Batman Begins is very cool, actually. Director Christopher Nolan (Memento, Insomnia) and co-writer David S. Goyer (the Blade trilogy, Mission to Mars) have created the best Batman movie to date. The one-liners are witty instead of cheesy. The bad guys have just the right balance between real life and comic book caricatures. The extensive time spent on Bruce’s training and the development of Batman’s fabulous gadgets adds depth to the story. And Christian Bale who is a little off his beaten box-office path - - usually seen in anomalous picks such as The Machinist and American Psycho - - does an excellent job as the dark, tormented caped crusader.

Unable to deal with the pain from his parents’ murders and his own guilt, Bruce (Christian) disappears for seven years before returning to Gotham. Under the tutelage of the mysterious Ducard (Liam), Bruce learns to face his trepidations and commits himself to saving Gotham from its complete submersion into crime, poverty, and all that other bad stuff. Batman is aided in his endeavors by the ever-present and very clever Alfred (Michael); the smooth Mr. Fox (Morgan); the last good cop, Lieutenant Gordon (Gary); and Assistant District Attorney Rachel Dawes (Katie), who is also his childhood sweetheart.

While the movie is still just an action/adventure piece, it goes a bit deeper than the obvious good vs. evil. Batman Begins addresses an issue that has surfaced on the screen before in movies including I Robot and The Abyss: the question of our self-destruction. We have so much, so many blessings in our lives, yet we seem to do everything possible to destroy it and each other. Serving as representations of society’s downfall are mob boss Carmine Falcone (Tom), greedy businessman Mr. Earle (Rutger), and the crazed Dr. Crane (Cillian). As far as the real story… Well, if you know Hitchcock, look for a couple of near McGuffins.