Batman Begins is a 2005 superhero film based on the DC Comics character Batman. Directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with David S. Goyer, the film stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman, with Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Rutger Hauer, Ken Watanabe, and Morgan Freeman in supporting roles. The film reboots the Batman film series, telling the origin story of Bruce Wayne (Bale) from the death of his parents to his journey to become Batman and his fight to stop Ra's al Ghul (Neeson) and the Scarecrow (Murphy) from plunging Gotham City into chaos.
After Batman & Robin (1997) was panned by critics and underperformed at the box office, Warner Bros. Pictures cancelled future Batman films, including Joel Schumacher's planned Batman Unchained. Between 1998 and 2003, several filmmakers collaborated with Warner Bros. in attempting to reboot the franchise. After the studio rejected a Batman origin story reboot Joss Whedon pitched in December 2002, Warner Bros. hired Nolan in January 2003 to direct a new film. Nolan and Goyer began development on the film in early 2003. Aiming for a darker, more realistic tone compared to the previous films, a primary goal for their vision was to engage the audience's emotional investment in both the Batman and Bruce Wayne identities of the lead character. The film, which was principally shot in the United Kingdom, Iceland and Chicago, relied heavily on traditional stunts and miniature effects, with computer-generated imagery being used in a minimal capacity compared to other action films. Comic book storylines such as The Man Who Falls, Batman: Year One, and Batman: The Long Halloween served as inspiration.
Expectations for Batman Begins ranged from moderate to low, which originated from the poor reception of Batman & Robin that was credited with stalling the Batman film series in 1997. After premiering in Tokyo on May 31, 2005, the film was released in the United States on June 15. The film received positive reviews and ended up grossing over $375.6 million worldwide against a $150 million budget, becoming the ninth highest-grossing film of 2005, and was the second highest grossing Batman film at the time of its release, behind Tim Burton's Batman (1989). Receiving a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, the film elevated Bale to leading man status while it made Nolan a high-profile director.
Since its release, Batman Begins has often been cited as one of the most influential films of the 2000s. The film helped popularize the term reboot in Hollywood, inspiring studios and filmmakers to revive franchises with realistic and serious tones. It was followed by the sequels The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012), which rounded out The Dark Knight trilogy.
Plot
In Gotham City, young Bruce Wayne falls down a well and develops a fear of bats. One evening, Bruce visits the opera with his parents; the performers masquerading as bats upset him, and he asks to leave. As the Waynes leave the theater, a mugger named Joe Chill attempts to rob Bruce's parents and shoots them dead. Officer Jim Gordon comforts the orphaned Bruce. The Gotham police capture Chill, who is sent to prison for his crime. Bruce is raised by the family butler, Alfred Pennyworth.
Fourteen years later, Chill testifies against mafia crime boss Carmine Falcone, and is paroled. Bruce intends to murder Chill to avenge his parents, but an assassin in Falcone's employ kills him first. Bruce's childhood friend, Rachel Dawes, confronts him about his desire for vengeance. After confronting Falcone, who says real power comes from being feared, Bruce spends the next seven years traveling the world, training in combat, and immersing himself in the criminal underworld. In a Bhutan prison, Bruce is approached by Henri Ducard, who recruits him into the League of Shadows, led by Ra's al Ghul. Ducard trains Bruce to conquer his fear using a hallucinogenic compound derived from the mountain's blue flowers. After completing his training, Bruce rejects the League's mandate for capital punishment and learns they plan to destroy Gotham, which Ra's believes is corrupt beyond saving. Bruce escapes after burning the League's temple; Ra's is killed by falling debris, while Bruce saves an unconscious Ducard.
Intent on fighting crime and redeeming Gotham, Bruce returns to Gotham, Alfred, and his family's company, Wayne Enterprises, which is being taken public by businessman William Earle. Company archivist Lucius Fox, a friend of Bruce's father, allows him access to prototype defense technologies, including a protective bodysuit and the Tumbler, an armored vehicle. Finding the well from his childhood, Bruce explores further, discovering a vast cave underneath Wayne Manor. Bruce poses publicly as a shallow playboy while taking up the vigilante identity of "Batman", inspired by his childhood fear.
Intercepting a drug shipment, Batman provides Rachel, now an Assistant District Attorney, with evidence against Falcone and enlists Sergeant James Gordon, one of Gotham's few honest police officers, to arrest him. In prison, Falcone meets with Dr. Jonathan Crane, a corrupt psychologist with whom Falcone has been smuggling drugs into Gotham. Falcone threatens to inform the police about a secret compound in the drugs unless Crane's mysterious employer cuts a deal with him. Donning a scarecrow mask, Crane sprays Falcone with a fear-inducing hallucinogen, driving him insane. While investigating Crane, Batman is sprayed with the hallucinogen. He awakens on his birthday, having been saved by Alfred and Fox, who developed an antidote for the toxin.
Rachel confronts Crane, who reveals the drug has been introduced into Gotham's water supply and gives her a potentially lethal dose. Batman captures Crane, who claims to work for Ra's al Ghul. Evading the police in the Tumbler, Batman saves Rachel and administers Fox's antidote. He gives her two antidote vials: one for Gordon, and one for mass production. At Bruce's birthday party, Ducard reveals himself as the true Ra's al Ghul, who employed Crane to weaponize the League's blue flower compound. Having stolen a powerful microwave emitter from Wayne Enterprises, Ra's plans to vaporize Gotham's water supply, rendering Crane's drug airborne and causing mass hysteria that will destroy the city. He burns down Wayne Manor, but Alfred rescues Bruce.
The League of Shadows releases Crane and the other Arkham inmates into the Narrows, a poverty-ridden district of Gotham. Rachel enters the Narrows and finds Gordon, but the police isolate the district. Ra's loads the emitter onto Gotham's monorail to release the drug at the city's central water source under Wayne Tower. Rachel is attacked by Crane but fends him off with a taser.
As the gas strikes the Narrows, Rachel, the inoculated Gordon, and Batman struggle to survive. Batman reveals his identity to Rachel before fighting Ra's on the train. Gordon uses the Tumbler's cannons to destroy the monorail's track and Batman glides from the train as it derails and crashes, killing Ra's.
Rachel now respects Bruce but refuses to be with him, promising they can be together when Gotham no longer needs Batman. Batman becomes a public hero. After purchasing a controlling stake in Wayne Enterprises, Bruce fires Earle and replaces him with Fox. Gordon is promoted to Lieutenant, shows Batman the Bat-Signal, and tells him about a criminal who leaves behind Joker playing cards. Batman glides away into the night to investigate.
Cast Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman:A billionaire socialite who, after witnessing his parents' death in a mugging at age 8, travels around the world seven years before returning home to inherit his family company Wayne Enterprises whilst operating at night as a bat-masked vigilante bringing justice upon the criminal underworld of Gotham City. Bale was relatively unknown when cast. Before he was confirmed on September 11, 2003, having expressed interest in the role since Darren Aronofsky was planning his own film adaptation, Eion Bailey, Henry Cavill, who would later be cast as Superman, Billy Crudup, Hugh Dancy, Jake Gyllenhaal, Joshua Jackson, David Boreanaz, Heath Ledger, who later played the Joker in The Dark Knight, and Cillian Murphy, who would later be cast as Dr. Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow, took interest in it as well. While still attached to the project, Aronofsky revealed in a 2020 interview for Empire magazine that he wanted Joaquin Phoenix for the role, but the studio wanted Freddie Prinze Jr. instead. Josh Hartnett met with Nolan about the role, but decided against pursuing it. Bale, Bailey and Murphy auditioned using the Batman Forever sonar suit donated by Val Kilmer, but the cape was lost, and Amy Adams served as the casting reader for the casting of Bruce Wayne / Batman in a favor to the casting director. Though his friends doubted him stating it was not going to work, Bale was convinced by Nolan's approach and he felt that the previous films underused Batman's character, overplaying the villains instead. To best pose as Batman, Bale studied graphic novels and illustrations of the superhero. Director Nolan said of Bale, "He has exactly the balance of darkness and light that we were looking for." Goyer stated that while some actors could play a great Bruce Wayne or a great Batman, Bale could portray both radically different personalities. Since he had lost a great deal of weight in preparation for his role in The Machinist, Bale hired a personal trainer to help him gain of muscle in the span of only a couple of months to help him physically prepare for the role. After realizing he went over by , he lost the excess weight by the time filming began. Bale trained in Wing Chun Kung Fu under Eric Oram in preparation for the movie. Gus Lewis as Young Bruce Wayne. Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth:A trusted butler to Bruce's parents, who continues his loyal service to their son after their deaths as his closest confidant. Nolan offered the role to Anthony Hopkins but he declined. Nolan went to Caine's country home to personally deliver him the script, telling what his role would be and describing Alfred as "Batman's godfather". Nolan felt Caine would effectively portray the foster father element of the character. Although Alfred is depicted in the film as having served the Wayne family for generations, Caine created his own backstory, in that before becoming the Waynes' butler, Alfred served in the Special Air Service. After being wounded, he was invited to the position of the Wayne family butler by Thomas Wayne because, "He wanted a butler, but someone a bit tougher than that, you know?" Liam Neeson as Henri Ducard / Ra's al Ghul: The leader of the League of Shadows, an ancient society that uses chaos to punish the corrupt and decadent, who goes undercover as an associate of the League and trains Bruce in martial arts, later revealing himself in the film's climax. Writer David Goyer said he felt he was the most complex of all the Batman villains, comparing him to Osama bin Laden; "He's not crazy in the way that all the other Batman villains are. He's not bent on revenge; he's actually trying to heal the world. He's just doing it by very draconian means." Gary Oldman was the first choice for the part, but ended up playing James Gordon instead. Guy Pearce, who collaborated with Christopher Nolan on Memento (2000), reported that the pair had discussions about him playing the role, but both of them decided that he was too young for the part. Viggo Mortensen was also considered for the role. Neeson is commonly cast as a mentor, so the revelation that his character was the main villain was intended to shock viewers.The Journey Begins: Creative Concepts [DVD, 2005]