Our prayers have been answered!

Rating: 9/10 (31 July 2005)

THANK YOU, thank you, thank you! This is the Batman I've been waiting over a decade for. Batman is back to being dark, but most importantly, Batman is back to being PLAUSIBLE! What made Batman a unique superhero to begin with was that there was no need for aliens, super powers, magic potions, cosmic radiation, whatever. Batman as a concept is easily the easiest to swallow out of all the major superheroes. Here was a guy who could actually live in our world and needed only great wealth and a dedication to his cause to make the hero a reality.
It was that plausibility that I felt was the most precious thing that a Batman film had to maintain. And especially since Batman Forever, the films have been pissing all over it, culminating in that crap fiesta Batman & Robin.
I for one didn't care if some of the Batman mythology details had to be changed, as long as it seemed believable. Nolan seemed to agree. We can finally swallow the Batsuit, Batmobile, Batcave, Batman's martial arts, Batgadgets, and Gotham City. The previous films shamelessly used Alfred to explain every unlikely thing, much in the same way religious people use God.
"Batman has a brand-new Batmobile! How? Alfred's a damn good mechanic! Batgirl wants to fight alongside Batman right this second but she has no form-fitting suit! That's OK, Alfred took the liberty! Alfred makes all the suits, cars, gadgets, and singlehandedly built the Batcave." Bull%$#@. Schumacher ran Batman into the ground, hopelessly mucking up the story. Nolan refused to pay for Schmucker's mistake and started with a blank slate. Good choice. Though truth be told, it was the only choice.
So now we FINALLY get the story on how Batman and his world came to be. And not only does that bring in the credibility, but it also puts the focus back on Batman!! Batman's been upstaged by the villain in all 4 previous films... and it's not that the bad guys this time around are somehow lamer, it's just that every previous movie has dealt with how and why THEY came to be instead of how BATMAN came to be. THEY were the ones undergoing the character arc while Batman was pretty much the good boy scout and the same character throughout all the movies.
Anyway, I could go on and on. But stop reading this, go watch the movie. Kudos, kudos, kudos.