Batman Begins spent much of its first act with Bruce Wayne behind bars in a Bhutanese prison, and here's why he ended up in that situation. The childhood tragedy that helped shape Bruce into Batman is one of the best known origins of a superhero in history. Born into a life of wealth and privilege, Bruce's sheltered world was upended when an armed thief shot both his parents to death one night after a trip to the theater. This scarred Bruce, but also gave him the drive to want to try and stop something like that from happening to other innocent people.
While seemingly every Batman movie makes some kind of allusion to Bruce's past, or at least shows it in a quick flashback, one part of Bruce's development into the Caped Crusader tends to be glossed over in most adaptations. Bruce can't just grow up and start kicking butt, he must first learn and become proficient in multiple martial arts techniques for offensive and defensive use, as well as learn how to defeat his opponents psychologically when mere brawn isn't enough.
Batman Begins bucked the trend by spending a good chunk of its running time looking at Bruce's journey from idealistic and inexperienced young adult into a man worthy of the iconic cape and cowl. This includes time spent in a brutal prison environment, which proved hard but necessary.
Batman Begins: Why Bruce Wayne Is In Prison
While not explicitly spelled out in the film, it does still seem pretty clear what landed Bruce Wayne in prison before Batman Begins. After leaving Gotham City following his confrontation with Carmine Falcone, Bruce takes up a life of crime, with the intent of learning what makes criminals tick and what motivates them to do what they do. Bruce is arrested after being caught by police while in the act of stealing items, ironically pieces of technology owned by Wayne Enterprises. Bruce refuses to identify himself, so him then being sent to prison seems plausible enough, even without the connection being hammered home.
For Bruce though, getting locked up was simply another attempt to delve further into the criminal mind, and learn more about the inner workings of organized crime. He's also further toughened up by his experiences behind bars, at least up until Ra's al Ghul, presenting himself as Henri Ducard, arrives to free Bruce and offer him a chance to join the mysterious League of Shadows. Of course, Bruce didn't know that in his new mentor he had actually found the man who would later become one of his most dangerous foes.