Batman begins.

Oh yea verily, he does.

Now that was a movie. Revenge of the Sith had mythmaking and sensory overload, but Batman Begins was the most ... well, involving movie that I've seen in a long time ... since Finding Neverland, I guess.

(Speaking of "finding Neverland," among the previews was a sneak peek at "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". It was Michael Jackson level creepy and looked almost as unappealing as "Kingdom of Heaven" or "Cinderella Man". (Note I have not seen any of those movies; I merely found the previews so unappealing that I didn't want to see them. I mean, really! "Chocolate Factory" with a Michael Jackson-ized Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka? "Kingdom" with giant Tolkien-esque battles sans mythos or any recognizable characters? Or "Cinderella" with yet ANOTHER paper-thin depression era story of an underdog who wins big - didn't we do that back with Little Orphan Annie?)

Anyway, "Batman Begins" was great stuff. I believed in the character, his motivation, his limits. I wanted his car. And NO neon tubes were used in the making of any costume that I could see. The movie, while not "understated" by any means, focused more on storytelling than on static visual impact. I could critique the fight scenes as a bit too rushed and hard to follow, but it worked for what they were trying to achieve - and to focus on the fights would distract from the great story: how Bruce Wayne became Batman.

So go see it!
-the Centaur