The Dark Knight Reborn

Rating: 10/10 (15 June 2005)

Okay, everyone that knows me knows I really love the first two Tim Burton Batman movies. However...Batman Begins is the best Batman movie ever. It explores the character's motivations with remarkable depth, and actually takes it's time letting the plot and characters develop. It's little over an hour into the film before Bruce Wayne ever even puts the cape and cowl on. This Batman is dark, and vengeful...more so than even Burton's Batman films. Christian Bale is wonderful in the role, bringing a truly brooding intensity to the Dark Knight, and Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon is perfect as well. The rest of the cast fits like a glove, as well (my only real complaint is that Ken Watanabe didn't get as much screen time as I expected, but it's just as well). What strikes me most about this movie is how believable it is: there's not a whole lot of moments where you look at the film and go "no way that could really happen". The characters are the heart of the story here, not their gimmicks or even their "wonderful toys". I truly hope this version of Batman continues on: If handled correctly it could knock Spiderman out of the running for best superhero movie series. 10/10