Excellent Movie .. But a Change of Pace

Rating: 10/10 (20 June 2005)

Others have beautifully described this elegant film, so i will dispense with trying to copy what has already been done.
My contribution is slightly negative. Even though i gave the movie 10 out of 10, there was one thing that bothered me the whole time. I really feel that this movie should have been given a different title. "Batman Begins" uses the same naming convention as the other Batman series... "Batman Returns .. Batman Forever .. Batman Begins," but this movie is clearly something completely different. The other movie series was Batman in its own movie world. This one is more strongly tied to his comic book roots. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, in fact, i loved it... however, when Bruce's parents were killed, and then the killer shot dead years later, i was left scratching my head. "He's supposed to become the Joker in the 'next' movie," i thought to myself.
I walked into this movie expecting it to be a "prequal" of the existing movie series, not the start of a new one. I feel that difference is very important, and should have been more clearly presented to the public.
That, however, was the only gripe i had. It was beautifully shot, wonderful written, and expertly cast. A true gem.