Movie Review - Batman Begins

I'm going to probably write one of the only reviews out there (from the ones I've read, anyways) that didn't exactly love this one. Good, but certainly not the best film ever. (EVER!!!)

Now, I'm not one of these people who actually liked the direction the franchise has gone in -- I mean, Batman Forever? Puh-lease! But I still think Michael Keaton is the best Batman out there -- he was able to marry the dark side with a healthy sense of humor. Still, it's not like I think Christian Bale has done a bad job here.

(Minor spoilers below)


First, what I liked: the premise was well done. It was certainly about time they got back to Batman's evil roots, and explained why he is what he is. So the first hour or so where they built his character was cool. Michael Caine as Alfred was just perfect - he really built up the part and explained why Alfred stayed at Bruce Wayne's side as he always did. And I even thought that by letting Detective Gordon in on the whole deal early was a nice touch. Morgan Freeman was, well, Morgan Freeman, and that's never a bad thing.

Now, in all fairness, I actually dozed off during part of the climactic scene (where Liam Neeson returned) and I'm sure that this may have affected my enjoyment. You'd never see, say, Ebert and Roeper pulling something like that. But, really, I think it just started getting too complicated for its own good that point. Not that I didn't understand or anything, just that it was too much information.

And what did they sacrifice because of that? A decent amount of development for Cillian Murphy's character. One of my favorite things from any of the Batman films was how they introduced us to the villian in a slow, burning fashion, which explains why they are the way they are. Sure, they don't need to go back to The Scarecrow's very beginning if he's been doing this for a while, but allowing more time to see what makes him tick would be nice. Yes, they did have SOME of that, but not enough. Hell, we got to see almost as much screen time for the corrupt cop who had a bit part.

Finally, I didn't like Katie Holmes at ALL in that role. Or, well, any role, but it's not like I can't stand her on general principle or anything. She doesn't bring any emotion to the role, and every time she goes to say something important, it looks she's about to laugh. Not good.

So, overall, I did not think this was a bad film. It just didn't meet my expectations based on all the hype I'd heard beforehand.