Moviegoers have seen many Batman movies -- from the serious to the really goofy. But Batman Begins is different yet again, presenting a story that feels honest in explaining where Batman came from and why he does the things he does. Equally expressive in these Batman films are the actors who have played the Caped Crusader; however, Christian Bale outshines his predecessors Adam West, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer and George Clooney. Bale (Equilibrium) easily projects a heroic nature onto Bruce Wayne’s sometimes somber and perplexed character.

The film engages right from the beginning with an adult Bruce Wayne as a prisoner in an isolated Bhutan mountain prison where he’s soon released and mentored by Ducard (Liam Neeson), a master of physical and mental disciplines. It’s during this time, and through Wayne’s nightmares, that we learn how his parents were gunned down in the middle of the street when he was a young boy and how he came to live with the butler Alfred (Michael Caine) in the Wayne mansion. While in Bhutan, Wayne fuels his anger in learning how to defeat the evil that plagues Gotham City. Soon he’s chased by The League of Shadows, a subversive group out to destroy him and headed by Ra’s al Ghul (Ken Watanabe), an unfathomable Asian guru.

When Wayne returns home he finds the boardroom of his father’s company less a place he wants to inhabit than the dark underground tunnels of the Wayne mansion. Alfred reacquaints him with the gadgets -- including the Batmobile --  that will help him fight evil. Unfortunately, Wayne soon learns that in addition to fighting those who want to take over the city, he must also defend Wayne Enterprises from Richard Earle (Rutger Hauer), a CEO who wants to take the company public.

Director Christopher Nolan (Memento) has done a fantastic job in putting a realistic face on the famous comic book character and making us understand how he can scale buildings one minute to save the city and wine and dine a lovely lady the next. He takes his perceptive screenplay and impeccably translates every visual. Everything from the mansion, the monorail, Batman scaling buildings to flying through traffic at the speed of light, is well done and has a contemporary feel.

While other Batman movies featured flamboyant women to go along with flashy stories, Nolan chose to bring back Bruce Wayne’s childhood sweetheart, Rachel (Katie Holmes), in a very realistic plotline. Now a Gotham district attorney, Rachel too wants to fight evil. At first she thinks Bruce has sold out to fame and fortune, but when she realizes he’s really Batman, she finds a new respect for him and goes to toe to with him in fighting crime.

Other good performances come from Morgan Freeman as technician Lucius Fox, Gary Oldman as Lt. James Gordon (the last good cop left in the city), Tom Wilkinson as kingpin Carmine Falcone and an exceptionally icy Cillian Murphy as Dr. Jonathan Crane, a.k.a. Scarecrow.

With its exciting visuals, great direction, splendid performances plus a truly surprising and satisfactory story, this movie may be the best comic book adaptation I’ve seen. Only one negative emerges, and that involves the way Nolan blatantly sets up the ending for sequels to come. It somewhat diffuses the film’s enjoyment. Still, Batman Begins is surely one of the summer’s best films.

(Released by Warner Bros. and rated “PG-13” for intense action violence, disturbing images and some thematic elements.)

Read Diana Saenger’s reviews of classic movies at http://classicfilm.about.com.