very good

Rating: 9/10 (5 July 2005)

I must say i thought the bat franchise was dead but well done to Chris Nolan and everyone involved with the film. The film was well made and well thought out and thankfully didn't take it self to seriously, which was what i was expecting.
the film shows the origin of Bruce Wayne, from a child, to his parents death and eventually to adulthood and as THE BATMAN. however it is all done in flashback in a interesting and sensible way. As we continue to flashback between past and present we see why Bruce want to be batman, and how he becomes batman.
eventually batman is shown in the film, but there's is some great plot development to keep us entertained before then. development of Bruce Wayne and everyone around him. something the other films could not get their heads round was the development of Bruce Wayne and batman, and here both characters are more interesting than in any other batman film. unlike spider man this doesn't rely on cheesy writing, bad dialogue and bad acting. its by no means perfect, but a hell of a lot better to other superhero films. spider man 1 was an origin story, which i found overrated and at times, dreadful, it wasn't bad overall but i dint enjoy it as much as i thought i would. spider man 2 was much better and enjoyable and deserved its praise, though again suffered form this kind of dialogue. batman begins doesn't suffer from that or Kirsten Dunst poor rendition of cheesy lines given to her from Sam Raimi and co, yes the dialogue isn't the best at times, but the acting is so impeccable that its delivered well and is believable, in spider man i was cringing so much, but potentially, cringe worthy dialogue was delivered so well it seemed real.
there's is great chemistry between the actors and this helped in developing Chris Nolan and David Goyer's version of batman come to life. i still don't think that Christian bale is the best actor in the world, but like Tobey Maguire as peter parker, he fits his character perfectly. he gives Bruce Wayne new dimensions, and his batman is amazing. his voice though need to be more consistent in the sequel as its all over the place at times. he was perfect as Bruce Wayne, and good as batman, the best yet, but still room to improve as batman though. Michael Caine i thought was oddly cast, and its odd how he remains the same despite to have aged 20 yrs, but Caine shocked me, giving a level of depth and emotion that i never saw before. Michael Gough was great but Caine is excellent perhaps better writing or development of the character helped. hes like father to Bruce and acts like it. you can tell there's friendship and love and bale and Caine have great chemistry an believable together. Caine accent did change a lot during the film though, again needs bit more consistency in his voice for the sequel but he was still superb. Liam Neeson i find slightly overrated, but there's no doubt hes got presence. and he has that in abundance here, we as an audience also find him likable and nice which neeson delivers well on. as ducard he is great he can change from nice mentor to strict bad guy in a click of a finger. this was one of his best performances that I've seen from him for a long time. he was utterly convincing and realistic and not over the top. brilliant, best performance in the film. i heard that Katie Holmes was awful but i find her good in this. really they should have put a proper character form the comics, selina kyle or something as it so obvious that Rachel Dawes wont be used next time. I'm fed up of seeing throw away women characters like this in Batman. and i hope this is sorted next time. Katie is good and acts well and holds her own. Gary oldman is so understated its untrue, his performance was great and I'm really looking forward to see his character develop in the sequel. the character at last was done right and now with a top notch actor can be one of the best characters that we know he can be. oldman is utterly believable and well thought out. cillian murphy was so creepy as the psychiatrist,you really don't want. muprhy has so much charm and his pretty boy looks are perfect for the ice cold character underneath. he acts well with great presence, and gives the creepy character some depth would love to see him in a sequel. tom Wilkinson gives a slightly over the top performance, but his delivery was good and again has good presence. one of England's best actors and he doesn't disappoint, even though the character is different form the comics. Rutger hauer is good and slimy and the money grubbing executive or wayned industries. ken wantanabe has presence but is wasted. Morgan freeman is good as usual, and handily give the development of Bruce Wayne and his toys.
all in all this gives a new start to the bat franchise with a sequel that everyone wants to see. the end is tantalising and i cant wait. but lets hope they don't screw this up. this is the start of the franchise, but i expect familiarity form the actors and crew will make the sequel Even better. lets just hope it doesn't disappoint us now. the only bad thing about this was the editing in the fight scenes which gave me a headache, apart from that this is the best film of 2005 so far, and the best superhero film ever made, lets hope the sequel can be Even better as it has the potential to but its also got the potential to be worse. lets not hope not