I don't know if any of you recently read Courtney's diary, but she wrote her review of the new Batman film directed by Christopher Nolan. If you're looking for a review that gives real insight, you've now found the right place. Don't believe a word she said. Let us begin:

This film can be summed up in one long word in-fucking-credible. It is simply the greatest superhero movie ever made. Those of you that know me at all know I'm a huge superhero fan, particularly of Spiderman. Now, I loved those films. This blows it out of the water. Batman Begins is written astonishingly well. The plot flows nicely. It makes the idea of Batman seem real instead of just a crazy guy in a cape and mask. Each aspect of the character makes sense and fits together like a puzzle. The film is character driven instead of action driven. It examines Batman as a troubled human instead of as a superhuman. That is the biggest change from the previous films.

Some would argue that the Tim Burton Batman films were the ultimate Batman. This is simply untrue. While the films were good, they had a wacky imagination that came from Burton which took away from the reality of the movies. His style is what opened the door to what became the Joel Schumacher Batman films. By that...I mean it began the return to full out campiness in the final two films. Not only that, the story was very off in the first films. Eventually those movies focused on cheesy lines and nifty gadgets. Sure, Batman has gadgets and stuff...but that's not what Batman is.

Batman begins tells a superhero story like they are supposed to be told. It took the character seriously instead of making fun of it. Christopher Nolan truly took a franchise out of the depths of the abyss back to a legend again.

Next, I move on to the acting. This film was littered with brilliant actors. Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, and Christian Bale are just a few. I hadn't really seen Christian Bale much before and I was really impressed. I think of this as the Swiss Army Knife of this film. By that I mean Christopher Nolan probably said "Who do we need to make a good Batman film?" He definitely did it. The interaction between Bale and Caine was exceptionally good. That isn't very surprising though coming from those two I guess...

Moving on to the score. The music was done by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard. These are two of my favorite composers of the present day. I found myself confused at first as to who wrote it. I didn't know it was by two composers. Usually you can identify by style and sound who wrote the score. Of course I was confused...it was these two. You can pick out certain parts that were influenced by each composer. It's pretty cool. The best part of this score though is that it's subtle. It never overtakes or completely drives a scene. It simply adds ambiance and a little emotion to the film. The theme itself is very simple. It's a rising minor third interval played by low brass and horns underlaid by a rhythm that mimicks the sound of bat wings. The film deals a lot with fear...so there are a few horror-esque riffs that appear as well. It's very cool.

One friend of mine....calls this film a "fan film" and a "sellout". These are way off base and make no sense. This film appeals to everyone. It's very well done. It also happens to follow the comics and present the Batman that he is supposed to be. Those of us who have either read the comics or seen a lot of the animated series know this. I hardly find this to be a sellout film. The argument is that DC comics wanted to take advantage of the "superhero rage" that's happened in the past few years. Though that argument probably has some truth...the main thing is that they made an exceptional film. If it was a sellout, they would have rushed and put out a peice of crap, thin, waste of time movie. This movie was far from that. Real sellouts that come to mind are the video games for Star Wars Episode 1, any superman game ever made, The Wheel of Time series that never ends to continue making money...that sort of thing.

Some of you know my rating system, but it's pretty self evident when you hear it. I give Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins 4 1/2 out of 5 brownies. What can I say...I was somewhat hungry. I ate the last half. It was good....chocolatey. That's my review for what it's worth. I hope some of you get something out of it. I'll return to my regularly scheduled diary entries now.

Luv,

Jess