Batman Back After Long Layoff

Rating: 9/10 (16 August 2008)

Christopher Nolan is one of filmdom's newer directors who never seems to let us down. His Batman Begins is the first Batman film in eight years, and what a dandy it is. The film is a much harder edged characterization of Batman and Gotham City than we've seen previously. Christian Bale is perfectly cast as a more realistic Batman than Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, and especially George Clooney. This film has noir-like elements and the cinematography was Oscar-nominated. The soundtrack was grand but not intrusive like some movies of this type. The supporting roles were all mostly well cast, especially the villains. Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, and Tom Wilkenson actually help the film retain some of the comic book qualities associated with the character. Liam Neeson fits the current mold of a Hollywood nemesis with a mysterious past. While Micheal Caine and Gary Oldman disappear into their characters of Alfred and Gordon respectively, Morgan Freeman, as Luscious Fox, comes the closest to being a Hollywood distraction. However, Freeman is very enjoyable as always. Outside of the standard superhero moments and plot at the center of the film, we get to see how Batman came into being, how he came to be a superior fighter, and how he developed the many trademarks associated with him: Bat-cave, Bat-mobile, Bat outfit, and why the whole bat thing. Gone are the campy and over-the-top Batman elements from previous films. The film also marks a transition point from its comic realm with the lopping off of the Falcone character. The film stops short of exploring the public idolization of the character, but it does hint at it a couple times. The action of the plot resolution does echo too many other films though. Still, it's a superior and vastly entertaining action/comic book hero movie that delivers. Although like many other films, I think it definitely appears much too high on the IMDb's top 250 list. ***1/2 of 4 stars.