batman basics

Eight years after the last screen version failed to impress fans of the caped crime fighter, its makers promise action and adventure that could take place in today's world. "Batman Begins," from the writer Goyer and director Nolan, who scored a big hit with art-house thriller "Memento" and followed it with studio-backed murder mystery, "Insomnia", paints a bleak picture of a city, Gotham, besieged by drugs and run by recognizable underworld gangs. Gone are cartoonish villains like Mr. Freeze of 1997's critically panned "Batman & Robin," and in their place is mob chief Carmine Falcone and a bad guy named Scarecrow who dresses in business suits and covers his face with a sack - a gas mask, that allows him to breathe amid the chemical fumes he unleashes on his victims.