From PASTO, COLOMBIA-Via: L. A. CA; CALI, COLOMBIA+ORLANDO, FL

-----------The ONLY Tony Kiss Castillo on FaceBook!----------------------

Warner Brothers gave us a very special gift for Father's Day, 2005... BATMAN BEGINS. Despite displaying some lethargy in its opening scenes, and suffering from some of the excesses so common in this genre of film, not only might you say it is the best of the Batman Franchise, so far, but also that it is definitely the best super-hero film ever!

Director, Christopher Nolan, who dazzled with his amazing talent in the 2000 Cult Classic, MEMENTO, has assembled a formidable cast (Michael Caine, Liam Neesom, Gary Oldman, Tom Wilkinson & Morgan Freeman, among others),an outstanding script and special effects all well focused in a film that transforms a two dimensional comic strip into a work of real depth!

In the title role, we have Christian Bale, British, 31 at the time the film was made, someone who has spent most of his life in front of the cameras, without reaching, at least at this juncture in time, the long-awaited status of "Super-Star". In 2000, Bale took on another title role in American Psycho, a 'Cult Classic' which received ample attention from both critics and audiences alike. (If you have not seen this psychological thriller, do soWhat a gem it is! Bale is chillingly creepy!)

On the one hand, Mr. Bale is one of very few British actors (Well, Welsh, to be exact) capable of playing an American where his accent, intonation, and even body language, is absolutely perfect, impeccable! (After taking in American Psycho, I could have sworn he was American!) However, in BEGINS, although his performance seemed quite good, it was slightly below my expectation. I attribute this to two factors. First, as I'm sure Bale was already awareaudiences went in with tremendously high expectations regarding his role. And secondly, with a supporting cast of the caliber involved in this film, it would have been almost impossible to stand out in the same way he did in American Psycho. .

For my taste, the only really weak link was the now famous for being Tom Cruise's-EX, Katie Holmes! Before appearing in BEGINS, Ms. Holmes never had a real stand-out role, at least in my opinion, nor really had been in many high profile films. To all fairness to her, though, it wasn't so much that her characterization was extremely lacking as much as that her performance just wasn't up to those of others in this brilliant cast! .

To highlight the very best that Batman Begins shows us, unlike almost all movies in this genre, its characters are anything BUT black and white. Just as in real life, almost all of them evolve in a kind of constant metamorphosis, responding and interacting with lady luck, day to day life events, and reactions from those around them! And they do it most convincingly, not the least bit far-fetched. .

Before rushing out to see it, just a little warning. For those who yearn for Action-packed blockbusters, Begins might leave you feeling somewhat unfulfilled! And for those who crave really intense human drama, since, at the end of the day, this is still a comic book "super-hero", not some conflicted politician, or not even anything closeLet's try to keep things in perspective, O. K.? In conclusion, if you have EVER seen any film based on a comic strip that you have liked in the past, then don't hesitate to see Batman Begins...I guarantee you'll be rating it at least 7 STARS!

10********** SuperHero *Stars*...ENJOY! / DISFRUTELA!

Any comments, questions or observations, in English o en Español, are most welcome!......

I enjoyed the film BATMAN from Tim Burton, though I'll be the first to admit that it was very, very dark and disturbing. I'd also agree that the Batman role in this and subsequent films was a bit one-dimensional--with a much greater emphasis on the villains and amazing cartoon-like scenes. However, despite enjoying the first film, the subsequent films were a disappointment to me as they just seemed overloaded with special effects and were a bit light on character development.

In light of this, I really appreciated how the Batman character was hashed out and given much greater depth in BATMAN BEGINS--especially because it explains the long evolution of Bruce Wayne to caped crusader. Christian Bale was very good in the leading role and the story was very unusual but enjoyable to a point--though the plot did get awfully convoluted towards the end. In fact, I would say that the least interesting part of the film was the final conflict at the end, as this seemed a lot like previous Batman films--full of special effects but that's about all.

Now my quibbles with BATMAN BEGINS are quite minor and I can't fault the movie too much because it doesn't pretend to be Shakespeare or a contender for a Sundance award! It is just old fashioned entertainment. Not especially deep, but entertaining.

By the way, when I saw this film I was amazed at the high-priced talent organized for this film--Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Rutger Hauer and Morgan Freeman. In particular, Freeman and Caine were terrific in the film.

My only criticism of this otherwise brilliant movie is that it is a little too long. But it is an extremely good film, that along with the original Batman could very well be the best of the Batman films(thought perhaps just lacking the original film's sophistication). People may find this blasphemy, but I did prefer this over The Dark Knight, but that was still very good. Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins is stylish, dark and gritty, pretty much what Batman should be. I have seen complaints that the film "contradicts" the 1989 film. Perhaps so, but what I can say in the film's defence is that Batman Begins is sort of a very loose prequel to the original movies.

Visually, Batman Begins looks absolutely incredible! It could very well be the most beautiful visually of the Batman films, with beautiful cinematography and a simply dazzling view of Gotham City itself. Another asset I appreciated was that the music score didn't overpower the action, in fact it gave some atmospheric flavour to it. As much as Danny Elfman's scores were outstanding and definitely memorable, Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard do a great job with the score.

The script is taut and well-written with lines that really make you think along with some occasional offbeat humour, the plot isn't convoluted or predictable but original, the film moves briskly(the second half was marginally better in terms of pacing to the first half though but that is in no way a flaw) and the action is explosive particularly the climax and the bat-mobile car-chase. Also Christopher Nolan's direction is excellent.

The acting, aside from the visuals is what drives the film. Christian Bale is for me the best Batman since Michael Keaton. In the role of Batman he is suitably dark and brooding, like Batman should be, and as Bruce Wayne, he is dashing, handsome and ambitious. Katie Holmes actually surprised me and in a good way. She wasn't bland or annoying, I actually found her sympathetic and surprisingly good. Liam Neeson is also very good, though he has been better, while Michael Caine is perfect as Alfred. Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson and the excellent, underrated Gary Oldman are also solid in their roles, while Morgan Freeman is wonderful as always.

Overall, a brilliant film that is visually stunning, gripping and atmospheric. 9.5/10 Bethany Cox