A fresh start for a franchise that desperately deserved it

Rating: 7/10 (23 June 2007)

This movie lot of fun. You should definitely see it if you don't mind canon changes (again, after all, this is DC we're talking about), and/or if you like Christian Bale, Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman or Morgan Freeman. All fabulous in this.
--spoilers past this point-- I love Gary Oldman. He made this movie worth watching for me. Every time he was on screen, I squeed. And you could tell he was having fun, too. Particularly when he got to use the Batmobile. ;D And they showed his family! I wanna see Babs! (But I'm more than willing to wait.) Things that worked: the training sequences, particularly the final training fight between Christian and Liam, which was excellently choreographed. The idea that Wayne Enterprises was being run by a board, because his father was a doctor in canon, so it was a nice nod to why there was a corporation. Where the bat-toys came from! OMG, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox. And he was excellent. "Mister Wayne...Don't think of me as an idiot." :D The slow development of Bruce Wayne, depressed and guilty millionaire's son to Batman was just about perfect. Also, Ra's Al Ghul's part in the story was perfect. I had my doubts when I saw that the person playing him wasn't well-known, but trust me...he's PERFECT. Also, I loved that they used Crane/Scarecrow in this very first story. And that for once, the did multiple villains *right*. It ends up setting up everything to come. The final scene with Gordon and Batman on the rooftop (another great line... "I couldn't find a mob boss"), and his clue for this Arkham criminal Batman's going to have to capture (no, I won't say which. It's obvious when you see the clue, but it's a biggie.) were excellent. Gives me hope for good movies in the future.
The bad: I felt rather beat over the head with the "Fear" mallet, specifically at the beginning. And they didn't follow through on it nearly enough. They were obviously having too much fun with the car-chases, blowing things up, and other action scenes. Oh, and I don't hate Katie Holmes, but does she have any other acting style? I swear she was just being Joey from Dawson's Creek. Not what I wanted to see. I would much have preferred to see Talia (Ra's daughter) as a love interest. Seeing as how she really didn't do much for the plot, and their "romance" was nonexistent. Michael Cane was nice, but felt mostly unused. I would have liked something more for him to do than snark sweetly at still-evolving Bruce.
What I would like from the next one? More thought, less action, more plot. One villain (Joker or Two-face would be nice, but not necessary). And a true love interest...who doesn't find out/figure out who Batman is, or even get taken to his cave, k?