The movie that brought the Bat-man back from the dead.
For the geek community it was like a loved one was killed in a horrific accident.
Many were interested in taking a new crack at the character.
However, that also meant that Warner Bros. was unsure in what direction to take the series.
Ultimately, the studio wisely kept looking until they found a young filmmaker named Christopher Nolan.
The British-American director was known in Hollywood for intense small crime thrillers like MEMENTO and INSOMNIA.
He was hardly a name on the lists for big budget spectacles.
Nolan asked a very simple question for what would come to define his Batman movie.
Why would a grown man dress up like a bat?
Nolan took a wholly opposite approach.
Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) is a broken man.
Ducard claims to represent the mysterious Ras Al Ghul and his cultish League of Shadows.
He proposes to help train Bruces anger and fear into a focused energy that will give him direction.
He willl slowly enlist the likes of the rare good cop Sgt.
The corrupt and decaying civilization of this all-American metropolis will find its beacon of hope in a man.
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The concept of Batman is a ridiculous one.
Hes a grown man who wears a cape, fights crime as a vigilante and always wins.
There is nothing realistic about the character.
The director achieves that in part by casting Bale in the central role.
Bale spearheads a star-studded ensemble cast.
Instead, Bale takes the novel approach of making Batman human.
In Nolans world, Batman isnt so much a character as an idea.
He is a construct that Bruce Wayne creates to galvanize the people of Gotham to improve their rotten lives.
His goal isnt an eternal war on evil, but a targeted campaign against corruption and crime.
Most of Batmans toys were created by Fox for military utility.
The only thing Bruce adds are black paint jobs.
Only together can they wage war on the mob and clean up the police force.
In this Gotham, it takes a village to make a Batman.
And that all feeds into the underlying draw of this Gotham.
Events and characters have repercussions, because this time the city isnt a fantasy island.
In the previous four Batman pictures, Gotham always went through a subtle or massive reworking.
The only major consistency for the urban environment is it was always created on back lots and sound stages.
In Nolans iteration, Gotham is the scariest thing of all…an American city.
Shot primarily in Chicago, Batman inhabits a living and breathing urban jungle.
The film still pulls from Batmans pulpy roots for its backdrop to a point.
The initial threat is super-sized organized crime, reminiscent of 1930s gangland.
However, Wilkinsons deliciously broad mobster is soon suppressed by what the filmmakers know really scares us today.
The villains are more than just criminals or the madmen of the comics.
Scarecrow isnt a demented gangster like Jack Nicholsons Joker.
No, these are terrorists.
you could find that just as easily in a newspaper as a comic book these days.
What is Scarecrows master plan?
In a post-9/11 world, that isnt exactly a subtle metaphor.
This Batman would not kill, was not created by his villains and he was a worldly super-ninja detective.
It gave depth to Bruces problems while also telling a rip-roaring adventure.
It took the franchise and genr to new heights.
And it did come in black.
