On par with Spider-Man and X2

Rating: 8/10 (21 June 2005)

I went to see this movie with high expectations, and left fulfilled.
Forget everything about the first four Batman movies. The last one is less than average, and is probably making some folks uneasy about seeing this movie. Beat it out of your head, because this Batman is much different from its predecessors. It isn't as fruity, and glamorous as the last few, and it really carves a more complete picture of Bruce Wayne.
This flick is about Bruce Wayne and his transformation into the dark knight. The Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins is lost and angry. He slowly learns to channel that energy into justice. His ascension may be slow for some people. However, it is laid out with nice action sequences, so that may please some.
Cristian Bale and Gary Oldman do fine jobs in their roles. Gary Oldman is one with his character, like he usually is. The Scarecrow character is acted well too.
The thing that bothers me about this movie is Bruce's mentor. It has to do with a twist near the end of the film that I don't want to spoil. Regardless, you will probably enjoy this if you liked Spider-Man.