An ex-American Psycho's Fiery Reign creates a new Equilibrium!

Rating: 9/10 (7 August 2005)

This is how Batman SHOULD have been portrayed all along, the only one to get close was Michael Keaton, but then it started to get off kilter in "Batman Returns;" from off-kilter to Kilmer and it started to regain momentum, but then there was a period I think blotted out? Someone related to jazz-singer Rosemary Clooney? I think my therapist told me to leave that part of my past severely alone... LOL!
Christian Bale indeed has a baleful glare that he perfected in "American Psycho" went on to sharpen in "Reign Of Fire" with Matthew MacConaughey as the mad Kentuckian with an axe to grind - but his epitaph was nearly "Equilibrium" where he was the Matrix' Neo on steroids!
As Bruce, the wealthy wimp who pretended to be a tough-guy for when his parents'murderer was in court to the brutalising enforcer in Tibet who was arrested to protect the village's tough-guys, Christian played each aspect to a crisp perfection...
Liam Neeson as Ducard, Ra's Al Ghul's viceroy in the ninja clan, was still a bit Qui Gon-JinnESQUE but as one who had slipped into the dark side without being aware of it, and like Anakin Skywalker ... Ducard did it for love.
I hope and yet know this is not the last of Ken Watanabe, the real star of "The Last Samurai," as the head of the insidious clan, we need to learn about his Lazarus Pit where he can return to life again and again that was barely hinted at... Where's Ubu his henchman and Thalia his reluctant daughter that loves the Bat?? Room for more! I want the new Bat-Mobile, oh wow, a Hummer on steroids! Lean forward steering, so cool!! The Scarecrow was too lightly dealt with and was unappreciated for that reason for the most part, although perhaps Mr. Bean/Rowan Atkinson would've been a better Jonathan Crane.
I hope they keep this winning team with Gary Oldman as James Gordon and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, as for Sir Michael Caine as Alfred, they obviously researched and learned the original butler really was an East-Ender, Magnificent!!