Where have I seen this before . . .?

Rating: 8/10 (19 June 2005)

FILM SYNOPSIS: Traumatically orphaned Harry Potter grows up to be traumatically orphaned Christian Bale, who is forced to endure the horror of his parents' murders when confronted with black flying things (i.e. Dementors or bats). Fear must be overcome while Gary Oldman runs around as the one innocent man from Azkaban - I mean Gotham's police force. Meanwhile, Cillian Murphy is fighting - er, creating? - a rage-inducing (or do I mean fear-inducing) virus/toxin that TURNS ALL OF ENGLAND/GOTHAM INTO ZOMBIES, providing a useful metaphor of socio-political pretensions.
Sheesh, the plot plundering is almost incestuous.
Seriously, though, I really enjoyed the film, although it doesn't quite live up to my expectations or the glowing reviews. The acting was stellar, and I really believed Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman.
However, the film had a seriously flawed and derivative script, with pretty silly dialogue saved only by the uber-talented people who uttered it. Every other line seemed to be some sort of inane, clichéd psychobabble repeated endlessly ("Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.") If you're really interested in the Jungian idea of individuation and becoming one's fears, I'd highly recommend Le Guin's "A Wizard of Earthsea."
The editing also needed major work. Even at 2.5 hours, the film felt rushed. I never felt like I was able to settle down, take a deep breath, look around and enjoy the world Nolan had created for me. The music, overly loud and grating, didn't help much either, since it was so bad and overly-used that it effectively distanced me from the story.
Batman Begins isn't as realistic as they say, either. Although, if your definition of "realistic" stops at gritty, depressed darkness, and a healthy knowledge of technology, then I guess this film is realistic. But if you believe realism lies in credible dialogue and character motivations (I never did figure out why Alfred and Lucius Fox so calmly accepted Bruce's 'plan'), then this film falls far short.
I will come out on the other side, however, and say that I thought that new Batmobile was pretty sweet, and wasn't disturbed at all by the closely shot action scenes. They seemed pretty exciting to me, and I cringed quite often, especially when Bale crashed into that wall.
Bottom Line: Good, but can't approach the genius of X2 and Burton's Batman Returns.
Recommendation for WB: DROP GOYER AND HIRE SOMEONE WHO CAN ACTUALLY WRITE ORIGINAL PLOT AND DIALOGUE FOR THE SEQUEL. Goyer's nothing more than a glorified fanboy, and Batman deserves more. And while there doesn't have to be jokes every other line, some more warmth and humanity and WIT would be appreciated. Surprise me with something. Oh, and focus more on Bruce's awesome intelligence.
Batman Begins 8/10; Batman 9/10; Batman Returns 10/10; Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 9/10; X-Men 8/10; X2 10/10; Schumacher's Batman -10/10; The Last Samurai 4/10; Blade 5/10.