Blog From The Bench

"Inspired" is the word that comes to mind.

It's been almost twelve hours now since my better half and I saw BATMAN BEGINS, and my mind is still abuzz.

Let me preface this mini-review by stating my biases upfront. As a long-time comic book reader, I have quite a bit of time and emotion invested in the Batman mythos: from the gritty realism of David Mazzuchelli and Frank Miller's Batman: Year One back to Denny O'Neil and Neal Adam's stellar redefinition of the character in the '70s, not to mention the many weekday afternoons spent jumping around the family room with my brother beating the snot out of our friends while watching Adam West and Burt Ward BIFF and POW their way into history. Also, as an actor, I had the pleasure of working on the set of the new film, whose cast and crew were nothing short of a blast to be around. While our three night shoot chasing the Bat-tumbler across a two-mile stretch of suburban Chicago highway amounted to little more than 10-15 seconds of actual screen time, it took nothing away from this impressive piece of filmmaking.

Chris Nolan and David Goyer have crafted something truly special here: a dark, psychological drama of one man's quest for inner truth and eventual embracing of his place in the world, while keeping at bay the dark temptress of vengeance. The first half of the film, devoid of any Hollywood super-heroics, can stand on its own as a potential Academy Award winning feature. The cinematography, the characterizations, the dialogue, the fight choreography, and the casting are all brilliant (save Katie Holmes who appears to be the weakest link in the Kevlar). The second half drives the audience 100mph into the superhero realm, but never loses the essence of what came before, making the through line of the story all the more powerful.

While other contemporaries such as Variety's Todd McCarthy and USA Today's Mike Clark feeling something's lacking in this non-traditional comic book adaptation, I have not seen a more beautifully crafted, well executed script in quite a long time. Characters growing and playing off each other with authenticate effusion; an intricately crafted and timeless world that is itself a critical character; and performances that are often reserved for "more respectable" films.

Hats off to the brass at Warner Bros. for putting their trust into the hands of a young writer/director with vision and passion to spare.