Spoilers? Guano to Gold

Rating: 7/10 (18 June 2006)

Okay, let me tell you. I've always preferred Spiderman to Batman. I don't know why. And when most of the first 45 minutes of this movie turned out to be dull stuff about Batman being a ninja and lots of boring blathering about Eastern philosophy complete with (poppy?) sniffing. C'mon. I don't care if it was in some mystical original version way back when (don't know) or not. I hope not. The execution of whatever idea they were trying to make was painfully bad. I came very close to turning it off (saw it on Cable...big screen TV, at least) with the phrase "guano" (as in "bat poop") coming to mind.
But then, once they got through that (except for another boring segment with the Kung-Fu/Jedimaster/wannabe badguy showing up again near the end), the rest of the movie was WAY COOL MAN. Grin. And may I say that I actually got spooked with the drug-induced vision of black-toothed Batman? I couldn't look at him straight on. Creeped me out! I think I need that delicious DA Dawes (in that silk blouse she wore braless at the end of the movie, please) to snuggle and comfort me. But I digress.
My point is that, especially after reading that the Batmobile is a real vehicle and that no special effects were used for it, this was the most palpably realistic version, complete with the brooding feeling that Bruce Wayne/Batman "ain't quite right" and could turn back to evil at any time, that grainy voice...It was all just very, very well done. It answers all of your questions about Batman, his genesis, his weapons, his vehicle, his motivations. All great stuff and very satisfying.
The first place in my superhero heart will always be Spidey (maybe it's because I prefer redheads and am still looking for my Mary Jane). But Batman gave him some serious competition in this movie. Be afraid, be very afraid. This guy can turn guano to gold.