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The supporting cast is also up to the task. Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, et al are amazing in their respective roles. They add just the right amount of melodrama without going over-the-top. (Nope, Lucas did not write the dialog for this one.) The big surprise for me was Cillian Murphy as Scarecrow. When I saw the first promo-stills, all I could think of is "Good grief, it's Michael Jackson being a super-villain!' Seriously, it's like watching Jude Law at times in that Murphy is almost pretty.
Well, Murphy takes advantage of that delicate profile and makes Jonathan Crane a pain in the ass therapist on the take for the bad-guys. He's also a total nut-job when he's dealing with the criminals of Gotham. Oh, and the lame-looking 'scarecrow' mask? Well, whenever Crane subjects someone to his fear-toxin CGI is used to make this dorky prop into a nightmare vision from hell. It works VERY well.
Visually, the movie is a huge departure from the previous Bat-flicks. No over-done Goth looks. This is a REAL city, reminiscent of NYC, Tokyo, and other major metropolitan areas. This gives the film a much more believable look. Sure, Antoine Fursts' vision was fun to look at, but after a while you start to think 'So, how many freaking layers are there to this city's highways?'
And mustn't forget the gadgets. Fun, fun, fun! Unlike other Bat-flicks, no one-use gadgets there. The grapple-line, shurikens, and glider are used constantly. Yep, GLIDER! Talk to your tech-geek friends about memory materials. Anyway, the nice thing about the glider is it makes a lot more sense to glide between buildings rather then have about 30,000 miles of line for the grappling gun. Batman simply soars between rooftops and it works perfectly.
The Bat-suit works very well too. Nolan and Goyer did their homework in keeping the suit constantly in the shadows, creating that feeling of 'Ok... he's not human!' There are a few moments when you realize 'Jeeze, he's just a freak in a suit', but those are few and far between. Most of the time, you do think you're seeing a gargoyle come to life.
Fight scenes? Ok, if you're expecting Jet Li/Wo Ping choreography, forget it. Chris Nolan is a director who's into mood and drama, not wide action shots, which actually is PERFECT for Batman. Remember the Bat borders on being a supernatural, urban legend. Nolan plays on this very well when Bruce uses the suit for the first time to take out about 15 thugs. Just as in 'Alien' most of the bad-guys are snatched one by one, silently and painfully. Then Batman drops amongst about eight of them. Instead of the typical sparring match with blocks, kicks, blah, blah, blah, the action is one black blur with lots of grunts and a few sickening snaps. Think about it, this is the way his fights should be; quick; impossible to follow, and meant to be decisive and crippling.
Finally the story is a wonderful amalgamation of Batman lore going back to the first stories in 1930s all the way to Miller's 'Dark Knight Returns'. David Goyer grounds the story in both the 'present' and flashbacks to see how Bruce found his path. The death of the Wayne's is done very dramatically, and I prefer this way. Having the Wayne's go to the opera instead of the canon view of 'The Mask of Zorro' is more logical. Suddenly Bruce's guilt makes even more sense. Bruce's training is a bit predictable but logical as he goes through 'boot camp' with the League of Shadows. The plot against Gotham is a bit on the 'eh' side, but tolerable over-all.
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