Movie Review: Batman Begins

The last attempt in bringing the Dark Knight to the big screen flopped terribly. Joel Schumacher's homoerotic nippled batsuit version of Batman was a pathetic detour from the franchise's dark comic book beginnings. Now eight years later, Batman is back with a new beginning, a fresh start.

Under new direction from Chris Nolan and a new Batman/Bruce Wayne played by Christian Bale, Batman Begins stays true to its origins. The movie is dark, the darkest of all the Batman movies. Bob Kane would have been proud. The plot itself is excellent, touching upon the deaths of Wayne's parents, his time spent traveling the world in search and studying evil, how Bruce Wayne became Batman and even how the Batsuit and Batmobile came about. The acting is great, Christian Bale plays a very convincing and realistic Bruce Wayne/Batman. Michael Caine as Alfred, Gary Oldman as a young Detective-to-later-become Commissioner Gordan and Morgan Freeman round out a strong cast. My only compaint is the action sequences. It was too fast paced and blurry, however I can see that this was Nolan's intention. Batman strikes down his opponents with transparent speed. Most of his opponents are defeated before they realize what's going on. Fear what you cannot see. In an interesting techique, Nolan chooses to flash the title "Batman Begins" at the very end. It serves as a great lead in to a sequel.

I enjoyed Batman Begins more than Star Wars Episode III. I give it 9/10.

Sidenote - Being an automobile enthusiast, I first caught a glimpse of the new Batmobile last year. At first I thought, damn it looks hideous, more like the bastard child of a Hummer and Tank than the Batmobile. Now after seeing it in action, I'm thinking where do I sign up for one of those bad boys?