4. Batman Begins

Christopher Nolan, 2005.
US

The ultimate post-September 11th piece of mainstream cinema, Batman Begins eschews the neon-nineties Schumacher-Batman flicks for a film grounded in fear. The over the top enemies of the earlier films are no longer part and parcel of the Batman franchise, instead we see terror reign, in a world where the imagination is the one true enemy.

It’s easy to forget just how well made a film like Batman Begins is, especially when viewed in the light of its overt commercial success. Alas Batman Begins has a genuinely effective emotional crux point at its core. In fact, the section of the film in which Bruce Wayne’s parents are murdered is handled incredibly, with a pitch perfect pace and incredibly effective subdued tone.

While they may lack the spectacle of the manner in which the self-produced expansive/inclusive Marvel pictures, or indeed can they lay claim to being the initial rejuvenating force within the comic-book led Hollywood assault, the Christopher Nolan directed Bat-flicks contain a level of accomplishment thus far untapped by any other film producer. That’s not to say that there aren’t any other ‘great’ comic book based pictures, I hold the second X-Men film in very high regard, and genuinely adore the Spider-man films, but even they haven’t reached the sort of legitimacy that Batman Begins and The Dark Knight have. The disjointed narrative structure of Batman Begins is what sets it higher than its successor for me.

To say that Batman Begins was a creative success would be a huge understatement, but not only did it do the seemingly impossible and kick start the Batman franchise, but it changed the focus of the way in which Hollywood operates. And while it’s influence may not be entirely welcome, for Hollywood became obsessed with the films concept and born a culture of reimagining, rebooting and remaking in it’s wake, but I would argue that Batman Begins is a good enough film to make up for the deluge of unoriginality that followed in it’s footsteps.