Batman Begins (2005)

When fate prevents him from avenging the deaths of his industrialist parents, young Bruce Wayne flees to Asia. When he returns, he finds that evil has taken over Gotham City. He also finds a cave under Wayne Manor, and becomes ... Batman.

Directed by Christopher Nolan, Written by David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan, and Starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, Ken Watanabe, Katie Holmes, and Rutger Hauer.

Batman Begins is the darkest Batman movie so far, but this is a good thing. Needing to re-invent the franchise or watch it fade away, Warner Brothers and Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer went back to where it all began to re-make it in their image. Interestingly enough, this is not the first time the Batman has been re-imagined. Each new generation has created a new Batman to better reflect their societal values as a sign of their times. In the 60's you had Adam West's campy kitschy Batman, in the 90's you had Joel Schumacher's Batman and Robin with rubber nipples, and now Batman has returned to his roots, literally as well as figuratively.

Hopefully Nolan and Goyer have done it and this will re-start the Batman series back up. Judging from its box office rankings and DVD sales, we should see Batman 6 in the future; I for one can't wait. Rumours abound that this was to become part one of a three-part movie deal assuming it was successful.