Batman Begins: the 20th Anniversary

The Blind Eternities forum

Posted on March 16, 2025, 3:24 p.m. by DemonDragonJ

This year is the 20th anniversary of Batman Begins, the first film of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy and the first new Batman film in eight years, following the disastrous reception of Joel Schumacher's Batman and Robin in 1997. Batman Begins intentionally had a much darker and more serious tone than did Batman and Robin, which many critics ridiculed for its campy and humorous tone, a choice that most audiences greatly appreciated, as this new film felt as if its story could plausibly occur in actuality, rather than the clearly fantastic films of the Burton/Schumacher series.

Christian Bale gave a very convincing performance as a Bruce Wayne who was tormented by psychological trauma from his past, but did not allow that trauma to completely define who he was, or wallow in self-pity, and the villains of the movie were threatening in a realistic manner, without being too campy or over-the-top in their portrayal. Wayne's journey from the death of his parents to his adoption of his superhero persona was a major element of the story of the movie, elements that previous movies had explored only briefly, so it was very nice to have a movie give greater depth and development to those aspects of his character. Another major change was that this depiction of Batman was very utilitarian and practical, eschewing theatrics and having an almost military aspect to his gadgets and vehicles, which was again a major departure from previous incarnations.

The film ended on a fairly conclusive note, but left room for a sequel, which, naturally, was one of the best superhero films ever made, helping to demonstrate Christopher Nolan's talent as a filmmaker and bringing a new portrayal of Batman to audiences. I, myself, can hardly believe that a full two decades since this movie was released, as I recall being excited to see it in my senior year of high school, shortly before I graduated, and I do hope that either DC or the people involved in the making of the film do something to commemorate it.

What does everyone else say, about this? How do you feel about this year being the 20th anniversary of Batman Begins?

Icbrgr says... #2

Holy crap cant believe its been 20 years. I loved these movies, they are not exactly perfect or immune to criticism i.e. "The Batman voice."

March 17, 2025 11:16 a.m.