Genius of mystery and intrigue Christopher Nolan (MEMENTO, FOLLOWING, INSOMNIA) helms this prequel to the Batman films based on the DC Comics series, explaining how Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale)--the billionaire prince of Gotham whose parents were killed in an alleyway mugging--transformed into the crime-fighting superhero. With flashbacks to his privileged childhood, young Master Wayne, as he is called by the butler Alfred (Michael Caine), develops a terrible fear of bats when he falls through the backyard garden into a hidden cave. As a young adult, Wayne lives among the League of Shadows, a martial arts group in the mountains of Asia. His leaders Ra's al Ghul (Ken Watanabe) and Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson) teach him strength, endurance, and--unfortunately--evil, against which he naturally rebels. Returning to Gotham and reinstating himself as a dapper socialite and the rightful heir to his parents' enterprise, Wayne quickly devises his secret identity, commanding help from the gadgetry expert Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman). With one eye on his childhood playmate Rachel (Katie Holmes)--now a beautiful woman and dedicated lawyer--and the other on his mission to save Gotham from criminal corruption, Batman makes his fledgling debut. But when the blue-blooded mastermind Dr. Crane (Cillian Murphy)--who steals every scene with chilling menace--taints the water system with a hallucinatory substance, Batman realizes he has met his first true opponent. An attitude of grave seriousness elevates BATMAN BEGINS above more cartoony Batman movies, as Nolan crafts a dark drama that thrives on sci-fi intrigue. Bale strides into the role with grace, adding refinement that is seldom seen in action-oriented films. And while the action scenes explode with high-tech glitz and fast-moving thrills, they are evenly placed among sequences of plot and character development, making for a complex and satisfying viewing experience.

Theatrical Release: June 15, 2005

Christian Bale: Welsh actor
Katie Holmes: American actress, THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, DAWSON'S CREEK
Cillian Murphy: Actor, ON THE EDGE (2001)
Morgan Freeman: American Actor
Ken Watanabe: Actor, THE LAST SAMURAI (2003)
Gary Oldman: British Actor, SID AND NANCY/TRUE ROMANCE
Liam Neeson: Irish actor, EXCALIBUR/SCHINDLER'S LIST
Michael Caine: British Actor, ALFIE (1966)
Lucy Russell: Actor, FOLLOWING (2000)
Sara Stewart: Scottish actor, LONDON VOODOO (2004)

Christopher Nolan: Director, MEMENTO (2001)

Emma Thomas: Producer, FOLLOWING (2000)
Charles Roven: Producer
Larry J. Franco: 

David S. Goyer: Writer/director
Christopher Nolan: Director, MEMENTO (2001)

Hans Zimmer: Composer
James Newton Howard: Composer, KING KONG (2005)

Lee Smith: Editor, BATMAN BEGINS (2005)

"[A] triumph -- a confidently original, engrossing interpretation, with a seriously thought-through aesthetic point of view..."
"[T]his tense, effective iteration of Bob Kane's original comic book owes its power and pleasures to a director who takes his material seriously and to a star who shoulders that seriousness with ease."
"Christian Bale makes the best Bruce Wayne/Batman since Warner Bros. revived the franchise in 1989."
"[I]t's the flair of the set pieces that really impresses....The film delivers a pleasingly robust sense of spectacle....It is a welcome new beginning."
"This intimate, brooding resurrection brings the Caped Crusader back to life by sending him back to his roots."
3.5 stars out of 5 -- "Lined with wry humor, the film addresses questions of corporate greed..."
"[B]rooding, carefully crafted, and comparatively low-tech....Mr. Bale brings true gravity and pathos to the task at hand."
Ranked #7 in Uncut's Best Films Of 2005 -- "Nolan's vision of Gotham is a hellhole straight out of Hieronymus Bosch."
Ranked #4 in Rolling Stone's "Top 25 DVDs Of 2005' -- "Gotham looks lived in, not art-directed, and Bale creates a hero of haunted fire."
4 stars out of 5 -- "Nolan's Year One reinvention of the franchise is largely about ambiance and mood....A more sober study in psychology..."