By far the most intense of them all

Rating: 9/10 (5 June 2006)

I've seen all the Batman movies. Most aren't that deeply lodged in my memory. I know that the scene stealers in most of them are the villains. This movie puts it on the strong shoulders of Bruce Wayne/Batman. The movie is about him and his ghosts and his baggage. It is about a man coming to grips with immense guilt. It goes into great detail to explain to us how Batman came to be. It has verisimilitude. The bad guys are, of course, really exaggerated in their evil plans. Everything is neatly plotted. There is fragility in both the character of Wayne and the city he and his family loved. Organized crime abounds and he must face it pretty much alone. I was quite impressed with Inspector Gordon (Gary Oldmann). He was believable and fragile, yet committed to what was right amidst a culture of evil (even on the police force). Like is so often the case, I can't speak for the people who know these comics so well that they fall into depression when a movie doesn't follow their dictates; yet, I really was involved in this. This is quite an all star cast with excellent direction with a bleakness that Tim Burton also did well. I think it was one of last year's best films.