Fantastically written and wonderfully filmed, despite confused fight sequences, perfect Batman.

Rating: 8/10 (10 July 2005)

There are two important lessons to be learned from this movie. One is that this is the yardstick, the meter on which to measure every comic book or graphic novel adaptation. Forget Sin City with its style over substance, this is the way it should be done.
If you've read Batman: Year One and you've seen this movie you'll see so much that has been transferred successfully. The plot has been changed, but they've used key scenes as well as characters and their development. Nolan has done a wonderful job of bringing the Batman movie franchise back to life.
The second lesson is, unfortunately, a negative one, and one that is hitting most action movies pouring out of Hollywood and film makers are doing it more and more, increasing with each release. What am I talking about? It's action sequences. The action in Batman Begins was unwatchable. Both my girlfriend and I had no idea what was going on during the action sequences until they ended.
In key fighting moments through the movie something was trying to be conveyed to the audience, the balance of power between Batman and his villain, when he battles Ducard and finally manages to beat him it's hard to see when the balance tips until the final moment. When he battles him again you see nothing but fast moving blurs and the odd grimaced face shot, the tension built by the rest of the sequence is totally lost.
I have to say from the first announcement of the casting of Bale I was impressed, he was perfect. From that moment the fans were sure that they were going to be treated to a Batman in the vein of the original portrayed by Keaton, and they weren't wrong, but no one realised how good the whole movie was going to be.
The rest of the casting is superb. I was amazed to see how well the great Oldman portrayed Gordon, having not long ago read Batman: Year One I just couldn't believe how well he fitted.
I think it's fair to say the casting was perfect throughout, apart from one. I found it really hard to forget Dawson Holmes, although I have to say she did an exceptionally good job of taking us away from those memories and showing is a new character.
Back to Bale. He's immense. If you can get over the mouth hanging open in his constant aghast look as Wayne, he does an amazing job as a dark and driven man. His presence in and out of the suit is strong, and does certainly remind me of the strength and madness stored in Keaton's Batman. Although where Keaton showed controlled madness, Bale shows a seething and almost an all consuming anger, brimming over the edges.
Nolan has done a fantastic job of bringing the Batman back to the big screen, concentrating on the reality and grounding of Gotham and the character, before slowly building the believability into the fantastic world of the Bat and his villains. The early parts of the movie do a great job of showing how the reality of a boy's life is taken to that of the superhero. Without taking too huge a leap, it shows the devastating effect of the murder of his parents on his mind, and how that consumes him in search of vengeance, taking each small step to the training that shows him what he really needs to become the lone Dark Knight.
I think that's a huge part of this movies success, it doesn't present a fantastical world or superhuman man, and this is the huge attraction of Batman in all his guises, he's human, nothing more than you or I trained to the peak of human endurance and capability, as well as supplied with expensive gadgets of course! The movie does a great job of taking us on that journey of what makes a man drive him to build himself to that level, and then the steps that bring him to that.
The villains are also well crafted, and once again grounded very securely in reality as well as being built from the better side of the human psyche. Growing alongside the character of Batman. Scarecrow is particularly good, and not portrayed as too "masky", you know what I mean he's not an over camped villain who's just totally insane, he's cold and calculating and like the Batman, uses his mask for a purpose.
The relationship between Gordon and Batman is built early on, and Wayne's involvement with the Wayne Corporation is built as a nice side story. What I am surprised about is that so many people end up knowing the identity of Batman, in my mind there were only supposed to be two characters with that knowledge. However, it's not something that did affect the enjoyment, considering they've done such a good job for the entire movie, the slips aren't big enough to harm it.
Some of the strongest scenes are those of the main characters together. Those of Gordon and Batman, Wayne and Ducord and Wayne and Alfred, the latter being the strongest scenes in the movie. The moments where Alfred comforts the young Wayne at the death of his father are stronger than I would expect from this genre, but they are extremely effective in building the character. The final moments of Gordon and Batman make seal the partnership and bring the beginning to the perfect end. Superbly written and crafted.
The film is dark and claustrophobic, and effects and CGI are used as additions to the live action rather than as main sequences, no more is this apparent than in the car chase sequence with Batman's vehicle (I dread to call it the Batmobile), and with larger shots of the city. It's hard to notice where CGI has been used, which is how it should be.