For eight years, Batman went without a face. The 1997 film Batman and Robin left fans disappointed in the character as well as divided about whether or not Bruce Wayne should reappear on the big screen. 

That all changed in September of 2003, when Christopher Nolan announced that he would be creating a new Batman movie for Warner Bros. titled: Batman Begins, with Batman himself being portrayed by Christian Bale.

At first, fans were sceptical about a new Batman, after all, the last actor to portray the caped crusader was George Clooney in a performance widely panned by both fans and critics. Even with the possibility of failure in mind, people still hoped that both Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan would be able to create a successful Batman film.

For two years, anticipation and hype built for Batman Begins until its release day of June 15, 2005. The film was an instant hit and was met with immense financial success, grossing almost $372 million at the box office on a budget of $150 million.

At this point, it was clear that, with direction from Nolan, Bale was more than capable of playing the character, as he went on to reprise the role in The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, but what about his performance sold the audience? Part of the answer is the fact that we see more to Batman’s origin than the standard ‘Thomas and Martha Wayne get shot on Crime Alley’. We get to see not only his motivation to fight crime, but his training and the origins of his ideals and moral code.

The film’s long introduction is a mixture of Bruce’s childhood, around the time of his parent’s death, college-aged Bruce’s discovery of his true purpose, and his tutelage under Ra’s Al Ghul, played by Liam Neeson, and the League of Shadows. It is from this introduction that we get to see the development of the three roles played by Bale.

The three roles played by any Batman actor are the billionaire playboy persona of Bruce Wayne, the hero vigilante Batman, and, most importantly, the real Bruce Wayne that we see when he is with people he trusts. Christian Bale in Batman Begins, and the trilogy as a whole, portrays a believable character with deep moral conflict, deeper than any of the Batman actors who came before him and the ones that came after.

As Bruce Wayne, the billionaire playboy, Bale does a fantastic job flexing his wealth and romantic affairs as he secretly furthers his agenda. While the other Batman films have focused almost entirely on the real Bruce Wayne and Batman, we see a further and more effective use of Bruce Wayne’s public persona.

Finally, the dark knight himself, Batman. 

Bale’s performance of the caped crusader delivers on all the action and combat that we expect from a superhero action film. Batman’s countless gadgets that he has become so famous for are all grounded in reality, with many being based on real military technology. Of course, no description of Batman’s gadgets is complete without the Batmobile. Although never referred to as such, Batman’s chief mode of transportation, called the tumbler, provides a fresh take on the vehicle that has gone on to become iconic.

Most importantly to any adaptation of Batman is the “no kill rule”, and in Nolan’s trilogy, it is stressed harder than any other Batman films. Batman’s refusal to kill his enemies is how he keeps himself above them, and it keeps him from becoming as bad as they are. It is this devotion to the rule that gives Batman his depth, and it goes on to define Batman’s moral compass in the trilogy.

Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy is often regarded as the best live-action adaptation of Batman, and because of Bale’s spectacular performance as Bruce Wayne, it is easy to see why.