I'm BATMAN! (updated)

You must see Batman Begins. Now. Seriously, get off your ass and watch it. If you've already seen it, go see it again. It's that damn good.

• Best superhero movie I've ever seen? Yes.
• Best action movie I've seen in years? Yes.
• Best damned movie I've seen in years? Hell yes!

For all the people who looked at me weird when I said the first Spiderman wasn't a great movie, Batman Begins is what every superhero movie should aspire to be. This wasn't an action movie that happened to have Batman in it; this was The Batman movie. Also, this was the first movie since the original Matrix that made me want to grab the person next to me and exclaim, "This is fucking awesome!" but wasn't able to because I was too engrossed in the awesomeness of said movie. (Hope I didn't just jinx the franchise)

Christian Bale is such an awesome Batman (giving Keaton a run for his money), and by far the best Bruce Wayne of all the movie incarnations.

Johnny Depp was an amazing Scarecrow (although like Kevin Spacey, I have a genetic bias to love anything the man does on film); Liam Neeson was awesome (as expected) as Ducard, and Michael Caine as Alfred was almost too perfect.

(update: Thanks, Kare, for pointing out it's actually Cillian Murphy, not Johnny Depp in the role of Scarecrow. But I'll be damned if I'm the only one who thinks they could be twins)

I was, however, disappointed with Ken Watanabe's role as Ra's Al Gul. No major spoilers here, but I was hoping he'd get more screen time than he did.

The fight scenes, although jerky, I thought were great for their purpose. The quick cuts styling lent weight to the whole fear/chaos concept, although I wish the Batman/Ra's Al Gul fight scene near the end should have been filmed smoother and with the camera pulled back a bit as to showcase their mastery over their own fears. But maybe I was reading too much into the fight scene cinematography.

Biggest thing that irked me concerned the Batman / Rachel (Katie Holmes) dynamic. And no, it wasn't Katie Holmes' acting (although she was terribly outclasses by most everybody else). My beef had to do with one action Batman took that seemed against his believes. I did, however, like how their relationship was resolved in the end. Again, no big spoilers, just go see the movie for yourself.

The only other small quirk I had about the movie is that the Batmobile wasn't as cool looking. Although I can forgive it since the tank fit so well into the ethos and storytelling of the movie.

Bottom line? I loved this movie. And that's not a word I throw around lightly.




Oh, and the sequel better have a proper looking Batmobile.