Well, at least it was better then Batman and Robin!

Rating: 8/10 (25 January 2006)

Batman Begins is an attempt to restart the lucrative Batman franchise that was previously explored by the visionary Tim Burton and the Hollywood hack known as Joel Schumacher. The film is directed this time around by one of my favorite filmmakers, Chris Nolan, who in case you didn't know wrote and directed one of my favorite films Memento.
The film boasts an impressive, Oscar winning cast with such names as Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman, Tom Wilkinson, and randomly... KATIE HOLMES??? All of these actors turn in decent performances, except for the Holmes who looks way to young, and simply is a really, really bad actress.
Christian Bale plays the title role and does a fair job. However I found him to be very bland as Wayne, and frankly a bit over the top as Batman. Maybe its because Bale decides to use this ridiculous voice whenever he puts on the Batman suit which makes him sound a bit like Clint Eastwood on crack! The story is much darker this time around but is still slightly ridiculous. The filmmakers continued to stress that they were shooting for REALISM, however the plot still includes James bond like super weapons, zombies, people falling hundreds of feet and emerging unharmed, and gadgets that all mysteriously have ties to the military and that gives them realistic credibility.
The movie begins well with flashbacks to Waynes parents being gunned down in an alley, then moves forward to Wayne as a young man traveling the world in search of personal enlightenment, and the means to lay a severe smack down on anyone who pisses him off. Now these early scenes are shot well, and delve deep into Bruce Wayne's character, however once Wayne completes his journey and returns to Gotham, and puts on the suit things go to absolute hell!!! The action scenes are filmed in intense darkness and are shot close up, and edited quickly. Now I'm all for in your face action, I thought it would be in the style of the two Bourne movies, however I was dead wrong. Nolan never gives you a chance to see what the hell is going on, and this in turn makes for very boring fight scenes. I know that fight scenes are not what make a movie good, but I think in a Batman movie you should still be able to see who is hitting who.
The script was written by Nolan and David Goyer, (Blade) and while parts of it are good, some are cheesy and downright laughable. This was another disappointment because Nolan is a terrific writer, and I really had high hopes that he would deliver another fantabulous script.
All in all I would say go to see Batman if you don't mind a bad plot, horrible action, and cheesy one liners, ( when commissioner gordon see's the batmobile for the first time he exclaims "I got to get me one of those!") The first 45 minutes are really good, but I would recommend walking out after Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham.