Better, but only because it's compared to the last two...

Rating: 6/10 (17 June 2005)

Alright, I have to say that Batman Begins left the last two Schumaker productions in the dust, but let's face it: this isn't a hard thing to do with that kind of competition. I think people are so excited about this newest addition to the Batman family because we've all been so desperate to wipe our memories of Batman Forever and Batman & Robin that we'll overlook the bad to see the good.
Now don't get me wrong -- Batman Begins was fun to watch, and there were a lot of aspects that I enjoyed about this film: seeing Wayne take his first steps into becoming Batman, Michael Cain's performance as Alfred, and especially seeing Christian Bale get some real big-screen appreciation (Equilibrium was unfortunately very underrated, it's an excellent film if anyone gets a chance to rent it). It was grittier and darker than the last ones. Plus the Batmobile... We all know we want one of those now ^_^.
But there are so many things that were missing from this film too, things that were essential to who Batman is and the steps he took from day 1 to protect the innocent. In this version, the little boy who watched his parents die didn't make a vow that day to fight evil, the movie decided to make him wait until he had left Princeton. And his detective roots? All gone, probably my biggest disappointment in this movie -- come on, even _Adam West's Batman_ was a detective, for crying out loud! In the comics, Batman's deductive mind is one of the things Ra's Al Ghul respected so much about him, but in the film our hero is really little more than an impassioned, wealthy ninja who leaves the technical side to underlings. Speaking of ninjas, did we HAVE to have another "set off one explosive and the whole building proceeds to blow up" scene at the beginning? And why did Wayne Manor have no fire alarm or water sprinklers in it? Not to mention *spoiler ahead* how he dealt with his enemy at the end: "I'm not going to kill you, but I don't have to save you either", which equates to "I'm going to kill you and use a loophole to avoid responsibility for it". This is NOT Batman! I hate to use this as a comparison, but this Batman movie actually reminded me of that horrific Daredevil film that Affleck made not too long ago... Our hero doesn't beat the demons inside of himself through strength of his will and character, he only accomplishes it with the help of his girlfriend who doesn't respect those demons, i.e. "No sex for you until you stop being so revenge-driven".
Sorry, I would love to give this thing the full thumbs up, but it didn't go far enough. It used a lot of aspects of Frank Miller's Batman: Year One (who I worry didn't get any appreciation for his work since I never saw his name in the credits!) but mixed them in with a grittier-campiness. And the only real reason everyone is really cheering for it, sadly enough, is because it was better than the Kilmer/Clooney movies....