A welcome departure

Rating: 9/10 (30 November 2009)

From the Burton/Schumacher Batman movies. It actually tries to write Batman as someone who could live in our very real world, and even being filmed in Chicago, with it's very real backdrops.
The Top tier villains being wasted in the previous four outings, Nolan scrapes the bottom of the villain barrel. This is probably a good thing, because we get to concentrate more on the character of Batman, who was largely overshadowed by his villains in the previous outings. He makes them more realistic, rather than over the top characters in Halloween costumes. Ra's al Ghul is not an immortal being, but just a guy who runs a shadowy organization. The Scarecrow is more of a run of the mill sociopath...
So the movie concentrates on Batman and Bruce Wayne, along with his relationships with Alfred and Sergeant Jim Gordon. There is also the love relationship with Rachel Dawes (to end tragically in the next film), and a hint of what is to come with the Joker.