New day and new story for DC's most celebrated superhero

Rating: 8/10 (16 April 2018)

After the 1990s Batman cartoons ended their run on TV and the first Batman film series went downhill (courtesy of the Joel Schumacher films), I was a little curious when I heard there was going to be a new Batman in 2005. Would it outdo the originals? Would it redeem the franchise? Some might say their favorite Batman is Michael Keaton, but Christian Bale is my second-favorite with Kevin Conroy as the first (albeit in voice). Not only did this movie redeem the franchise, it brought a lot of familiar faces to the cast, including Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Liam Neeson. One thing I noticed about the Chris Nolan Batman films was that it's more realistic than the past Batman adaptations and the characters are more modern-day types. The villains lost their over-the-top motifs and are less supernatural (look at Ra's Al Ghul). Plus the Batmobile is more modern than the sports car type we were so used to seeing previously (Hope that didn't spoil anything!).
But the action is there and we get a more true origin story of Bruce Wayne, the man who would become Batman. It gets better as you watch the film from start to finish. This is the more serious Batman (and less of an action comedy with all the ridiculous puns and campiness). So forget the Joel Schumacher Batman films and try something a lot less gaudy and something darker and more serious. This movie got me back into Batman and it worked. Now Batman is my favorite of all the DC superheroes. He's the most realistic guy since Marvel's Tony Stark (AKA Iron Man).