Batman Begins

Christopher Nolan, 2005 (8.9*)
This Batman film is a prequel chronologically to the original series, and stars Christian Bale (American Psycho, Empire of the Sun) as Bruce Wayne. In the original Batman, he was already a flying mammal, so this film attempts to show the roots of his obsession with both bats and crime fighting, and includes a trek to the Himilayas.

Liam Neeson has a small but meaty part as a martial arts trainer, Morgan Freeman assists with technical weapons expertise, and Michael Caine plays the butler, valet, confidante, and manager of the bat cave. Katie Holmes is here, one supposes for eye candy. Terrific director Nolan (Following, Memento) shows that he can work magic with a big budget and terrific cast, and a good script. This may be the best of the entire Batman series.