What's all the fuss? It's just OK

Rating: 7/10 (4 July 2005)

Batman redone. It gives us a new origin of Batman (Christian Bale) and how he got his powers and such. He still plays playboy Bruce Wayne while fighting evil as Batman. His first two villains are the Scarecrow (Cillain Murphy) who produces intense fear in his victim with a gas and Ra's Al Ghul--who trained Batman and knows ALL his weaknesses.
OK--it's MUCH better then Tim Burton's dreadful movies but I still wasn't too impressed. I didn't like the new origin at all and it's a full hour before Batman even shows up! It does have good parts--Bale is dead on perfect as Bruce Wayne AND Batman. He also pumped up for the role (we have at least two shirtless scenes). It LOOKS great (if very dark) and it has elaborate special effects left and right (with tons of explosions thrown in too). But I was mostly bored. The training sequence at the beginning just went on endlessly--it was more like The Shadow's origin than Batmans. Also this movie was WAY too heavy on darkness and atmosphere. At one point it was raining and I noticed nobody in Gotham pulled in their clothes from their lines. This isn't nit picking but obviously it was all out there to add an "atmosphere" to the scene. Also when you find yourself worrying about little things like that the movie just isn't doing its job (i.e. entertaining you). However Batman's costume, the Batcave and the Batmobile are all explained pretty logically.
Acting varies--Bale was just great. Michael Caine (as Alfred) matched him. Even Katie Holmes (a limited actress) was good--too bad she won't be in the sequel (this inexplicable romance/marriage with Tom Cruise is destroying her career). Laim Neeson was very dull as a teacher--he appeared to be drugged out. Gary Olman was (suprisingly) terrible as Jim Gordon--he seems VERY unsure of how to play the role. But Rutger Hauer, Linus Roache (who bears an uncanny resemblance to Bale) and Morgan Freeman were all great.
To be totally honest I looked at my watch more than once. I couldn't wait for this thing to get over. All the praise this is getting is beyond me. I give it a 7--and that's mostly for the acting.