Batman Begins

I went to Batman Begins on June 19 2005 at 7:30pm at Coral Ridge Mall's theatre. I will admit being torn between going to see this film or not. One reason I was hesistant was based on how the prior Batman films worsened with each one since the original Batman with Michael Keaton in 1989. Catwoman, a spinoff of the franchise released last year, was suitably asinine that ending the whole enterprise with that film might have been on the minds of most movie goers. Next, the movie trailer itself seemed a trifle dorky in parts, although a few bits of it did seem interesting and one great actor, Liam Neeson, would be playing in it.

Rather than follow the prior films' tone and feel, Batman Begins follows a uniquely individual focus. The storyline shows how Bruce Wayne via a terrorizing incident with bats and then another more profoundly devastating one with his parents becomes the tormented soul who will don the cape to take on the persona of the Dark Knight of Gotham City. Along his journey, Bruce Wayne as played by Christian Bale will meet Liam Neeson's Henri Ducard character who will train him in the arts of justice and fear.

The entire film has simply wonderful writing with moments of laughter perfectly placed into the moments of sadness, shock or surprise. Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne is absolutely excellent and several times I sat wishing Bale could go back to be batman in the prior films to radically improve them. Even supporting roles are perfectly cast by portrayals such as Michael Cane's dutiful Alfred, Morgan Freeman's shrewd genius Lucius Fox, Cillian Murphy's sinister Dr. Jonathan Crane, and Gary Oldman's spot on portrayal of the honest cop Jim Gordon.

Batman Begins rates a great, being one of the best films of 2005. Not quite at the level of Crash or Kingdom of Heaven, this movie still stands on its own merits as one finally meeting and exceeding the expectations of Batman fans everywhere. Truly, Batman does finally begin and with a bang.

Please feel free to comment on this review or on the movie itself at the forum thread devoted to it at this location.