THE STORY SO FAR

THE STORY SO FAR

Getting up to speed

In “Batman Begins,” the parents of 8-year-old rich boy Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) are killed in a robbery by mugger Joe Chill. Wayne vows revenge, but years later, after attending college, he discovers that Chill, who was to testify against mob boss Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson), has been murdered by one of Falcone’s henchmen. After traveling the world to understand the criminal mind, and studying with the League of Shadows, an elite vigilante group, Wayne returns to Gotham City determined to rid it of corruption. Wayne creates the Batman character as his crime-fighting alter ego, and is aided in his pursuit by childhood friend Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes), police sergeant Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and Wayne’s trusted manservant, Alfred (Michael Caine).

“The Dark Knight” begins as Batman, recently promoted Lt. Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) join forces to rid the city of its corrupt elements. Foremost among these is super-criminal The Joker (the late Heath Ledger), a psychopath who kills without compunction. Batman’s struggle against The Joker forces him to deal with the lengths he is willing to go to eradicate this human pest. And while all this is going on, a love triangle of sorts develops among Wayne, Dent and Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Things become further complicated when Dent is attacked by Sal Maroni (Eric Roberts), who has taken over Falcone’s criminal empire. Dent survives the acid attack, but now, with half of his face disfigured, he goes insane and turns into Two-Face, a criminal mastermind.