*** out of ****
The first good Batman movie, easily the best live action Batman ever, a nice mix of Year One, The Long Halloween, and Blind Justice. Every performance is right on the money, the look of the film is right on, the suit isn't terrible, the story well done and the focus is in the right place, on Batman and Bruce Wayne.
Unfortunately, there were two glaring flaws. First, the hand to hand fight scenes were for the most part awful. Bale can carry a fight scene; there's no need for the ultra fast cutting that doesn't show clearly what's going on. If you don't know how to stage a fight scene and present it clearly, hire a fight coreographer who does. Second, the big twist at the 3/4 mark was telegraphed 5 minutes into the movie, at least for anyone who's ever read a Ra's al Ghul story.
Fortunately, those elements are secondary ones that only detract a little from what is clearly a superior film for the Batman franchise. Not in my list of top 10 comic book movies, but still, a good Batman movie is a first.
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