Good movie, but not the savior of comics turned to film

Rating: 7/10 (4 June 2008)

Batman Begins (2005) is the return of the dark knight to the big screen for the first time since the abysmal Batman and Robin (1997). Unquestionably, it is a very well made film. For Batman films, it contains the best story, arguably the best supporting cast, and generally good direction and pacing. All the pieces are in place, but the execution of these assets falls a little short. The film builds itself up, but in the end, does not entertain as well as it could have.
First of all, Christian Bale is Batman and Bruce Wayne. He does a good job overall. This film gives him the most screen time as Wayne and in my opinion he does well at portraying the troubled younger man following the death of his parents. What follows was meant to be a steady evolution into darker mental anguish and self-discovery and as we all know culminates into his ultimate decision to become Batman. Somewhere along the line, however, his acting and his character simply no longer develop, yet the story does quite well. He stops the change in character too early and he remains static for the rest of the film. Though that final character type is good enough to be Batman, it feels forced when we hear him yelling at one of his victims for the first time, shouting at the top of his lungs and in a cheap imitation of raspiness. It's hard to describe I guess, but then so is the disjointed nature of Batman.
The origin story of Batman in this film very interesting here, however. Being trained in the ninja arts is appropriate, and it is well-supported by the mentor in Liam Neeson. I am not a reader of the comics, so I know little of his true origins, but for film purposes, it was very well done.
As for the rest of the supporting cast, Michael Caine is perfect as Alfred, and he adds good comic relief and humanity to what is missing from Batman. Morgan Freeman is Morgan Freeman, but why complain when he's got the greatest voice ever? He even gets in some good one-liners. Gary Oldman was good in his role as Sergeant, and then Lieutenant Gordon. The only duds in the cast come through Cilian Murphy as a pretty boring villain and Katie Holmes is useless, though they both try... They really just don't get enough screen time, and Holmes could've shown some skin.
So the parts are in place. How does it turn out? It's my opinion, but I just never felt any... excitement when I watched it. It was all methodical and professional to be sure, but it just didn't do anything to step forward and entertain. It plays it safe. Even the soundtrack is subdued and at times unrepresentative of what I was hoping for, but true to what I got. The action sequences, for instance, are edited rapidly, and you never see two characters, on screen at the same time, even for the giving and receiving end of a single punch or kick. Why? This makes it almost impossible to get a real confrontation to help cheer Batman on.
In summary, it's good film and good revival of the series, but it leaves a little to be desired. I expect the Dark Knight to easily top this.