"Welcome Home, Master Bruce!!"

Rating: 8/10 (22 June 2005)

Having seen (some might say "having been subjected to") WB's four other "BATMAN" outings, I had rather low expectations of this new Dark Knight film, especially in light of the last three films, capably bungled by Tim Burton & Joel Schumacher, respectively. Despite the fact that director Christopher Nolan has an excellent track record with me, & the cast of this film is absolutely stellar (excepting Katie Holmes -- no offence; just didn't like her performance), I went in expecting the worst. After all, it's been proved time & again that the best "BATMAN" films ("best" meaning "true to the nature of the characters") have been the three films from WB's animation department; "BATMAN: MASK of the PHANTASM", "BATMAN / MR FREEZE: SUBZERO", & "BATMAN BEYOND: THE RETURN of THE JOKER".
With "BATMAN BEGINS", however, Chris Nolan has done a lot of homework & has taken the time to get to know these characters (well... except for the fact that the villain's name is pronounced "Raysh" & not "Razz". Jeez, Chris, make a 'phone call every once in a while, or better yet; ASK A FAN!!), something that neither Burton nor Schumacher seemed to have taken the time to do. His scripting, along with co-scripter David S Goyer, brings out the humanity of Bruce Wayne without pounding the audience over the head with it. Yes, his parents were murdered in front of him. Yes, that's the whole reason he became The Batman. This we know, so why belabour the point? Because, up 'til now, it's never been done *correctly* in a live action "BATMAN" film. Burton & Schumacher paid the event lip service, but only just. Nolan delves fully into this one happening that is the touchstone for why Bruce Wayne dresses up as a flying rodent & beats holy hell outta bad guys.
Christian Bale does a very human turn as Bruce Wayne without making him the flake that the Burton / Keaton films did, or the brooding weirdo that Schumacher / Kilmer / Clooney turned out. He has a firm grasp on who this guy is & what he's trying to accomplish.
The rest of the cast I couldn't be happier with (except the aforementioned block o' wood, Katie Holmes), & while I would love to have seen more of each of them in the film, no one was wasted or cheated; every character on the screen served a purpose & served it well.
As I said earlier, Nolan seems to have done his homework. There were some very clever turns in this movie, the characters & story were well-handled, & I think he's got a good bead on where the celluloid version of The Dark Knight needs to be headed.
Without going into too much detail, we get to see where the legend begins (obviously!). The film borrows heavily from Frank Miller's epic comic book miniseries, "BATMAN: YEAR ONE", & "BATMAN: MASK of the PHANTASM", which are always good sources from which to filch.
There will, of course, be fans of the comics who scream bloody murder about certain things in this film, & there's no changing their minds. However, given the track record of the previous "BATMAN" films, if this is the direction they're taking it, I'll gladly come along for at least one more ride.