The redemption of a franchise.

Rating: 8/10 (17 June 2005)

Opinionated review to follow. All outrageous claims I make from here on out are my own opinions. You're welcome to disagree.
The Director -
I knew Chris Nolan was a great director, but considering his caliber of films I'd never imagine he'd be one to opt for a Batman flick. About a half hour into Batman Begins I got some idea of why he chose to. He loves to tell a vigilante's tale. He loves it, and is (in this viewers opinion) great at it. His two more acclaimed films--Insomnia, and Memento--were also about strong willed, complicated men trying to do right within the torn fabric of their own lives. Nolan puts us so close to these men that we could taste their frustration, sadness, and rage as they try to somehow reverse the wrongs that have shaped their lives. Nolan takes the same care with Bruce Wayne's story as he did with Pacino's Will Dormer, and Guy Pearce's Leonard Shelby while still working within the Mythology.
Batman Begins isn't just an action flick to Nolan, it seemedhe really just wants to tell Bruce Wayne's story, who just happens to be Batman. My biggest complaint with the movie was that some of the action felt forced, and Nolan's choice to use close up, jump cut, action sequences and fight scenes made many of them feel too confined and lacking of real space to fully appreciate the acrobatics. After we watched this a friend of mine put it simply, "Hands, arms and elbowsthat's all I could make out in most those fight scenes." That's not to say his inexperience in the 'action sequence' is a hindrance in the film; he breaks out of his confinement in the chase sequence involving the Batmobile (that can't be a spoilerit's Batmanyou knew there was going to be a chase scene with the Batmoblie) and I almost got up and cheered. There are also some fight sequences that played out wonderfully. In the end though it's just hands, arms, and elbows.
If he used computer graphics at all in this move they were totally covert and that was refreshing. If he used them in any great amount, he took a page out of Robert Zemeckis' book. (You'd likely be stunned how much computer animation is in Castaway, if you didn't know already.)
The Actors 
Christian Bale, this guy can throw down. I mean come on, he was Jim in Empire of the Sun and now he's playing Batman. Skills I tell you, skills. Another friend mentioned that he was channeling Michael's Keaton's Batman; that is of course not a bad thing to say. Sometimes the dialogue went into the realm of cheese but that's more Goyer's fault than Bale's, and Bale was hardly the only strong actor there that had to wade through it.
Gary Oldman is a flippin' chameleon. I literally had to remind myself that Jim Gordon was Gary Oldman several times. He plays it so cool too, and is the epitome of a giving actor. The man can steal a scene, but not once in this movie does he. Wellonce, but that's all the more gratifying when it happens because he's such an underplayed character. He's marvelous in his subdued simplicity.
Cillian Murphy creeps me out. He was great in 28 Days Later, and he's great herejust damn creepy. Stephen King has mentioned that one of the scariest things to him is having a debilitating sickness, and being cared for by people who could care less about him. I couldn't agree more. The clinical nature of Dr. Jonathan Crane pulled that primordial fear to the surface for me.
Morgan Freeman sometimes acts in a movie, and sometimes he's a cameo. He does a little of both here.
Katie Holmes is a dish; too bad she's probably a Scientologist.
Liam Neeson comes to play.
Michael Cain plays the most distinguished Alfred I've seen yet, and he does a good job of expressing the story of how Alfred could become such and acquiescent servant to his madman of a master.
The Writer 
David Goyer can create a good story in the broad sense of 'plot'. It's when it comes to the fine details that his scripts seem to hop of the rail a little. It's all too formulaic for my tastes. You can rest assure that when you see a gun in the first actit WILL be used by the third. There are not too many surprises here.
Final Word 
I liked this movie, but felt it stretched on a bit too long. This could have easily been a blunder (See Schumacher's Batman and Robin, the ONLY movie I ever walked out of) but the talented director and cast pulled through admirably. Some kinks here and there, but for what it is it's defiantly worth the price of admission.