THE devilishly handsome Christian Bale embraces the role of the Caped Crusader in one of the darkest, slickest blockbusters of the summer so far.
Batman Begins explains the origins of Gotham's dark knight with enticing flashbacks of Bruce Wayne's younger years through to his evolution into Batman.
Bale is arguably the best Batman to date, giving an impressive insight into the darker side of humanity as he struggles to channel his anger towards the cold-blooded killer of his parents.
This is a slow burner of a film, taking considerable time before Bruce has donned his cape and is swooping through the Gotham skies tackling underworld criminals.
The plot is also quite complex as it attempts to tie in Bruce Wayne's past with his emergence as a force for the good of Gotham.
Dark and sometimes quite frightening, Batman Begins is only lightened by the dry-one liners from Michael Caine, as Alfred the Butler, Gary Oldman and the ever-wonderful Morgan Freeman.
Katie Holmes, who plays Batman's childhood sweetheart, is disappointing, deviating very little from her role as the sappy teenager in Dawson's Creek.
However, Batman Begins is slick and thrilling, successfully shrugging off its camp image, demonstrating there is still life in the dark knight yet!
EB
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