Just returned from seeing the latest incarnation of Batman. I am absolutely floored. The film strikes the perfect tone. While it strays slightly from the continuity of Batman’s origins that I am familiar with, it rests firmly on the strength of a great story. The script and plot keep the movie fresh, original and engaging.

Let’s not count out some fantastic acting and cameos. Christian Bale as Batman is so perfectly two-faced and conflicted about his role in the world. The pain and catharsis are physical torments for him as an actor and it is a delight to see them play out on the screen. Michael Caine, Rutger Hauer, Gary Oldman, and Morgan Freeman bring a gravitas to the film that is simply remarkable. They make it believable and likable as their abilities to be real and fully developed keep them from being simple bit roles for a smile.

The love story is a bit dull but thankfully it takes up only a little time on the screen and is handled well when it raises its head. Some people might be frustrated that the Bat doesn’t even come in until the last half of the film, but it is that precise fact that had me loving the movie. It is based on the development of a character with a psyche, a soul, and a reason for his actions. The first half of the film tells the most interesting tale of Batman: why does he do it?

From top to bottom the movie is a pleasure. The production design is perfect, casting is great, and the performances are thoroughly enjoyable. The only issue I might have for the film is that while Christopher Nolan has a great sense of pace and plot, his action sequence directing is sometimes overly choppy and confusing as I lost track of just who was hitting whom and where they were in space. In some scenes, this was clearly intentional, but not in all of them.

At the end of the film, the audience roared with applause and I think that it was well deserved. This movie sets the bar even higher from where X-Men 2 left the superhero film world. Some will argue that Sin City was a better comic book film than this, but I think that the comparison is extremely difficult to make considering the absolutely overwhelming history and cultural knowledge that’s out there about Batman that the filmmakers had to deal with. They simply have different goals and live in different worlds.

I do have one caveat. There were many children under the age of 13 in the theater with me. While there is no cussing or sex and the violence is mostly of the martial arts variety, there are some fairly frightening scenes, especially with the Scarecrow, that might not be appropriate for the younger children who might be interested.