Batman Begains

Age eight, Bruce Wayne falls into a cave where he is attacked by a
swarm of bats. Bruce develops a fear of bats, and later urges his
parents to leave an opera featuring bat-like creatures. Outside the
theater, Bruce Wayne's parents are both killed in a robbery by mugger
Joe Chill. Bruce blames himself for his parents' murder: had he not
been frightened, the Waynes would not have encountered Chill.

After coming of age, Bruce returns to Gotham City from Princeton
University intent on killing Chill, whose prison sentence is being
suspended in exchange for testifying against mob boss Carmine Falcone.
One of Falcone's henchmen kills Chill. Bruce tells his childhood friend
Rachel Dawes about his foiled plan, and she expresses disgust for his
blind vengeance without regard for justice. Bruce confronts Falcone,
who tells him that he is ignorant of the nature of crime, so Bruce
decides to travel the world to understand the criminal mind. After
nearly seven years, he is eventually detained in China for theft
(ironically of Wayne Enterprises cargo), where he meets Henri Ducard.
He invites Bruce to join an elite vigilante group, the League of
Shadows, led by Ra's al Ghul. Bruce is freed and travels to a
mountaintop to begin his combat training with the League, who intend to
use him to destroy Gotham. Bruce passes all the League's training,
overcoming his childhood phobia in the process, but when ordered to
execute a criminal, he turns on the League, destroying their
headquarters and accidentally killing Ra's al Ghul. Bruce rescues an
unconscious Ducard from the wreckage and leaves his mentor at a nearby
village.


The blue flower that Bruce Wayne is instructed to gather. The flowers
are the source of the same hallucinogenic compound used by Scarecrow to
taint Gotham's water supply.Bruce Wayne returns to a Gotham City that
is mostly ruled by Falcone and begins plotting a one-man war against
the corrupt system. He seeks the help of Rachel, now an assistant
district attorney, and police sergeant Jim Gordon, who consoled him in
the aftermath of his parents' murder. After reestablishing his
connections to his father's company, Wayne Enterprises, Bruce is able
to acquire, with the help of former board member Lucius Fox, a
prototype armored car and an experimental armored suit. In his new
Batman costume, he disrupts a drug shipment by Falcone and leaves the
mob boss tied to a searchlight, forming a makeshift Bat-Signal. He also
disrupts an assassination attempt on Dawes, leaving her with evidence
against a judge who has previously gone soft on Falcone. While
investigating the "unusual" drugs in the shipment, Batman is stunned by
sinister psychopharmacologist Dr. Jonathan Crane, who sprays him with a
powerful hallucinogen. Bruce's butler Alfred Pennyworth rescues Bruce,
who receives an anti-toxin developed by Fox. Crane later poisons Rachel
after showing her that the toxin, which is harmful only in vapor form,
is being piped into Gotham's water supply. Batman saves her. The police
enter Arkham Asylum and arrest Crane while Batman escapes with Rachel.
After administering the antidote to Rachel in the batcave, he gives her
two vials of it for Gordon – one for the detective to inoculate
himself, and another to mass produce for the city's population.

At a party held at Wayne Manor, Bruce is confronted by a group of
League of Shadows ninjas led by Ducard, who reveals himself to be the
real Ra's al Ghul, the man killed earlier being a decoy. Ra's, who had
been conspiring with Crane, plans to destroy Gotham by distributing the
toxin undetected via Gotham's water supply and then vaporizing it with
a microwave emitter stolen from Wayne Enterprises. Bruce, tricking his
guests into leaving, fights briefly with Ra's while the League of
Shadows set fire to Wayne Manor. Bruce escapes the inferno with
Alfred's help just as the manor is destroyed. Batman arrives at the
"Narrows" section of Gotham to aid the police in battling psychotic
criminals, including Crane, who the League set free from the asylum.
Rachel is confronted by but wards off Crane; Batman rescues Rachel when
more criminals go after her. Batman intimates his identity to her while
leaving Gordon in control of the Batmobile to stop the elevated train
that is being used to transport the vaporizer to the city's central
water hub. Batman battles Ra's aboard the train, then escapes just as
Gordon topples the elevated line using the Batmobile's missiles,
leaving Ra's to crash to the ground with the train.

Following the battle, Batman becomes a public hero. Bruce gains control
of Wayne Enterprises and installs Fox as CEO, firing Earle. However, he
is unable to hold onto Rachel, who cannot reconcile her love for Bruce
Wayne with his dual life as Batman. Gordon, newly promoted to
lieutenant, unveils a Bat-Signal for Batman. Gordon mentions a criminal
who, like Batman, has "a taste for the theatrical", leaving a Joker
playing card at his crime scenes. Batman promises to investigate it. As
Batman is leaving, Gordon mentions that he hasn't thanked Batman for
what he has done. Batman replies that Gordon will never have to, and
flies off into Gotham.