Batman Begins



I've seen it twice now.

Last week, BATMAN BEGINS hit the big screen with Christian Bale as the Dark Knight Detective beginning his crusade against crime. I went to see it opening night with my son, Mitch.

We truly enjoyed it.

As one of my friends recently said, all the other Batman films now become footnotes as this relaunches the Batman franchise for both DC Comics and Warner Brothers on the big screen.

It was a near perfect Batman film right up there on par with SPIDER-MAN 1 and 2. And I'm not even going to bother nitpicking at any minor quibbles because I was so thankful to see Batman portrayed correctly on the screen along with excellent characterization of Alfred, Jim Gordon and other denizens that populate Gotham City.

Being one of the local comic book talents in Central Illinois, I was interviewed about a week before the movie came out. My interview hit our newspaper on the day after the show opened in the State Journal-Register. I told reporter Nick Rogers that I was "cautiously optimistic" that it appeared that this film was going to do it right.

And it did indeed.

Christian Bale was born to play this part. Ever since his role in Spielberg's EMPIRE OF THE SUN where I first became a fan of his when he played a little boy separated from his parents during World War II. He brought enough angst and spirit to play both Bruce Wayne and Batman perfectly.

Michael Caine as Alfred and Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon was dead on.

The stars aligned.

Lets hope this is the beginning of a wonderful screen partnership for the Batman franchise.

A longtime fan of the Caped Crusader,
Scott