That's where he got those wonderful toys

So, Batman Begins.

Really rather good, wasn't it? Spoilers for the film below.

The echoing of my Doctor Who review is entirely deliberate. In many ways both franchises had ended up in similar position: a much loved character sent spiraling into cinematic oblivion by a corporate management that just didn't understand what it had or what to do with it. And so it was set aside, left to molder in the darkness. And then from that black hole, a glimmer of hope - a creative team with an exemplary track record who actually seemed to understand the character and who professed their determination to rescue him from the garish excesses that brought about his downfall and construct a new darker, more adult template for the future. It's wasn't quite enough to dispel all doubts however - the casting still niggled a little, for example, a leading man who might well be a good actor, but who some how didn't fit the mould I was expecting, as well as some other casting that sounded decidedly suspicious (Billie Piper in the case of Dr Who and Dawsons Creek alumni Katie Holmes for Batman). Still there was enough of a positive vibe to ensure my bum on the seat when the premier came around, even if I wasn't wholly convinced at the outset.

Not too dissimilar a situation is it? The big question in the case of Batman was whether Christopher's Nolan and Bale would be able to pull off as much of a coup as Davies and Eccleston managed with the Doctor. Well, if the box office is any judge they exceeded all expectations, and having watched the film I'm not about to disagree.

I should add some background. I thought Tim Burton's vision of Batman, coupled with Danny Elfman's swooping scope was wonderful, a fantastic film, dark and twisted, incredibly cinematic and thoroughly enjoyable. There was only one problem with it - it wasn't "Batman" quite so much as "Tim Burton's Batman". A new interpretation of the character, as valid as any other (of which there have been many over the last 70 years) to be sure, but it didn't capture the spirit or tone of the comic - of any of the comics. Neither did Burtons sequel which carried on in the same vein as the first. The was a possibility that after Burton's departure the series would head back closer to it's roots, but instead new director Joel Schumacher disastrously chose to ape the kappow, bam, campy outlandishness of the 60's series. By the time Sam Raimi managed to writ his largely faithful interpretation of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's Spider-man large on the screen, Batman was all but a lost cause.

Nolan's success is that he's taken the character back to his roots, ruthlessly wielding his shears, paring away at the detritus accumulated by series, and then starting again from scratch. I doubt it's coincidence that Ra's Al Ghul was the villain of choice for this film. By the mid seventies, the Batman comics had yet to recover from the consequence of the tv series. The stories remained colourful and camp, far from the bleak origins of the character. Denny O'Neil was the first writer to attempt to restore Batman's dignity. Robin was jettisoned from the pages of the comics, Bruce Wayne was shifted out of Wayne Manor and into a city apartment, and a new foe for the Batman was introduced, R'as Al Ghul, the Demons Head. The tone of the series darkened, and the character finally became the Dark Knight of his nickname.

Thirty years later and Nolan's performed much the same job, and done so superbly. Here at last is the faithful depiction, not only of the Batman but also of Bruce Wayne, we've been waiting for. One of the things to be admired in the script is it's carefully cherry picking of the continuity that preceded it. It acknowledges much of what's come before, but isn't shacked by it, and isn't afraid to tie it all together with some new strands of plot. The Bat armour hints at the previous films (less the Bat-nipples from the Schumacher era thankfully), the origin is still that from the comic (with some minor tweaks - an Opera taking the place of a showing of Zorro for example). The Batmobile suggests the Bat-tank from the from Frank Miller's Dark Knight returns. And there's more than a whiff of Millers Batman:Year One about it (no bad thing, make no mistake). But there's more to the film that mere pillaging of what's come before it. Even in the comics it's rare to see such a character study performed on Bruce Wayne as we've been shown here, and it's hard not to appreciate the layers and textures added to the character. Although it's Batman's name on the movie posters, what's been presented to us is the story of Bruce Wayne - his growth and evolution. It's testament to the film's success that even though it's some time into the film before we finally get to see Batman in full costume, the script never feels like it's treading water until that point.

The script made some curious choices to my mind. Showing us the final fate of Joe Chill, the murderer of the Wayne's for example. In the comics, by editorial edict, the murderer is a nameless, faceless character, who escaped that fateful night and returned only to haunt the dreams of the young master Wayne (although this is a status quo that's changed in the past). The implication of this is that every night Batman hunts on the streets of Gotham, he's not merely bringing but is making another doomed attempt to seek his parents killer. With the murderer caught the change in motivation is a subtle, but it works well in the context of the film and adds an interesting new facet to the character, giving us a Batman who's about much more than vengeance alone.

The was also the issue of the love interest. I remain baffled that the producers of Batman films seem unable to conceive of the character without some form of romance. It's true there are dalliances with such in the comics, but these are rarely given the prominence we've seen in the films Happily, it works here, largely because it's relatively underplayed - Katie Holmes successfully plays off Bale, and her evident disappointment in him, when he affects his billionaire playboy image (another welcome addition) makes it clear that his mission comes at a great personal cost. All the cast are uniformly excellent in fact and each manage to bring something to their roles without overshadowing the film (as Jack Nicolson's Joker arguably did). Bale captures Bruce Wayne's determination and drive. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman both add a subtle humour not out of keeping with the films dark tone, Rutger Hauer is suitable slimy as the interim head of Wayne Enterprises, Cillian Murphy is hypnotic as the Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow (I hope gets a big break soon as a result of his performance here) and Liam Neeson is aptly enigmatic as Ducard. And special praise for not only bringing back Jim Gordon - perfectly realised by Gary Oldman - but for getting his character absolutely spot on.

And it's all wonderfully, wonderfully dark. Both in terms of the films appearance (finally we see Gotham realised as a real city, rather than a gothic fantasy) and in the tone of the film. One of the biggest problems with Batman springs from the fact that the character is a licensing icon, and previous regimes at Warner Brothers have put considerations of how many action figures and happy meals they can sell before any sort of artistic integrity. There's none of that here. Nolan's been given free reign and the result is most deserving of it's 12A certificate. It's not a film meant for a younger audience, action figures be damned, and the thrills and scares we get as a result are all the more gratifying. One of my brothers complained that he didn't feel the fight scenes were up to much, but I think he was missing the point a little. What fighting there is, particularly when up against the nameless thugs who seem to populate the streets of Gotham, is swift, brutal and effective - exactly the sort of hallmark efficiency you'd expect.

The film succeeds on virtually every level for me, and I found it hard not to grin very widely indeed when the film offered a big hint as to what we can expect from Nolan and Bale et all further down the line. I believe that Nolan is planning a trilogy and if he can equal or surpass what he's wrought here I'm sure Batman's glory days are only just beginning.