Batman Begins to Save a Franchise

So we saw Batman Begins on Tuesday, finally. At the risk of sounding cliche, this movie was incredible. Finally the franchise is redeemed from the atrocities of Batman Forever and Batman and Robin. Redemption, thy name is Christian Bale...or Christopher Nolan, or even Cillian Murphy. Initially, Batman Begins looked like it had the potential to become a preachy "look inside yourself for strength blahblahblah" postmodernist paradoxically both feel-good and dark tome; however, these low expectations were blasted out of the water by a well-crafted script focusing on story rather than character development. Psychology be damned, this is about a superhero and the town he fights to protect, not the insecurity-plagued superhero movies so popular these days. Christian Bale shines in the cape and cowl; his stints as both big-budget and indie actor have prepared him well for the character paradox of Bruce Wayne's schizophrenia. Three cheers for Christopher Nolan as well! Katie Holmes is mediocrity at its finest. The Batmobile...ah, the Batmobile. Ugly as sin, and every bit as fun!