O.k. for a comic book movie

Rating: 5/10 (18 June 2005)

Saw this movie as a non-comic book, non-Batman fan. I thought I'd give it a try. I've seen most of the previous Batman films on DVD and, while I didn't like those either, this one has been the best so far. Bale is nicely cast as the "hero" and I liked the early part of the film where we see Bruce Wayne train to be Batman and obtain the necessary gear to act out his persona. This first half of the film reminded me of the first Spiderman, which I liked better than the sequel because it also explored the origins of the superhero. But the second half of Batman is boring. The main baddie is Brit character actor Tom Wilkinson, who does a bad impersonation of a Brookly hoodlum. The plot is a bit convoluted and becomes over-saturated with chase scenes and explosions everywhere. (This is the first movie I've seen in a long time where I seriously worry that my hearing may have been damaged.) None of the fighting sequences are staged well; the continuous use of close-ups during the fights made me dizzy. The real pros like Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Liam Neeson definitely steel every scene they're in. I guess I generally don't like comic book movies. For me, only Superman 1 and 2 are worth anything.