Excellent entertainment - far better than any of the other film versions which preceded it.

Rating: 9/10 (20 June 2005)

Excellent entertainment - far better than any of the other film versions which preceded it. The director, Christopher Nolan, got this one right. His vision was suitably dark but not over the top, as was Burton's.
Christian Bale was perfect. He was far more believable than Keaton, Kilmer or Clooney in the role. Keaton I never could take seriously as Batman and while Kilmer got the brooding part well enough he never got the threatening or anger filled part of this character. The less said about Clooney's time in the Bat Suit the better.
Bale had the anger, the fear, and the "physicality" which the others lacked. As has already been pointed out, he is also young enough to be more believable as a newly starting out Batman. I think it is also a nice ironic turn for this actor to now be playing Batman after having cut his teeth of playing the lead in "American Psycho." I'd guess he brought a lot of what he absorbed in that role to this one and it works quite well.
I also like how Nolan handled the Rachel Dawes character, played by Katie Holmes. She was not there simply as a decorative plot point nor as a passive "former childhood sweetheart" love interest for Bruce Wayne / Batman. This was especially brought home at the film's end when she acknowledged who Batman was and who Bruce Wayne was  thus avoiding the standard "oh the pain of a superhero's dual identity unrequited love" stereotypes. Nicely done, that.
The special effects in the film were there to support the storyline and not the other way around. That was very appreciated. I too like the "Tumbler" and wouldn't mind having one of those either. Insurance and gas mileage be damned! The explanation of how Batman got all his cool schwag was logical and went a long way to making the character more believable. Morgan Freeman was instrumental in this and his laid back gravitas is always a joy to watch on screen.
Liam Neeson also brings his trademark gravitas (first "Kingdom of Heaven " and now this) into play and made an excellent character for Bale/ Batman to play off of. Caine portrayed a far more effective and fleshed out "Alfred" in Wayne Manor than any before him and that too helped the whole ensemble. The supporting actors here were all top-draw talent as individuals and their individual skills came together well for the ensemble.
It's a shame that Burton didn't have it in himself to have done his Batman like this. I know he wanted to make Batman be a darker character but it seems that he took the TV series as his starting point and that meant it brought along too much camp and hokeyness to be taken with that way. Nolan seems to have learned all the right lessons from the "Dark Knight" view of the Batman character and world.
This one works quite well and the set up for sequels was very logically handled and done in such a way as to leave the audience yearning for the next installment. It's no surprise that this film is doing well at the box office for it's quality entertainment that makes excellent use of its source material, brings worthwhile additions to it, and is a very enjoyable way to spend the 141 minutes it runs.
Madoc