Yesterday I saw the movie premier of Batman Begins. This movie has received excellent reviews as far as I can tell, and in my opinion earned every one of its four stars. Because I am not exactly a Batman fan, I'm a little uneasy recommending the movie to those who have seen (and loved) the previous movies, since it is so different from most superhero movies. But this is what makes it, in my opinion, so fantastic. Director Christopher Nolan does such an exceptional job of making the story realistic that I actually found myself thinking about halfway through the movie, "Is this a true story...?" For as bizarre and comical as the idea is - that a man dresses like a bat, single-handedly kills groups of armed men, becomes invisible, flies across buildings and drives a nearly invinsible steel sports car at outrageous speeds - all of this - I don't know how - but it somehow actually becomes believable throughout the movie. I also thought the movie dealt well with the psychological and even moral aspects of Batman's rise to superhero-hood, with lots of quotable one-liners about fear, goodness versus evil, and character. And finally, although this is a somewhat minor point, the movie is noticably devoid of sexual innuendo and pointless profanity, which I found to be an added plus.
