Christopher Nolan is a genius

Rating: 8/10 (20 June 2005)

Finally Hollywood has figured out that you don't take a talent like Nolan and mess with his creations. Nolan has given the only serious looking Batman comic adaptation I can think off. Christian Bale isn't just a man in a costume, he is literally put into a metamorphosis. The screenwriters have connected what matters most and that is the transformation from a naive rich kid, to man who conquers his own demons.
Secondly this film looks so much like the panels of a DC comic book, that the similarities are unreal. Bale as a young man looks so much younger than the reserved changed Wayne even on film, although Bale of course never ages in the picture. The shots of the death of Wayne's parents are so much like the comics that I was transported to reading them again.
Nolan has a great touch for directing darkness (not just physical but mood as well), and playing with shadows. This Batman, we hardly see, and foes drop around like flies before we the audience can figure out what is going on.
Dr. Krane, is also brilliantly cast as a sinewy doctor that looks like he will waste away at any moment.
Not quite the perfection of Memento or Insomnia, but it's good enough for me.
8 out of 10