Product: Batman Begins (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (2005)
Rating: 5.0
Better Than "Dark Knight"--and That's GREAT
"Batman Begins" has enough plot elements for 3 or 4 movies, and, amazingly, they all work, and they are all exciting.The movie is very dark, but this is fitting.Even the early scenes, of Bruce Wayne's childhood trauma with the bats, and his later trek to the lamasery, are interesting in themselves, and add a lot of emotional weight to the later scenes.The acting is just superb. Gary Oldman, who is one of the best actors ever, manages to be humble and awe-inspiring at the same time. Morgan Freeman is understated and funny and riveting. Katie Holmes shines. Liam Neeson is persuasively ambiguous. Cillian Murphy is deliciously creepy. And even Christian Bale, who has the expressive range of a tree-stump, manages to be believable, likable, and complex.(Tom Wilkinson, as a Mafia-boss, is a little over the top, but still a lot of fun.)Lots of twists and turns. Lots of surprises. Great stuff.