moving in the right direction

Rating: 8/10 (16 June 2005)

batman is probably the trickiest character to bring to the big screen, despite having numerous attempts beforehand. i say he is tricky because he is a man who dresses up like a bat and has a cape and themed weapons and doesn't kill, etc. he's also so dark and brooding in tone that it was hard to relate to him on a human level.
i must say though, they pull it off here. emotionally, this was the movie for batman, whose progression is dealt with very well and really goes for what makes this character great. the first two movies did accomplish mood and style, but lacked real depth into bruce wayne's mentality and reasoning. i was surprised at how much the movie kept in its tone and managed the duality of bruce wayne and batman perfectly.
two things that i found difficult. one was a simple matter of dialog and the one-liners, which were of course going to be in there. the problem was that many of them were repeated and turned around, and while this is a very nice plot device, when overused it got to be a bit noticeable. the second problem, and this is purely anal retentiveness, was bale's costume. bale is perfect as bruce wayne and batman, he just is. but the costume seemed a little too bulky and uncomfortable. i would much more prefer the more traditional and frankly unrealistic costume from the comics.
so there it is, the flick is worth seeing in the theater and really does the best job of the batman movies so far. let's hope they can keep the momentum and ability to stay true to the character.