Batman Begins

BATMAN BEGINS (2005) - June 13, 2005
A worthy Batman film. Christian Bale proves to be almost perfect as Bruce Wayne / Batman. In fact, all the actors are really good; I also really liked Cillian Murphy as the Scarecrow. Though it quickly becomes apparent that Christopher Nolan is not the best director of action (the old shaky-cam / quick cut standby -- I am so sick of this. It's just lazy filmmaking. Can't figure out how to direct that action scene? Just shake the camera a lot and show lots of close-ups and the audience will just assume something exciting is happening. What a crock.), the film still manages to be quite good. It probably helps that the action level is surprisingly low (it's probably around an hour into the movie before Bruce Wayne first dons the Batsuit). There were a few minor things I didn't like -- the Batsuit, for instance. It looks too bulky and cumbersome; I don't really know if I buy that he could run around and fight crime in that thing. I think that something closer to what it looks like in the comics could look really good if done right (that internet Batman short film was on the right track). I didn't really like the Batmobile either. But those are really minor complaints. The movie was really long, and while it did feel like a long movie it never felt overlong (so much stuff happens it almost feels as though you could split it up into two movies). As far as superhero movies go this was right up there with Spider-man 2. ***1/2