PREMIERE.COM'S REVIEW (posted 6/17/05)

Brooding its winged way into the post-millennium, Warner Bros.' long-awaited reintroduction to the Batman franchise will undoubtedly claim high praise for being the best of the lot; what won't be said is that it would take more effort for it to not obliterate any or all of the neon-stained damage wrought by Joel Schumacher's dynamic duds, and time has already eroded Tim Burton's goth-kid expressionism into the insincere cartoons his were. Lowered expectations or not, it's a wonderful feeling to be past the Age of Bat Nipples, and Memento director Christopher Nolan and cowriter David Goyer are correct to opt for an angsty, character-driven approach to the Caped Crusader — though they blatantly cheat by amending bits of Frank Miller's Batman: Year One and decades' worth of DC Comics backstory to lend a tangible psychological depth (read: a neatly wrapped strife-maker leading to vigilantism) to their portrait of an angry young Batman.

Batman Begins is meatier than usual, and the always engrossing Christian Bale fits snugly into Bats' utility belt and secret identity, but the first hour-plus is an overly naturalistic slog. When we again meet orphaned billionaire Bruce Wayne (Bale), he's a lost soul exploring evil itself as the resident bully of a filthy Chinese prison. Written off by the family empire back in Gotham, Bruce finds salvation and physical training under the guidance of ninja guru Ducard (Liam Neeson, subverting one of his own as a fascist Qui-Gon) and underused overlord Ra's al Ghul (Ken Watanabe). Origin stories should build gradually, but this pseudo-prequel labors through dour instead of dark, lacing its pithy dialogue with grave thoughts that front as intellectual empowerment. Why is Ducard lecturing Bruce on confronting his guilt when they're in the middle of a sword fight? Lighten up, dude, this ain't Bergman Begins!

Bruce eventually arrives home with his cowl-ready head screwed on tight, and once the anticipated crew of beloved personages is reestablished (Michael Caine's Alfred the butler, Gary Oldman's not-yet-a-commissioner Gordon, Katie Holmes' newly invented love interest), the first incarnation of the Batmobile is ready to tear it up, surround-sound style. Nolan's an effective craftsman, his action sequences slick and solid, and he serviceably juggles a self-made clutter of corporate scumbaggery, market-friendly romance, multiple villains, and multiplying subplots (including a bit about poisoning water supplies that comes ripped from the pages of the Joker classic, The Killing Joke). Not bad for summer jollies, au contraire, but — "Holy Raised Bar, Batman!" — let's pray that the next installment measures up to the sequel summits of Spider-Man 2 and X2.—Aaron Hillis