Arguably the best Batman film since Tim Burton's original, this is the story of Bruce Wayne's metamorphosis from boy to Batman. On a journey through Wayne's past - from his guilt-ridden memory of his parents murder, his first fearsome experience with bats to mentorship by ninjas in the snow capped mountains in the far east, Wayne's motivations for becoming the Dark Knight of dystopian Gotham City are revealed in a series of flashbacks. After Wayne returns from his voyage, he takes full advantage of the fortune left by his parents - including access to the technological super-gadgets of Bruce Wayne Enterprises. Batman as we know him then emerges as he declares a vengeful war on the scum of Gotham City.
A new villain threatens to poison the city with a psychedelic psychosis-inducing drug and leads to some of the most terrifying scenes of the film. The dark and soulful Christian Bale (Equilibrium, American Psycho) portrays the Dark Knight as conflicted but determined, and is a more convincing Batman than perhaps all of his predecessors. Also starring Michael Cane as the family butler, Katie Holmes as the romantic interest, Gary Oldman as a good cop, Morgan Freeman as Batman's hook up for the super-gadgets and Liam Neeson, who plays Wayne's tutor in the oriental temples.