Batman Begins might have rescued the franchise from ignominy, but much of Christopher Nolan's DC debut suffers from pacing issues. The production design and grounded realism may elevate things, but this film has its flaws.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Aug 29, 2024

Batman Begins swoops you up and doesn't let go till the end.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 22, 2024

This is the moment Nolan began to establish his blockbuster tendencies: dynamic camera movement, rich cinematography, and heavy use of a majestic background score.

| Oct 17, 2023

Nolan’s first take on Batman redefined the character for a 2000s audience and gave superhero films the license to play it straight in a way that they hadn’t really before, sans the melodramatic heights of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films.

| Jul 20, 2023

The technical aspects are deft, especially the sound and cinematography... But what really works is how Gotham exists in a world apart from out own.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 8, 2023

Batman Begins is important and delectable... a fun and entertaining movie. [Full review in Spanish]

| Mar 29, 2023

Batman Begins tansforms the superhero genre and transcends its limitations with a film that is a moving, emotionally involving, and exciting experience.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Mar 21, 2022

Played straight and with edge, Nolan's reboot put humanity into characters, often bypassing computer-generated effects for a more intense sense of reality.

| Nov 30, 2021

Nolan and Batman Begins [are] the progenitors of the gritty, realistic cinematic superhero movement...

| Apr 15, 2021

Admirable in its emphasis on character over gadgetry, and is ambitious for a summer blockbuster, but for me, unfortunately it never quite takes flight.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 31, 2021

All in all, it definitely changes the course - for the better - of this formerly failing franchise.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Sep 25, 2020

Batman is shackled by one of the most potent recurring themes in Nolan's work: a fear of the past, in all its pain, guilt and trauma - a fear that the forward march of time may not be enough to heal.

| Aug 28, 2020

Batman Begins is an utterly conventional, conformist work, respectful of order and wealth, unable or unwilling to challenge any of contemporary society's taboos. Worse than that, its grim pomposity and self-seriousness invite only laughter.

| Jul 9, 2020

Batman Begins is certainly a worthy staging post in the inescapably compelling career of Christopher Nolan, and stands the test of time some 15 years after its release.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 9, 2020

Batman Begins is easily one of the best films featuring the iconic DC Comics superhero, but far from perfect, despite telling what may just end up being the definitive big screen origin story for the Dark Knight.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 15, 2020

Bale provides the series with the best Batman thus far, with a dark and conflicted performance that easily matches Nolan's tone.

| Original Score: B | Nov 19, 2019

With a phenomenal cast, technical work that is beyond reproach and attention to detail that is generally only seen in works by Spielberg or Lucas, Batman Begins is a perfect way to begin the summer movie season.

| Nov 6, 2019

Christopher Nolan doesn't just reinvent the franchise for the big screen but Batman Begins takes the franchise back to its roots.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Sep 22, 2019

The film looks great and there some striking set-pieces, but in spite of a series of comic quips -- the new film lacks a sense of adventure and fun. Nevertheless, Nolan, Goyer and Bale have still managed to revitalize the ailing franchise.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 24, 2019

I like that it embraces comic book sensibilities a little bit more than other Nolan films. Definitely a bit too long but a good origin story

| Original Score: B+ | Apr 15, 2019