BEST FILM OF 2005, Tops my top 5 list now.

Rating: 10/10 (15 June 2005)

I was lucky enough to attend the midnight showing of Batman Begins, and from walking away from it, I have to say "wow". Words can't describe how beautiful of a film this is, for in the land of superhero movies, it not only blows away the Spiderman series, but practically every superhero movie that I've grown up with. This is the best Superhero film ever made.
But maybe saying Superhero is a little off. Batman's more of a vigilante then a superhero. Sure it's a comic book superhero movie all around, but don't get me wrong, this is not a film you want to take the young ones too. It's dark, it's violent at times, and it's very moody. There's a lot of thematic elements in this film, including how Bruce Wayne deals with the death of his parents.
The film opens with Bruce Wayne (played by Christain Bale) in a prison. He's there not because he's necessarily done anything wrong, but because he's studying the criminal mind. He's in a foreign country that is never explained, but it doesn't need to be explained. After getting in a street brawl with six goons at the prison, he's thrown in a solitary confinement cell, where Henry Ducard (Liam Neeson) begins to talk to him, telling him that he can train him.
The first hour of the film is about the events that lead up to Bruce Wayne becoming Batman. They explain how he got the toys, what he's going to do, and why he's doing it.
The real stand out role here isn't of Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne, but as Batman. The first night he goes out as Batman is probably the biggest and greatest scene I've seen in a movie. I love Michael Keaton, but Bale just blows him away in this performance. He even has the different voice down.
There's a major plot twist at the end of the movie, and unless your a Batman junkie like myself, you will probably be surprised.
Cillian Murphy does a fantastic job as Dr. Jonathan "The Scarecrow" Crane. Although he's not in the film a ridiculous amount of time, the film isn't centered on the villains, like the previous four films. It's also not outlandish, cartoonish, or down right stupid. None of the lines in the film were stupid to me, and the script felt like it was masterfully written.
In fact the cast alone did a outstanding job. Even Katie Holmes (who plays Rachael Dawson) I thought did good, despite getting bad press for this film.
The other real big stand out here though is Michael Cane. I love Michael Gough in the other four Batman films as Alfred, but Michael Cane just makes this so real, he's so caring and loving, you just love him.
One other performance I'll mention is that of Gary Oldman who plays Sargent Jim Gorden. We all know later he's the Commishioner, but man he looks just like the comic books, and he speaks with the elegance you would expect of him. Outstanding.
So will Batman Begins win any awards? I doubt it. Superhero films are snubbed year after year. But this year I really hope that the Academy has the imagination to look at some of the performances in this film, especially that of Christian Bale.
Batman Begins easily goes down as not only the best super hero movie ever made, but one of the best films of 2005, if not, the BEST FILM OF 2005! I urge anyone to go see it.