Batman Begins

"Batman Begins" is "Batman Done Right". The opening 1st act covers of Bruce Wayne's training, and the backstory of his relationship with his father, and search for his identity after witnessing the traumatic childhood murders of his parents in that fateful, dark, alley. The tone of the film once Bruce returns to Gotham is just right, and the flow of the film is steady and exciting, and then it gives the viewer a chance to breathe, and embrace the world of Bruce and Batman, one that is rooted in a realism that belies its comic book origins.

The film is very good at providing the logistics of being Batman with the resources of billionaire Bruce Wayne at his disposal, and the production values are top-notch, and just plain fun to see on the big screen as proper respect was paid to them.

The inner character study of what drives Bruce Wayne towards the Batman persona is handled well, and the natural progression makes for a believable character arc, and his somewhat strained relationship with the world, and even his closest childhood friend, Rachel.

The villains are good, and provide more than enough of a challenge for Batman's initial foray into super-heroics. The dark humor present in the film is just right, never getting so dark and somber as to suck the life out of why a man would be driven to save people from the criminals who rely on society's indulgences. There are out and out laughs at key points that belie the turn of events to good effect.

The cast was uniformily good, even Katie Holmes' Rachel had enough of a moral compass and guts to be courageous in the face of heavy odds. Gary Oldman really "got" Gordon and he and Bale had a good give-n-take going on. Michael Caine as Alfred was a nice casting choice, not only good chemistry with Bale, but their relationship was based on family, not just of the servant-master dynamic. Morgan Freeman's turn as Lucius Fox provided some depth and charm to man who provides Batman with his wonderful toys. Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy are also good in their roles, and drove the plot along very well. Besides some ancilliary characters, I couldn't complain about the cast at all.

So far, Batman Begins was the best movie viewing experience of 2005 for me. The audience was into the film, they laughed at the right moments, and were awed by some of the really nutty second unit footage that was pretty entertaining to watch. And to top it off, they applauded at the end as well.

I give it 4 stars, or a grade of A.