Skillful, but drab, retelling of the Bob Kane character.

Rating: Null/10 (18 January 2007)

With the "Batman" feature franchise having become more and more cartoony, outlandish and obnoxious with each passing film, this fifth entry takes a leap backwards and reinvents the characters and tweaks the origin of the character somewhat, so that everything can be given a new spin. ("Casino Royale" would later take the same sort of path as it sought to freshen the successful, but tired, James Bond franchise.) Bale plays Bruce Wayne, a young man haunted by the back-alley killing of his wealthy, philanthropic parents who takes on the guise of the title character in order to combat crime and corruption in Gotham City. He is aided by Caine as the loyal family butler, Oldman as a faithful policeman and Freeman as an inventive employee of his family business. Neeson, Murphy, Hauer, Wilkinson and Watanabe portray opponents with varying degrees of threat and deadliness. Holmes plays a childhood friend of Bale's who grows into a district attorney and is one of the few non-corrupt officials in the town. The film is a visually arresting piece featuring several eye-popping locales such at the Himalayas, the Bat Cave, Wayne Manor and the CGI-enhanced Gotham City. It also takes its time, clocking in a wee bit too long. Oddly, in what is an All-American creation (that is, the character of Batman and his surroundings), the film is loaded down with British actors who, in all but a few cases, are portraying American characters. Holmes and Freeman are practically the only Yanks in the cast! Bale, who had to adopt two American accents, one for Bruce Wayne and a growlier one for Batman, actually did some brief harm to his vocal chords. Despite this anomaly, the cast is impressive and adds weight and presence to the film that might not have been there otherwise. Holmes, on the other hand, suffers by comparison and never looks like anything more than a little girl playing dress up. This is a darker, bleaker Batman than audiences have seen on the big screen and it attempts to do away with the day-glo colors and overtly campy performances that marked some of its predecessors. Unfortunately, some of the fun is missing as a result and this new, more shadowy and mysterious Batman manages to lack visibility in the film! It's hard to catch a good full-length glimpse of Bale in his suit. Also (such as in the first "Superman" movie), it takes quite a while for the costume to appear in the first place. Another side effect of this grittier and more authentic approach is the introduction of a truly ugly Batmobile, a car that has previously had iconic status. Finally, never minding the fact that this is a refurbished and recycled version of the character, the finished product is incredibly routine and predictable with many of the standard storyline clichÃ©s in evidence. It's odd that so much work could be put into a vibrant new incarnation and then have it play out so ordinarily, though it was likely mandated by the studio, which is keenly aware that blockbuster audiences enjoy the familiar.