Made a fan out of me.

Rating: 8/10 (19 July 2005)

While never really being a great fan of the comics (not a big super-hero fan per se) I was expecting a couple of hours of silly but mildly entertaining camp-fest. I did find some enjoyment in Tim Burton's earlier Burlesque-o-fest vision although I always found the whole 'batty'-concept a bit tedious.
Batman Begins simply blew me away. Taking it's time building the story, focusing on the characters and actually succeeding in the all necessary suspension of disbelief. Unlike the earlier films, this Bruce Wayne seems like a real person living in a real(ish) world. Gone are the strong primary colours campy cartoon-villains and silly one-liners. What we're left with is so much better - a modern action-drama equal to anything else in the genre.
The casting is pretty much spot on as well, although I surprisingly found Kathy Holmes somewhat lacking in her part. (A bit surprising as I've always championed her to be the next "big thing"). Bale is excellent though as is the remainder of the supporting cast - sporting names like Rutger Hauer, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Ken Watanabe, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman.
Not much to say though, except I was down right impressed. Who would have thought I'd suddenly find Batman cool at the age of 33...