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Batman begins - Christian Bale, Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, Christopher Nolan

Threat advisory: High - High risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

As a boy a young Bruce Wayne watched in horror as his millionaire parents were slain in front of his eyes, a trauma which led him to become obsessed with revenge but his chance is cruelly taken away from him by fate. After disappearing to the East where he seeks counsel with the dangerous but honourable ninja cult leader known as Ra's Al-Ghul, he returns to his now decaying Gotham City overrun by organised crime and dangerous individuals manipulating the system whilst the company he inherited is slowly being pulled out from under him.

The discovery of a cave under his mansion, and a prototype armoured suit leads him to take on a new persona, one which will strike fear into the hearts of men who do wrong - he becomes Batman (Christian Bale). In the new guise, and with the help of rising cop Jim Gordon, Batman sets out to take down the various nefarious schemes in motion by individuals such as Mafia don Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson), the twisted doctor/drug dealer Jonathan "The Scarecrow" Crane (Cillian Murphy), and a mysterious third party that is quite familiar with Wayne and waiting to strike when the time is right.

Theatrical propaganda posters

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film superhero action villain Batman comic Bruce Wayne revenge crime fighter

Persons of interest

Christian Bale .... Bruce Wayne/Batman
Liam Neeson .... Henri Ducard
Michael Caine .... Alfred Pennyworth
Katie Holmes .... Rachel Dodson
Cillian Murphy .... Dr Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow
Gary Oldman .... Lieutenant James Gordon
Ken Watanabe .... Ra's Al Ghul
Tom Wilkinson .... Carmine Falcone
Morgan Freeman .... Lucius Fox
Rutger Hauer .... Mr Earle
Sara Stewart .... Martha Wayne
Dean Alexandrou .... Shadow Warrior
Joey Ansah .... Shadow Warrior
Alexandra Bastedo .... Mrs Delane
Jon Foo .... Shadow Warrior
Siobhan Hewlett .... Jessica
Colin McFarlane .... Commissioner Loeb
Lucy Russell .... Susan
Mark Strange .... Shadow Warrior
Bob Kane .... Creator
David S Goyer .... Screenwriter
Christopher Nolan .... Screenwriter
Christopher Nolan .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

Batman begins official movie site
Batman begins QuickTime movie trailers
Awards and film festivals:

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS - Oscars) 2005: Nominated: Achievement in cinematography (Wally Pfister)
Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films Saturn Awards 2006: Won: Best Actor (Christian Bale), Best Writing (Christopher Nolan, David S Goyer); Nominated: Best Fantasy Film, Best Supporting Actor (Liam Neeson), Best Supporting Actress (Katie Holmes), Best Direction (Christopher Nolan), Best Music (James Newton Howard, Hans Zimmer), Best Costume (Lindy Hemming), Best Special Effects (Janet Sirrs, Dan Glass, Chris Corbould, Paul Franklin)
Australian Effects and Animation Festival (AEAF) 2005: Nominated: Feature Film VFX
British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) 2005: Nominated: Production design (Nathan Crowley), Sound (David G Evans, Stefan Henrix, Peter Lindsay), Achievement in special visual effects (Janek Sirrs, Dan Glass, Chris Corbould)
MTV Movie Awards 2006: Nominated: Best movie, Best villain (Cillian Murphy), Best hero (Christian Bale)
Online Film Critics Society Awards 2005: Nominated: Best musical score (James Newton Howard, Hans Zimmer)
Razzie Awards 2005: Nominated: Worst Supporting Actress (Katie Holmes)
Visual Effects Society Awards 2005: Nominated: Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Motion Picture (Gotham City Monorail Chase - Alex Wuttke, Pete Bebb, Dayne Cowan, Imery Watson)

See also Batman, Batman returns, Batman forever, Batman and Robin, The Dark Knight
Studios and distributors:

Warner Bros * Roadshow Films

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

Batman begins ignores all the other Batman films and goes the mystical new millennium route to salvation. It also turns into an action movie with a dude in a costume rather than a superhero movie with a dude in a costume. The clichés are thicker on the ground than politicians round a swinging voter and it's all a bit much. This is not a Batman film, it's yet another franchise.