Hey folks, Harry here... This is from someone that works in the film biz, but not on this production or the associated companies. SO... here ya go, sounds like they've made a helluva flick - hope to hell this reviewer is right. Sure would be sweet!

hi Harry,

First time I've done this so on with it I suppose.

Caught BATMAN BEGINS the other day, not long after seeing EPISODE 3, and am very pleased to say that if these two film are indicative of the remainder of the US summer season, we are in for one hell of a treat. For those playing at home, HITCHHIKERS was little more than a lightly entertaining canapé and we'll simply forget GLADIATOR 2 and xXx-squared ever happened...

Clearly coming from the Bryan Singer school of super-hero (re)invention, Christopher Nolan's BEGINS presses the worlds biggest Refresh button and allows it's audience to simply forget those mistakes of the past, courtesy of one J. Schumacher.

Working with a tight, dramatic and occasionally fun script co-written with David S Goyer, Nolan manages his successful reinvention by grounding his Gotham in a world of plausibility. Where prior BATMAN films forced viewers to accept the gadgets, car and villains as they are presented on screen, generally with little exposition, BEGINS allows the viewer to enjoy the possibility of a vigilante protecting the night by going a long way to instil credibility and justification to almost the entire film. This doesn't constrict the limitations of the film but allows it to expand by sweeping the audience along with it rather than being left behind saying, "hold on, how did Bruce Wayne manage to manufacture X without anyone asking questions...?"

Performances across the board are great. Stand-outs are a winning, cheeky performance by the now Oscar-knighted Morgan Freeman, a nicely understated and very likable Gary Oldman and, with all due respect to Michael Gough, Michael Caine has become, quite simply, the best-ever Alfred. Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes and Tom Wilkinson are also strong in their roles, while the rest of recognisable Hollywood (Rutger Hauer, Ken Watanabe, Linus Roache, the bad guy from THE SAINT) all pop to lesser and greater degrees and fill out the supporting cast nicely.

In the black suit, Christian Bale does a solid job, best personifying reluctant-Billionaire Wayne when confronted by an enemy at a birthday party and having to force invited guests to leave. While I have admired the skill of Bale since the grossly-overlooked EMPIRE OF THE SUN, I am afraid for me that he was just so good in AMERICAN PSYCHO that that performance spilled over into this film. This is not to say that this is a bad thing, in fact the Bateman (whoa, only 1 letter difference, bizarre) persona seems to suit the cocky Wayne quite well, particularly when Wayne undertakes public misbehaviour in an effort to ensure that people presume that Wayne and Batman are two very different characters. While popular opinion will eventually decide, Goyer & Nolan's script goes a long way in making Bale possibly the best big-screen Batman to-date.

Gotham, the Batmobile, the suit and the gadgets all come together very successfully in this film. Where Burton was limited by the nature of special effects in 1989, Nolan has embraced the possibilities of photo-real effects in BEGINS and managed to create a multi-layered, believable Gotham City. A world away from Schumacher's faux-Versace rooftops, Gotham here (becomes) a decaying, steaming labyrinth of shanty-towns, silver skyscrapers and waterfront industria. The batmobile is at once cool and a lot of fun to watch. I was unconvinced when I saw those 1st pictures, but this machine delivers in a way that renders the previous cars preposterous. The origins of all the Bat-gadgets, as presented by Freeman, allows greater plausibility in the overall picture. Seeing Wayne work with Alfred to put together the bat-suit is a lot of fun, generating some of the film's biggest laughs.

The less you know about the plot, the better. Seamlessly integrating flash-backs with present day, we get to experience Bruce's childhood tragedy with an emotional resonance unseen in prior pictures. Only now do we understand why Bruce felt that he killed his parents, and the spoiled rich-kid self-torture that he gets into, simply to punish himself, leads to his transformation into The Bat perfectly.

This is a very dark, adult picture. The abrasive nature of the editing, both film and sound, recalls last year's BOURNE SUPREMACY in places, and it goes along way toward amping up the thrills. The pic's various set-pieces should have viewers on the edge of their seats, and some of the Scarecrow's hallucinogenic visions will really creep you out.

BATMAN BEGINS is to Batman what EPISODE 3 was to STAR WARS: The long awaited PG-13 version fans have always desired. An unequalled cast, against-type yet visionary director and a script that suggests Goyer is destined for far greater things than his so-far B-grade filmography allow this film to deliver in exciting new ways, raising the bar for all future super-hero pictures. If this is the "new" DC (the snazzy new logo at the front of the film suggests that this is a serious retort to Marvel's uber-successful SPIDER-MAN franchise), then bring on SUPES, WONDERWOMAN (sans Sandy B, please!) and THE FLASH.

BATMAN BEGINS will surely be remembered as one of this year's most exciting and best blockbuster films.

Daffodil 11