At a Glance

Based on the DC Comics series, BATMAN BEGINS explains Bruce Wayne's (Christian Bale) transformation from billionaire playboy to crime-fighting 'Caped Crusader'. In this welcome addition to the saga, our hero faces the triple threat of martial arts leader Ra's al Ghul (Ken Watanabe), hallucinogen-wielding Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy), and a wave of corruption that has descended on Gotham. Director Christopher Nolan's second offering, THE DARK KNIGHT, pits Batman against two new enemies: the Joker (Heath Ledger in a gleefully maniacal, tour de force performance) and Two Face (Aaron Eckhart), a former politician with an axe to grind. Nolan has successfully steered the look and feel of both movies away from the gothic, almost cartoonish style that characterised Tim Burton's films, opting instead for a gritty realism that takes the franchise in a darker, more dramatic direction.