Batman the way it was meant to be

Rating: 10/10 (16 June 2005)

Not to impugn the great works of Tim Burton, because I think of him as one of the most talented directors of our generation, but Batman Begins finally gets it right. The lavish cinematography of Burtons films was nice to look at but had very little character development and plot. And of course lets not even speak of Batman Forever/Batman and Robin which thought it would be a good idea to go back to the old TV show roots. Funky camera angles mixed with corny dialog and terrible acting made those films a nightmare for the Batman follower.
Luckily Batman Begins heals the black eye that it received on account of those two films. This Batman is dark, foreboding and downright scary at times. Bats flipping at you randomly are enough to make even the calmest of people cling to the rafters.
This movie has plot, character development (not just Batmans development but even Krane, Ra's Al Ghul and the devoted Alfred.), and is just a wonderful spectacle to look at. Gary Oldman as Sgt. Gordon almost steals the show along with his accomplice Alfred, played perfectly by Michael Caine. Bale is an excellent Batman, truly dark and scary in the scenes that call for it, yet a lighthearted playboy playing Bruce Wayne. Cillian Murphy, although a smaller part than we're used to for the Batman villains, does a wonderful job as The Scarecrow, and his fear induced episodes are truly frightening. This film has other noteworthy performances by Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman and both of them show what good actors can do when given a good script and direction.
Unlike many action movies, Batman also has foreshadowing! An art almost lost on todays movies. There are things you see in overviews of Gotham City and places that Wayne goes that appear in the final nail biting scenes. Everything is nicely laid out for you if you are clever enough to see it.
Batman is back in a big way. The only question is will they make another? It's open for another one or they could just leave it as a tie in to the original. The choice is theirs.
Welcome back our fine winged friend