Batman has been all about darkness, Nolan just makes it a shade darker. Go see it.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 8, 2019

Nolan takes an admirable stab at developing a character-driven drama, only to give in to generic action-movie conventions with a blinding, deafening, explosion-laden finale that could have capped off any number of interchangeable Jerry Bruckheimer flicks.

| Apr 14, 2013

Batman Begins summons up moments of great eloquence and power. If only its cast of characters was as fully inhabited as its turbulent city.

Full Review | Apr 14, 2013

Every so often, it's time to re-boot Batman.

| Original Score: B+ | Feb 18, 2012

It's not just the birth of Batman we're seeing in this triumphant interpretation, it's also the dawning of Gotham City's age of greed.

Full Review | Original Score: A | Sep 7, 2011

The psychological realism and the science-fiction villainy don't always mesh seamlessly. But unlike so many superheroic summer spectacles, this one actually has a soul behind the special effects.

| Jul 7, 2010

Here's how any great franchise should start: with care, precision and delicately wrought atmosphere.

| Feb 3, 2007

A nonstarter.

Full Review | May 12, 2006

I guess, seeing as Nolan's superhero epic is probably the best ever put to film (and that includes Superman II, Spider-Man 2, Batman and X2), I shouldn't have been worried.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Dec 9, 2005

A rousing, reverent, often brilliant re-creation of a seminal comics character.

Full Review | Sep 26, 2005

Without the biff! bang! pow! of pop signifiers, this intelligent, well-made film is too heavy to transport us anywhere but down the dark hole of its good intentions.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 7, 2005

A welcome new beginning.

Full Review | Jul 5, 2005

If Warner Brothers hoped that Nolan would reanimate the corpse of what should have been their most lucrative franchise, it has got its wish

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jul 5, 2005

There's so much going on, and so much to take in, that it leaves you winded. But that's origin stories for you. No one ever said setting up a savior would be simple.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jun 25, 2005

Nolan tackles Batman Begins with the wonderfully naive notion that he could give Batman a blank slate, which is probably why he succeeds.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jun 18, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 17, 2005

If you love Batman, then Batman Begins will the best Batman movie ever made. On the other hand, if you love Batman movies, Batman Begins may leave you wondering where the Joker went.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 17, 2005

For all the hype about exploring Batman's damaged psyche, Nolan and Goyer haven't added much beyond a corny opening in which he falls down a well and is attacked by bats.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 17, 2005

Batman Begins is for morons.

Full Review | Jun 16, 2005

The muscular grit of the action sequences is leavened with nicely judged sarky banter.

| Jun 16, 2005