Batman Begins (2005)

It's been quite some time since I've seen this one.  Tyler (that's New Boyfriend, if you're not keeping track) had never seen it at all.  You know I had to fix that.  We're eventually going to watch the whole Nolan trilogy, and I'm debating whether or not to subject him to Bats vs Supes.  I know it's cruel, but I think it might be the only way to really underscore just how good Nolan is.  Originally posted 16 Jul 2012.    I can't believe I haven't done a post for Batman Begins.  The Dark Knight Rises is opening this weekend and Rob, Christy, and I will be seeing it, even though it will probably be sold out everywhere.  On a side note, posts for next weekend might be a little light because Rob and I are driving down to Alabama to visit my parents.  I will try to get some stuff up here for you guys but bear with me.

Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) is orphaned at a tender age and grows up filled with misplaced anger at the jittery addict who killed his parents.  Home from college, he attends the parole hearing for the jittery addict with the express intent of murdering him.  But, an enforcer for mob boss Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson) beats Bruce to the punch.  So he does the only logical thing and confronts the mob boss who basically tells him to get bent because he's a spoiled rich kid who'd have to go a thousand miles to find someone who didn't know his name.  Which isn't true, because he really could have just gone to a different state.  Outside of Gotham City, nobody would know who the hell he was.  But, because he's the literal type, he spends the next decade or so wandering through the Asian underworld until he gets thrown in a Tibetan prison.  Ducard (Liam Neeson) offers Bruce a chance to make a real difference by joining the League of Shadows and trains him on how to be a ninja.  Bruce balks at the idea of becoming an executioner, however, and burns the hideout to the ground, narrowly rescuing Ducard in the process.  Then he calls Alfred (Michael Caine), his loyal butler, to come pick him up and that he's reinventing himself as Batman.  Alfred tells him he's been legally declared dead so the Board of Directors could take his company public.  Bruce noses around a bit and comes across the Applied Research department run by Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman).  This is where he gets all of his nifty toys.  And he's going to need them because Falcone is working with Arkham Asylum psychiatrist Dr. Crane (Cillian Murphy) to ship in concentrated fear toxin and put it in the water mains.  Batman picks the one honest cop left, Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), and gets him behind the idea of bringing down all the bad guys.

I hadn't seen this one in a while and I had forgotten just how good it really is.  It totally makes me excited about the third one and I desperately hope the three of us can get in since there's only one theater in my hometown and I have no idea if they even sell advanced tickets.