Throw away the others - THIS is the REAL Batman!

Rating: 10/10 (17 October 2005)

This is by far the best Batman movie yet. I think the director must've been a true Batman fan as a kid, because the version of Batman portrayed in THIS movie comes closest to what I felt as I read the Batman comics of my childhood (40 years ago - sigh). THIS Batman is one bad-ass dude. One thing that made Batman so dear to my brother and me was that, unlike his fellow cohorts of the Justice League of America, Batman had no "special" powers other than those of human genius and strength (along with a seemingly infinite supply of money), and yet was second only to Superman in abilities (and he even topped Superman in problems of logic and shear "sleuthdom"). We always figured that Batman had to be more than just some angry super-rich guy, because that wouldn't have held up in the company of people like Superman and the Green Lantern. Batman was a very unique human - the type that comes along only once-in-a-billion times (or less). This movie gives a believable story as to how such a rare individual could come to be.
Christian Bale is excellent as Batman/Bruce Wayne. Finally, not some fop in a mask, but a truly complex character who can be genuinely frightening at times - the only way some guy jumping off of rooftops in tights would be able to maintain any sort of street cred! Also, Michael Caine is THE perfect Alfred - of course.
I really liked the creation of Lucius Fox (expertly handled by Morgan Freeman) - Batman needs a scientist/engineer as part of his "support team." I don't know why DC Comics never figured this out (at least they hadn't 40 years ago...).
The actors (esp. Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy) portraying villains are just as good at being bad guys as the actors playing heroes are at playing good guys.
This is a movie based on a child fantasy, and so some willing suspension of disbelief on the part of an adult audience is needed. However, never before has a Batman movie made this so easy to do.