"Criminals are a superstitious, cowardly lot. So my disguise must be able to strike terror into their hearts. I must be a creature of the night."

-Bruce Wayne, Detective Comics 33

And so begins the saga. With the success of the Star Wars prequels, it is evident there is a palpable demand amongst fantasy junkies for preludes to their favorite stories. One would not be surprised when plans for "The Hobbit" make their way to Variety headlines.

But Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins is entirely its own entity. With Batman Begins, Nolan has dislodged the Batman saga from the other versions in favor of telling an epic story about the journey from man to bat. His storyline doesn't mesh with Tim Burton or Joel Schumacher's films, and thankfully so. For example, the Joker doesn't kill the elder Waynes; they are killed by a street thug. This fact alone ensures Nolan's version is the closest adaptation of the Batman comic book.

Somewhere between George Clooney and Val Kilmer, audiences forgot how scary the Batman character really is. Nolan is concerned with explaining the enigma that is Batman. Batman Begins traces the steps of a young Bruce Wayne through childhood tragedy to ninja trainee. He trained with the League of Shadows under the tutelage of Ducard (Liam Neeson) and Ra's al Ghul (The Last Samurai's Ken Watanabe).

When the League of Shadows ask Wayne to execute a prisoner, he begins to question the motives of the organization. Wayne lights the facility on fire, saves Ducard's life and escapes back to the billion dollar-estate of Wayne Manor.

Awaiting Wayne are detective Jim Gordon, who comforted him after the death of his parents , and an old fling-Assistant District Attorney Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes playing a character never featured in the comics). The two prove to be Wayne's only allies in pursuing local crime lord Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson) and his crooked psychiatrist Dr. Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy).

Batman reveals his plan to become a creature of the night to Alfred, played with juicy wit by Michael Caine. Christian Bale, in the best Bruce Wayne performance ever, says, "I must be a symbol."

Wayne becomes Batman with materials provided by Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) from the Wayne Enterprises' Applied Sciences division. The Batmobile is initially an oversized space vehicle in the film. The Batsuit, as Fox notes with a smile, was created to shield soldiers from bullets. When Fox admits the government isn't willing to pay for the safety of a soldier, the audience is cued to laugh at the reference to the Iraq war.

The setting is Gotham at its most sinister. Not since Dark City have I seen such a darkly lit and richly designed metropolis such as Nolan's Gotham. Every grain of action revels in the kind of darkness that Batman represents.

The story is as simple as night but actor Christian Bale plays Bruce with a poker-faced grimness. In scenes where Wayne creates his billionaire identity to fool Gotham's citizens, Bale plays a sleaze bag with mischievous zeal, but when alone, Bale brings with him an seriousness that carried previous films like American Psycho.

With an ending that hints at future chapters, it would not be surprising if fans and passive bat watchers alike were to salivate in anticipation for the next.
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