Best Batman

Rating: 10/10 (8 April 2006)

Batman is a franchise that was nearly ruined in the Joel Schumacher days. I have been a fan of the 90's animated series, Tim Burton films, and the comic books to a limited extent. Batman Begins redeems the entire franchise from movies to animated series in recent days.
The movie opens with Bruce as a child falling into a well housing bats. Maybe a tiny bit hokey, but this new "fear" explanation works better than just taking the Burton route and just leaving his origins alone.
Action sequences are often handled using close ups, the kind often seen in movies like Braveheart or Gladiator. The problem with close ups is that it can be hard to tell what is happening on screen. The DVD explains that the shots were designed to put the audience in the mind of the villains. We are having just as hard a time telling where he is going to hit as they will. Artistic, but maybe a little too much.
My only real problems with the movie lie with the microwave emitter. Firstly, the emitter should be "cooking" everyone within it's range or beam or whatever; and Second, When the toxin is released into the air, none of the people attack each other, they act as a zombie mob wanting to attack only those not afflicted by the hallucinogen.
My gripes are only minor and can easily by the sheer genius of the film's undertaking. Everyone except Katie Holmes shone on screen giving the first real glimpse into the life of Batman as seen on film.