Batman Begins

As "The Dark Knight" prepares to swing into theaters, the 2005 cinematic makeover gets a re-release to remind us just how "Batman Begins." Christopher Nolan's moody take on the character was inspired by the violent tales of the early comic books, the brooding comic book rebirth of the '70s, and Frank Miller's gritty revision of Batman's early days with young Lt. Jim Gordon. The intense Christian Bale is an inspired choice for the part, and he and Nolan get the character right: It's Batman who is the real persona, and millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne the secret identity, not a reprieve from crime-fighting but a carefully built and cultivated identity created to distract from his real work. It's a film more concerned with mood and subtext than action set pieces, and Nolan turns to a complicated flashback structure (not exactly a surprise from the director of "Memento") to create his driven, psychologically dark, somewhat psychotic hero. Gary Oldman is the one honest cop, Lt. Gordon; Michael Caine the faithful butler, Alfred; Liam Neeson the teacher and father figure to the orphaned seeker Bruce Wayne; Cillian Murphy the demented Scarecrow; and Morgan Freeman the Wayne Industries inventor who creates Batman's marvelous crime-fighting toys. Katie Holmes is the weak link here, rather unconvincing as the spunky assistant DA and love interest both in and out of costume.

Both the standard DVD and the Blu-ray releases will feature the first six minutes of the upcoming "The Dark Knight," and a "Gift Set" promises to also include stills, script pages, story boards and an accompanying 32-page booklet, but screening copies were not made available for review so I have neither seen nor verified the disc quality or its supplements.