Ian and I saw Batman Begins last night with my dad (took him there and for dinner at Fuddrucker’s for Father’s Day). I have to say I was very impressed. I’m so glad they chose to ‘reset’ the series after “Batman on Ice” (also known as Batman & Robin).

Christian Bale amazed me in American Psycho, and did so again in Batman Begins. A strong actor, he can portray a character in several ways fitting different parts of the story, not just be a flat stereotype of a character.

The movie returns to the dark, gritty roots of Batman and presents Bruce Wayne as a real person who must face his fears and doubts. The villians weren’t gaudily clad cartoons, but real, evil people. I even identified with the main character, which doesn’t happen all too often in comic books-turned-movies. He’s struggling to take action against a world gone mad and corrupt. With what has been going on lately with an inept administration and religious fundamentalism strangling this country, I felt a close correlation. (Maybe flying around Dallas in bat wings will scare the fundies away? Probably not!) I was even impressed with Katie Holmes, she must have taken acting classes lately in between dates with Tom.
I’m excited to see more movies in this Batman line, as long as they keep the same actor for Batman/Bruce Wayne, and consistently keep the script and setting as high quality and intense as this movie.

I’ll give it 4.5 out of 5 stars, just because I’m stingy.