never was a big batman fan but........THIS BLEW ME AWAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Rating: 9/10 (25 July 2005)

yet again we have been treated to a true tour-De-force powerhouse movie that stands very tall with its head held high!!!!!! the only movies that have really got hold of me and given me a real sense of enjoyment (comic strip adaptations this is) is this and the x-men movies.
BATMAN BEGINS the movie....the film starts with a young and innocent Bruce Wayne and its not long until you see why he ended up fearing bats they way he did and as the film progresses you get to see the reason why his parents are murdered and what affect this has on Bruce as he grows up full of hate and unforgivingness, as a result Bruce travels the globe in the hope that he will learn to understand the common criminal and therefore know how to combat them, and this is where he bumps into Liam Neeson who teaches him the ways of the ninja and other ways also in combating "evil" and you can guess the rest. the trick to this film is that you don't get to see batman at all for about an hour and the wait is really worth it, you get the lot in this movie... humour, sharp serious dialogue, great action, great actors and acting... but again the only down side to this movie is that pesky camera work in the fight scenes and it really annoyed me and made me feel a little dizzy at times, but when you look at the film as a whole you do tend to forgive this one and only discrepancy!!! he he..................9/10 for the film and would have been 10 but for the camera work.
BATMAN/BRUCE WAYNE...where has this man been hiding he he, been a fan of bales for a wee while now and i was looking forward to him playing this, but i didn't realise how effective he would be, as the educated and mega rich teenager/business man he pulls this off with such a grizzly swagger and realistic charm you just have to love the guy...i am so glad that Christian bale was aloud to play the character as dark as he did, with so much conviction and because of this you really feel the hate/confusion that runs very deep through him........awesome! 10/10 for me!
ALFRED the butler..... has Michael Caine ever been more suited to a character than Alfred??? i find it very hard to find any that come close, the only other one is probably peachy from "the man who would be king) with Sean Connery, the humour is bang on and really delivers the dialogue with real exuberance and is a delight to watch, witty, sentimental, and has the look of a real butler you could believe to be......10/10 again.
COMISSIONER GORDON.....it is very rare when you get a Gary Oldman performance so perfectly played down as this, if you are a regular at the cinema then you will have no problems identifying him but if you're not you could very easily miss him altogether. Gary plays Gordon as the typical family orientated policeman who is just trying to survive in what is a real crap hole of a city in "Gotham city" where most of the cops are corrupt and the quality of people living there a quite unnerving to say the least.....you don't get the usual Gary Oldman here and just occasionally i would like to have seen just a little bit more of the actor i know and though i didn't get it i loved his character all the same......9/10
HENRI DUCARD/RHA'S AL GHUL.......Liam Neeson is consistently showing some REAL heavyweight performances in Hollywood at the moment and this is just another feather in that bow, for the first hour of the movie nearly all the best scenes had him in them, and was by far a better villain than any of the other batman villains in previous movies put together....this was a man with real issues and real hatred for corruption and lawlessness and his conviction in this movie made me go WOW on more than 1 occasion he he.....what a towering impression he gives when he is being forceful especially during the sword fighting scenes....awesome....apart from sounding a bit like Qui-Gon Jinn in some spots ( still sounded cool just too familiar if thats the right way of putting it) he was cock-on!! 9/10 MORGAN FREEMAN... though this guy is always Mr reliable he was never allowed to shine as much as you hope for in this, purely because his character isn't that big but what you do get you just know you like... he he.
CHRIS NOLAN/ director....well, well ,well! this is excellent directing, the pace of the movie is spot on, the feel he gives you with both the scenery and the dark harsh Gotham city is quite exquisite. you do get lots of shots at like side profile and the use of these angles with shadows over the faces and body positions give you the sense of that you are watching a very dark and gritty movie and right from the get go you know that this is never gonna be like the originals as we know them! the only gripe i have is the use of extreme close up camera work when you get the fights on the go, i know they want you to feel like you're in e the fight but by doing this you lose the beauty of the the action scene and choreography between the actors. because of this i will go 9/10 i hope this is useful to some people and i URGE YOU ALL TO SEE THIS FILM BECAUSE ITS NOT WHAT YOU WOULD EXPECT......its much better!!