Batman is Born

Rating: 9/10 (10 May 2006)

When I heard that my favorite actor and great love of my life Christian Bale was going to play the part of Batman and that Christopher Nolan was directing I went to the moon! By far the greatest Batman adaptation in films to date! Intelligently written by David S. Goyer (he is credited for writing Blade) tells the full origins of Batman: from the traumatized little boy that witnessed the violent murder of his parents to the bitter vigilante to the myth hero we all love. Bruce Wayne (Bale) is trained by Ras-Al Ghul (Liam Neeson) in Nepal. He returns to the corrupt and crime filled Gotham City with his training and philosophy with the help of his trusted butler Alfred (perfectly casted Michael Caine), soon to become Commissioner Gordon (the great Gary Oldman), and Lucius Fox (wonderfully played by Morgan Freeman) who provides Bruce with the gadgets including the ultimate badass Batmobile (a cross between a tank and a lamborghini)! Bruce/Batman is also reunited with his childhood friend and prosecutor Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes...hmmm, no comment...yet). Bruce is battling Gotham crime boss Carmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson who is always reliable and surprising as an Italian mob boss) and Dr. Jonathan Crane aka The Scarecrow (the sexy and chillingly good Cillian Murphy). This is my favorite movie and it is without question going to make even more and may even be better when the sequel comes out. The only reason why I gave Batman Begins a 9 out of 10 is because of the casting of Katie Holmes. She is a lovely actress and she has turned up some good performances in past films, but unfortunately she played the character weakly and flatly...no real depth or even real perception as the character was meant to be. She comes out too phony and plays certain scenes out of cue. She was terribly miscast and the only flaw in the film. Other than that it is an intelligent entertaining thriller and it pays homage to the comic book hero. Christian Bale is perfect in the role of Batman: brooding, tragic, intelligent, and may I also say hot as hell! He is without question to me the thinking woman's sex symbol and a greatly underrated great actor. Once he again, Christian Bale proves that talent outweighs star power.