Great, fast, myth-making, beautifully filmed...a Nolan movie about Batman

Rating: 7/10 (21 July 2012)

Batman Begins (2005)
I saw this for a second time last night as kind of homework before seeing "Dark Knight Rises" and it is a marvel of movie-making, for sure. It's also filled with crazily exaggerated legends and it gives depth to many characters who have become as important to Batman as the evil enemies he faces. It has a few sections that are expository that slowed it down, but not for long, and some of the action scenes are astonishing technical feats.
This is the first in what has turned out to be a trilogy, and it begins at the beginning, much like movies have done for Spiderman and Superman. Besides being far-fetched (the ninja fighters training our wandering orphan in some mountain retreat are the same ones who sacked Rome, etc.), it at first creates a different kind of movie, less about fighting evil than developing the skills and psychology to be superhuman. And those blue poppies they inhale--well, they comes into play later, too.
So Bruce Wayne gets initiated, returns to Gotham, and slowly gets his equipment compiled, much of it stuff concocted by the wily and reassuring Mr. Fox, played by Morgan Freeman. The butler, played by Michael Caine, is in on the secret duality of our man from the start, and helps him in both practical and moral-boosting ways. It's all exciting and yet warm at the same time. You really wish there was such a Batman, with friends.
Where the movie thins out, even as the action gets increasingly over the top, is even the slightest logic to the plot. You really have to just say, okay, this is a comic book world, and there really might be a plot to destroy Gotham simply because it's reached its peak of civilization. And there really might be a little machine with enough microwave power to vaporize the entire water system of the city. Just go with it.
Certainly we have no trouble believing Batman can come and go like magic, glide with beautiful memory fabric wings, and shoot his rescue rope (like Spiderman) into faraway nooks. We all want to do this, and Christopher Nolan, the director, makes it dramatic like few others have. As many have written, this is the second best adventure hero movie ever. That might be true--there are a few others in line in my book--but it is probably easier to agree that the second in the trilogy, "The Dark Knight," is better than them all.
But this led to that, and it's a great movie for this type. I mean, there are different kinds of movies that might leave you moved and even changed afterwards. Those are great movies. This one is a great movie experience, pure unapologetic entertainment. With lots of human moments and enough depth you can even watch it twice. I just did, and it worked.