As a fan of Batman, I found this series of films to be very dark and more towards the Caped Crusader's origins than anything else. It became famous thanks to Christopher Nolan (director and producer) and Christan Bale (Bruce Wayne/Batman) and is one of the best adaptations of the character. Does it do the superhero justice? Let's find out:
Batman Begins:
The first film of the series has Ra's al Ghul
(an immortal man who is a major Batman villain and is the Leader of The Legion of Assassins), Scarecrow (who is a well known Batman villain who uses the power of fear against his enemies) and Carmine Falcone (not a well known villain but has been seen in the comics) as villains for the film (Joe Chill, the man behind the death of Bruce Wayne's parents is also a villain but has a minor role to the main plot). This film shows Bruce Wayne's journey into becoming Batman which shows his 7 year period away from Gotham City as he is in Bhutan, learning skills that will allow him to protect the city he was born and raised in (while trying to befriend Commissioner James Gordon in the process). I often find that it does start of slow, but gradually gets to the point about the origin of Batman which I think Nolan and Bale did a good and satisfactory job of it so well done for that. 8/10
Batman: Gotham Knight:
OK I know what you might be thinking. What's this got to do with the films? Well, to put it quite simply, this serves as a way to bridge the gap between the 1st and 2nd films. This is an anthology film that has six short anime/manga films that show the many crimes that Batman resolves before his first meeting with the Joker. While it does feature many mobsters, Its also the second time you see Scarecrow in the series and is also Killer Croc's debut in the series (Killer Croc is a well known Batman villain that was flushed down a loo upon his birth, due to his mutated form). It's great because it shows what Batman went through to gain the respect and trust of the people in Gotham so well done for that. 9/10
The Dark Knight:
Probably the most famous and best film of the lot, this one features The Joker (the arch enemy of Batman who combines humour and fun to the crimes he commits, with some dark sides here and there), Two-Face (a former district attorney who became evil after some mobster threw acid in his face scaring one half of him, showing a good and evil side of him which is determined by a coin flip) and Sal Maroni (the mobster responsible for the creation of Two-Face and is Falcone's successor) as the villains in the film. The Joker decides to work with the mobsters to take down The Dark Knight for cash, which as you would expect, involves killing innocent people and explosions. Among the people are Harvey Dent who claims to the Joker and the mobsters that he is Batman as a way to protect Bruce Wayne but this results in the creation of Two-Face and also marks Batman as a criminal. This film is great because Heath Ledger's Joker is a combination of past Jokers while showing some of his own style in the character and became one of his most famous roles before his death. Its better than the last one and nails everything about the Joker, perfectly. 9/10
The Dark Knight Rises:
The last film of the series has Catwoman (a Batman villain/ally who once had a relationship with Bruce Wayne and gets her name due to her constant cat burglaries), Bane (a major Batman villain who is very strong thanks to his venom addiction in some adaptations and can be described as a terrorist. He's well known for breaking Batman's back) and Talia al Ghul (The daughter of Ra's al Ghul and in this adaptation, his successor) as villains. Crime in Gotham has been at an all time low until Bane and his men arrive to wreck havoc. With Batman now seen as a criminal for the death of Harvey Dent, he must now use as many gadgets, vehicles and allies as possible to stop Bane from taking over Gotham and causing havoc. A lot of this film reminded me of that very long battle in Transformers 3, however, it packs in as much action as necessary and is a very good and satisfactory way to end the series on a high. 9/10
Overall, the series has had its ups and downs, but Nolan has nailed every bit of Batman that he can squeeze, making this one of the best adaptations of the Caped Crusader, ever (so far). 9/10
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