Very solid origin story for Batman

Rating: 9/10 (27 March 2019)

Right of the bat, there's a very keen interest on the screenwriters and director's part to delve into Batman's backstory and get to know the man behind the mask. Such in-depth study had never before been done for the titular character in any of its previous iterations for the big screen. More attention had been given to the production design, special and visual effects and main villains, while Batman himself was often relegated to be a secondary character in his own movie, playing second fiddle to everything else that was around him.
This time around, and under the firm guidance of Nolan and his creative team, we get to explore the psyche and humanity behind the hero; all of this, of course, with the great help of a truly inspired Christian Bale. He is, to me at least, what Chris Reeve was for Superman; the perfect incarnation of the comic book character.
Supported by a great cast, chief among whom, Gary Oldman as future Commisioner Gordon, Michael Caine as Alfred and Liam Neeson as the main villain Rha's Al Ghul, deserve especial mention, Bale delivers one of the best performances of his career. But none of that could have been achieved without the vision of Christopher Nolan. Following in the footsteps of Richard Dooner's Superman The Movie and with the help of a creative team, David S. Goyer chief among them, who really understand and respect the source material, he delivers one of the best translations of a comic book character to the big screen ever seen.
Production values aside, which of course are top notch, this movie owes much of its success to a very well written and solid script. This is the main foundation around which everything else is so well structured.
There is one drawback to this movie,though, and the main reason why it doesn't get top marks from me. And that would be the action set pieces. As well planned and choreographed as they surely were, their execution onscreen is not on par with it and in this instance, blame must surely be laid on the feet of a director that, before this movie, wasn't especially recognized for the way he handled heavy action sequences. They are correct, for the most part, but lack the energy of someone used to dealing with this kind of subject matter. Hans Zimmer's score has some very nice bits to it, but never reaches the heights that John Williams did for his Superman score. Nitpicking aside, a very solid and very well put together Superhero movie.