Batman Begins as the title suggest is the film that started the Nolan Batman franchise. About this, I had never had any doubts. It's a good origin story where time is taken to explain to us what drives Bruce Wayne to become Batman.
Christian Bale clearly is having fun and fortunately is very glad to be the caped crusader instead of the reluctant one he was in the later parts of the franchise. And thank god he is not using that awful voice. Other things I liked is that Alfred (Michael Caine) and Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) are far more willing to help out Bruce Wayne / Batman in his quest to diminish the criminal element in Gotham and make it better again. I loved the dynamics between Alfred and Bruce. Especially in the scene where Alfred comes to aid Bruce: "You still haven't given up on me? Never!" The same goes for the interactions between Bruce and Lucius. Another thing that is immediately noticeable that there is so much more humour in this original. The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises were far too serious and heavy for their own good and that made a lot of events rather pompous and tedious.
I also think that the villains are a lot better in Batman Begins. At least they were following some kind of plan instead of randomly striking wherever they pleased. They also had a good motivation for what they were trying to achieve and all of their plans and antics were so much easier to follow. The villains while not fully fleshed out were a little more complex than the ones in the later parts. Most of them weren't even purely evil like The Joker was. That makes them far more interesting to watch.
With Batman Begins Christopher Nolan shows that he is capable of telling a conventional story that is full of endearing and touching moments without being too moralistic and pretentious. Which is rather refreshing compared to The Dark Knight in particular. In this one we also get a Batman that is using fear and intimidation to good use. The way he picks off criminals one by one is something I never get tired of seeing (or doing in the Arkham videogames). Batman is incredibly effective this way and therefore quite scary. And that brings me to the action. Batman moves around like a ninja or assassin stalking his prey and waiting for the right moment to strike and then disappear as quickly as he came. Naturally this is very frightening and intimidating to the criminals and is a method that makes sense since Batman is simply a mere human after all. But that does not stop him from taking on multiple enemies at the same time. Then there is the tumbler. Not overused like in Arkham Knight. And is actually one of the coolest things. I didn't really mind it being a tank. I wished I had one of those.
The action is filmed and edited in a way that you actually get to see what is happening and therefore can enjoy it better. I can't stress enough how important it is that directors do this well since it improves the fun factor enormously. Plus it is good to see Batman willing and able to fight crime without doubting himself every step of the way. Maybe for a brief moment he feels like he is failed but is Alfred who then snaps him out of his self pity and motivates him to carry on. This is the Alfred I like and admire. He will be there for Bruce no matter what. He would never ever leave Bruce. The Alfred in The Dark Knight Rises is not the same. He is an imposter who kept moaning and bitching and even leaving him at a time when he needed him the most. Yeah right. Don't even make excuses for him. I know you are going to say that he wanted Bruce to have a normal life bla bla bla. Except Bruce died the day his parents got killed and he is too far gone. I think many people fail to see how traumatic it is to see your parents killed right in front of you. These are the people he loved the most and in an instant they are taken away from him. This all happened when he was very young. That messes you up big time. I do understand that people who care about Bruce want the best for him and do their best to make him have a normal life as much as possible. But they are not being realistic. The Alfred in Batman Begins realizes this.
Anyway, Batman Begins from start to finish is an entertaining and fun ride with many memorable moments that you can watch over and over again. For me, this is without a doubt the best Batman film in the Nolan franchise.
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