Pretty standard addition to the saga, but at least it was entertaining

Rating: 7/10 (22 July 2005)

To say Batman Begins belongs in the top 250 is quite a stretch. While the film seemed to have few shortcomings, you just knew this would turn into some cliché studio film that the masses would eat up.
I will start with the good stuff. I will say, watching this film was pretty interesting, for this version of Gotham City is a little more colorful (yet subtle) than in previous movies (let's not even start about Batman Forever). I had doubts whether Christian Bale could hold his own in this film, but I guess anyone can be wrong on any given day. He does have a presence to him that is quite strong and focused, much in the same way Michael Keaton played Batman, who was tiring and strung out in his versions. The casting was pretty good, getting a wide swath of actors as opposed to the flavors of the month. I was especially happy to see Gary Oldman once again (this time in a normal costume), for you never know what kind of nuance you'll get with him in the picture.
This sadly leads to the dreadful parts. Katie Holmes, Katie Holmes, Katie Holmes. Just like that waste of space, she was a waste of a perfectly good role. Sadly, Cillian Murphy barely existed in this film, and his character was a rather intriguing one. Another factor in the film that was completely cliché and a juxtaposition of "trendy" film-making was the whole ninja shadow army (or whatever the heck they called themselves). I would have much rather preferred the whole battle with organized crime as opposed to the Shadow thing. The pacing wasn't that great, but it was starting to get too long I guess. And let's not forget the utter absurdity of the new Batmobile, which was ridiculous.
Batman Begins will certainly make money, but hopefully they do a much more polished job on the next film.