A refreshing New Batman Start

Rating: 8/10 (16 June 2005)

First of all, I have to say that I enjoyed the previous Batman series, directed by Tim Burton for several and then by Joel Schumacher. As good as that series was, this start of a new series would fall flat if all it does was copy the last one.
But this series (and it will be a series it seems) certainly has its differences. It was less fantasy based and more realistic. To be sure, Batman still does some pretty amazing things. But this time, at least some of it seems more believable. At the start, Batman even loses a few fights - at least as Bruce Wayne. And he even seems to have a few fears. And Gotham City, almost appears to be similar to a real city. This Batman is more realistic, somewhat similar to the Spiderman series that is also going on. In both cases, the audience knows that the hero is still human and actually has a chance of losing and is concerned about that.
This realistic approach works, and works well. Not only did our group greatly enjoy the movie, but we are very much looking forward to the next ones in the series. The acting, casting and direction were well done. And of course the action was both creative and fun - as one might expect.
The premiere that I went to see was not as crowded as one might expect. However, those people that were there stood up and applauded at the end of the movie. One seldom sees that.