They actually made a decent Batman movie!

Today was my dad's birthday, so I took him out to a movie. We hadn't gone to see any movies in a while, and we've been missing some potentially good ones. He wanted to see Batman and I agreed.

At one time we ere both pretty avid comic book readers. I think Batman was probably my favorite. It tended to be pretty dark and gritty, but Batman himself always stood for a certain set of principles I thought were admirable. He never killed his opponents, no matter how much he was tried. There was this sense of a greater justice and honor in the way he conducted himself. He stood for the principle that by sinking to the level of your enemy, you become no better than them. And even if your goal is impossible (in his case, to rid the city of all crime), that doesn't make it not worth fighting for. He took the high road, yet wasn't the all-good, can't-do-wrong "boy scout" Superman was. It was the idealism in the face of insanity I liked. Qualities I think are lacking in many of the heroes in other stories.

Now I had heard good things about the new movie, but the last 4 sucked so badly I was really skeptical. It isn't even that the first two (Batman and Batman Returns) weren't so bad in of themselves, they just got the characters so wrong I can't accept them. Someone who didn't know the characters or take them as seriously (I'll freely admit that I am a geek) might actually like those movies. The other two (Batman & Robin and Batman Forever) were just stupid. So there is a lot of bad precedent as far as Batman movies go.

Well, I have to admit they finally got it right. They actually managed to capture the spirit of the comic book and stick to a story that is pretty close to canon. They even veered away from the typical battle between Batman and the Joker and used slightly more obscure, but more interesting villains (I think) from the comic book. The actors chosen for just about all the roles, especially for Bruce Wayne and Jim Gordon were spot on. All in all, I have to say I was impressed. If they decide to make anymore Batman movies, I hope they stick to this model.

If you are a comic book fan, go see Batman Begins. I think you'll appreciate it.