Wayne Enterprises, which is being taken public by businessman William Earle.

Company archivist Lucius Fox, a friend of Bruce’s father, allows him access to prototype defense technologies, including a protective bodysuit and the Tumbler, an armored vehicle.

Bruce poses publicly as a shallow playboy while setting up a base in the caves beneath Wayne Manor and taking up the vigilante identity of “Batman,” inspired by his childhood fear, which he has now conquered.

Intercepting a drug shipment, Batman provides Rachel, now a Gotham Assistant District Attorney, with evidence against Falcone and enlists Sergeant James Gordon, one of Gotham’s few honest police officers, to arrest him. In prison, Falcone meets Dr.

Jonathan Crane, a corrupt psychologist who smuggled drugs into Gotham with his help. Donning a scarecrow mask, Crane sprays Falcone with a fear-inducing hallucinogen, driving him insane and transferring him to Arkham Asylum.

While investigating Crane, Batman is ambushed by him and sprayed with the hallucinogen. Batman barely escapes and is saved by Alfred and Fox, who develop an antidote for the hallucinogen.

When Rachel accuses Crane of corruption, he reveals he has introduced his drug into Gotham’s water supply and drugs her with the hallucinogen. Batman later subdues Crane and sprays him with his own chemical.

While being interrogated, Crane claims to work for Ra’s al Ghul. Batman evades the police to get Rachel to safety and administers the antidote. He gives her two vials: one for Gordon and the other for mass production.

At Bruce’s birthday party, Ducard reappears and reveals himself to be the true Ra’s al Ghul.

Having stolen a powerful microwave emitter from Wayne Enterprises, he plans to vaporize Gotham’s water supply, rendering Crane’s drug airborne and causing mass hysteria that will destroy the city.

He sets Wayne Manor aflame and leaves Bruce to die, but Alfred rescues him. Ra’s loads the emitter onto Gotham’s monorail train to release the drug at the city’s central water source.

Batman rescues Rachel from a drugged mob and reveals his identity to her. He confronts Ra’s on the train as Gordon uses the Tumbler’s cannons to destroy a section of the track. Batman escapes the train and leaves Ra’s to die as it crashes.

Bruce gains Rachel’s respect. However, she refuses to be with him, promising they can be together when Gotham no longer needs Batman. Batman becomes a public hero.

After purchasing a controlling stake in Wayne Enterprises, Bruce fires Earle and replaces him with Fox. Sergeant Gordon is promoted to Lieutenant, shows Batman the Bat-Signal, and tells him about a criminal who leaves behind Joker playing cards.

Batman promises to look into it and disappears into the night.