Batman Begins (2005) * * * 1/2

Directed by:  Christopher Nolan

Starring:  Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Ken Watanabe, Katie Holmes, Morgan Freeman, Tom Wilkinson, Cillian Murphy

This is the first of the Christopher Nolan-directed Batman trilogy which provides not only action, but meanings behind it.     Batman Begins begins darkly, but ends hopefully, unaware of men like The Joker and Bane lying ahead.      In each instance, Batman is facing an enemy looking to destroy Gotham.     This town never gets a break.

Batman Begins traces the origins of the Dark Knight to the murder of his parents by a thief.     Bruce Wayne, only 6 at the time, was raised by loyal family butler Alfred Pennyworth (Caine).    However, he thirsts for vengeance, which is denied him when the thief is murdered by a hitman for Gotham crime lord Carmine Falcone (Wilkinson).       As the film opens, Bruce is being held prisoner in a country that could pass for Mongolia or China.     He is serving time in jail to explore the criminal mind and is soon rescued and trained by Henri Ducard (Neeson) for initiation into the League Of Shadows.      The League Of Shadows, led by the evil Ra's Al-Ghul (Watanabe), is covertly responsible for the destruction of whole civilizations.      Their next target is Gotham, which forces Bruce to become their enemy.   

Bruce returns home after a seven-year absence determined to save Gotham from its own demise.    He creates the Batcave and procures a suit and prototype Batmobile from Lucius Fox (Freeman), a vice-President within Wayne Enterprises, his family's company.     Fox agrees to lend Bruce the prototypes of all different gadgets and suits with one condition:  "Don't treat me like I'm an idiot."    Wayne begins to prowl the night in search of criminals, changing the look of his disguise and even his voice inflection to sound more menacing.     This Batman is not out merely to be a comic book hero, but to scare the hell out of his enemies.   

Falcone is not the only enemy Batman must contend with.    He also must contend with Dr. Jonathan Crane (aka Scarecrow), a snobby psychologist who is part of a plan to pollute Gotham's water with hallucinogens.     A larger, more sinister force is not seen until about 3/4ths of the way into the movie.    Batman's allies are Lt. Gordon (Oldman), an honest cop, and Rachel Dawes (Holmes), Wayne's childhood friend who works in the DA's office.    Alfred is always by Bruce's side, nursing his wounds and offering sage advice on his new nighttime gig.

Batman Begins is not cartoonish.     It treats him with the gravitas he deserves.     The other actors who played Batman previously were basically guys dressed in the batsuit doling out occasional one-liners and showing off their proudly protruding chins.     Christian Bale is a lean, smart Bruce Wayne and a Batman who understands the line between hero and villain can sometimes be crossed.      He wants to destroy outlaws while understanding he may become one in the eyes of the public he is trying to save.     At what point does a vigilante become what he tries to destroy?

Because Batman Begins and its sequels have minds and pose such questions to the audience, the movies were realistic and gritty, without overuse of CGI.     Batman Begins has its share of satisfying action, but it approaches the character with depth, which makes it all the more worthwhile.