What's underneath doesn't really matter. It's what you do that defines you.

Wow. Just wow. Batman Begins is nothing short of phenomenal. Hang on for a second, you want to be prepared for what I'm about to say, since it doesn't happen often. I walked out of the theater and had no complaints, no suggestions for improvement, no problems with the movie. I complain about things for a living, trust me when I say that it's rare that I don't have any complaints about something!

I liked everything about this movie. Even the new Batmobile look, which I was worried about when I first saw still shots of it long ago, worked well here. The script was great, acting good, and the story was tight. Things just made sense and all hooked together in a good way.

But the best part was they got Batman right. The fear, the stealth, the tortured soul. The movie gets that people are afraid of what they don't know, what they can't see. Hence, when Batman is beating up on baddies we can't see him. We see the way the stealth works, we see why the bad guys would be so scared. It's brilliant.

Besides the stealth, they also gave us a real person. The Bruce Wayne of this story isn't a comic book charicature, he's a real guy, that would pass for a real character in a movie that wasn't about superheros. This is a dramatic tale in it's own right, even without all the comic books and action.

This is one of the best movies I've seen in the last year. It's certainly on the short list of best superhero movies ever made, and I'm sure I'll be visiting it again.

Notes:
1. I love that good old Ra's Al Ghul is getting some exposure. He's always been a great character. Makes me want to go watch his episodes of the excellent Animated Series.
2. This movie makes a great choice in throwing out the canon from the previous movies. Most notably, they clearly show that they're operating in a different world then the original Batman movie - which committed a cardinal sin when it killed the Joker on screen. Batman villians never die on screen, that way they can come back. If all goes well we will see the villians from this movie again in equally well made sequels.

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