Batman Begins

2005-07-07

What a difference a day makes. I saw War Of The Worlds on Saturday, and as my wife said, she didn't just want her money back, she wanted her time back, and then the next day i saw Batman Begins at an IMAX theater (well, i saw the first half of it until the projector broke. While very frustrating, I can still say that seeing action/adventure films at an IMAX theater is the closest thing to movie nirvana and I highly recommend it).

I returned to the theater the next day to see the remaining half of the film, and I can say without any hesitation that Christopher Nolan's take on the Caped Crusader is by far the best comic-book-turned-film I've ever seen.

There was nothing silly about this Batman. No holes in the script. No lame acting or scripting. It was a dark tale about a cold and angry man who seeks revenge. Christian Bale, a relative unknown, was really good as the young Bruce Wayne, and Gary Oldman's Seargent Gordon is not a hackneyed fat Irish cop, but rather a man who is himself fighting for justice. Michael Caine delivers a great performance as Alfred, and even Katie Holmes finds a way to be a love interest without being distracting.

If you haven't seen this film GO SEE IT. Even though sequels in almost every case disappoint (with the one notable exception of The Empire Strikes Back) this is one case where I would like to see what Nolan would do with a follow-up, and the film sets itself up nicely at the end for just this opportunity.