Batman Begins is a 2005 superhero film based on the DC Comics character Batman, directed by Christopher Nolan and written by Nolan and David S. Goyer. It stars Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer, Ken Watanabe, and Morgan Freeman. 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.
Plot[]
As a child, Bruce Wayne falls down into a dry well and is attacked by a swarm of bats, subsequently developing a phobia of bats. While watching an opera with his parents, Thomas and Martha, Bruce becomes frightened by performers masquerading as bats and asks to leave. Outside, mugger Joe Chill murders Bruce's parents in front of him. Orphaned, Bruce is raised by the family butler, Alfred Pennyworth, while Chill is imprisoned.
Fourteen years later, Chill is paroled in exchange for testifying against Gotham City mafia boss Carmine Falcone. Bruce intends to murder Chill, but one of Falcone's assassins does so first. Bruce's childhood friend, Assistant District Attorney Rachel Dawes, berates him for attempting to undermine the justice system, saying that his father would be ashamed. Bruce confronts Falcone, who tells him that real power comes from being feared. Bruce decides to travel the world and learn how to confront injustice. While serving a prison sentence for theft in Bhutan, he meets Henri Ducard, who trains him as a member of the League of Shadows, led by Ra's al Ghul. After completing his training and purging his fears, Bruce learns that the League intends to destroy Gotham, believing it to be corrupt, decadent, hypocritical and beyond saving. Bruce rejects the League's cause and burns down their temple during his escape. Ra's is killed by falling debris, while Bruce saves the unconscious Ducard.
Bruce returns to Gotham intent on fighting crime. Inspired by his childhood fear, he takes up the vigilante identity of "Batman" and sets up a base in the caves beneath Wayne Manor. He takes an interest in his family's company, Wayne Enterprises, which is being taken public by the unscrupulous William Earle. Company archivist Lucius Fox, a friend of Bruce's father since deposed by Earle, allows Bruce access to prototype defense technologies, including a protective bodysuit and a heavily armored car, the Tumbler. Bruce publicly poses as a shallow playboy to allay suspicion.
Batman intercepts a drug shipment, provides Rachel with evidence against Falcone, and enlists Sergeant James Gordon, one of the few honest cops left in Gotham, to arrest him. In the prison, Falcone meets Dr. Jonathan Crane, a corrupt psychologist whom he has helped smuggle drugs into Gotham, and threatens to reveal his complicity if he does not declare him mentally unfit for trial. Crane puts on a scarecrow mask and sprays Falcone with a fear-inducing hallucinogen that drives him insane (which causes Falcone to constantly mouth the word "Scarecrow"), and has him transferred to Arkham Asylum. While investigating "the Scarecrow", Batman is exposed to the hallucinogen and left incapacitated. He is saved by Alfred and given an antidote developed by Fox. When Rachel accuses Crane of corruption, Crane reveals that he has been pouring his fear-inducing drug into Gotham's water supply. He drugs Rachel with it, but Batman saves her and subdues Crane, who claims to work for Ra's al Ghul. Batman evades the police to get Rachel to safety, administers the antidote, and gives her a vial of it for Gordon and another for mass production. Ducard reappears at Bruce's birthday party 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 microwave emitter onto Gotham's monorail system, intending to release the drug as the train travels toward the city's central water source. Batman rescues Rachel from a drugged mob and indirectly reveals his identity to her. He pursues Ra's onto the monorail and fights him as Gordon uses the Tumbler's cannons to destroy a section of the track. Batman refuses to kill Ra's, but also chooses not to save him, gliding from the train and leaving Ra's aboard as it crashes and explodes, killing him.
Bruce gains Rachel's respect but loses her love, as she decides she cannot be with him while he is Batman. Bruce reveals he has secretly purchased a controlling stake in Wayne Enterprises, fires Earle, and replaces him with Fox. Gordon is promoted to Lieutenant of the Gotham City Police Department, shows Batman the Bat-Signal, and mentions a criminal who leaves Joker playing cards at crime scenes.[a] Batman promises to investigate, and disappears into the night.
Cast[]
- Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman
- Gus Lewis as Young Bruce Wayne
- Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth
- Liam Neeson as Henri Ducard / Ra's al Ghul
- Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes
- Emma Lockhart as Young Rachel Dawes
- Gary Oldman as James Gordon
- Cillian Murphy as Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow
- Tom Wilkinson as Carmine Falcone
- Rutger Hauer as William Earle
- Ken Watanabe as decoy Ra's al Ghul
- Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox
Sequels[]
Batman Begins was followed by two sequels: The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012).
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- This was first live action Batman film since Batman & Robin (1997)
- Christian Bale's active dislike of his uncomfortable Batman outfit helped his performance as the Dark Knight as he was perpetually in a foul mood when wearing it.
- Heath Ledger was considered for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman during this movie's early development before Ledger and Nolan agreed he was not right for the role. After this, he was cast as The Joker in The Dark Knight (2008), a role that won him an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
- First live-action appearance by The Scarecrow, a villain dating back to Batman's earliest comic stories. While considered for the 1960s television series, he was never used, and was to be the main villain in the fifth Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher movie that was shelved.
- Tim Burton and Michael Keaton, from Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992), have said they were impressed by this movie.
- Sir Michael Caine signed on to play Alfred for the chance to work with the "clever" writer and director Christopher Nolan. He has now appeared in every Nolan movie since.
- This movie's marketing costs, $100 million, were, at the time, the most ever spent on one movie.
- Unlike most characters in the movie, Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes) doesn't exist in any DC Comics' series. She was created by Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer. The role was written expressly for Katie Holmes, with Claire Danes and Reese Witherspoon as back-up considerations.
- Marilyn Manson, Christopher Eccleston, Ewan McGregor, and Jeremy Davies were considered for the role of Dr. Jonathan Crane a.k.a. The Scarecrow.
- Ashton Kutcher was in heavy considerations for the role of Bruce Wayne and was reportedly the studio executives' choice for the same. Writer and director Christopher Nolan however, was not enthusiastic about the idea of casting Kutcher in the role, which prompted Warner Brothers studio heads to drop the idea. Kutcher's casting would have lead to a controversy similar to the one that sparked the Batman (1989) movie when Michael Keaton, a comic actor, was cast as Batman.
- In the previous Batman movies, the Oscar winners played the villains. In this one, the Oscar winners are on the heroes' side: Sir Michael Caine as Alfred, Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, and Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman.
- Christian Bale was the first actor to meet with writer and director Christopher Nolan about playing Batman.
- Christian Bale said that his main motivation about this movie was coming from his disappointments about previous Batman movies.
- Bruce Wayne does not appear in full Batman costume until just over an hour into the movie.
- (at around 1h 21 mins) This is the only Batman movie (live-action and animated) to celebrate Bruce Wayne's birthday. He turns thirty. You can see a big "30" in the background when Rachel comes by to give him his present.
- Sir Anthony Hopkins was offered the role of Alfred, but declined.
- Although Henry Cavill auditioned for the role of Batman, he later played Clark Kent a.k.a. Superman in Man of Steel (2013), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), and Justice League (2017).
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| Batman (1943), Batman and Robin (1949), Batman (1966), Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992), Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993), Batman Forever (1995), Batman & Robin (1997), Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), Suicide Squad (2016), The Lego Batman Movie (2017), Justice League (2017), Joker (2019), Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021), The Batman (2022), The Flash (2023), Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023), Joker: Folie à Deux (2024), The Batman: Part II (2025) The Brave and the Bold |