Batman Begins is the best Batman movie ever! Okay, that's not hard given the previous efforts but still...
While I liked Tim Burton's vision of Gotham City, it didn't quite gel with me. It was too over-the-top to fit the Dark Night mythos, but not campy enough to go completely the other way, either. It was a visual treat but it straddled the line a little uncomfortably. (I did like Michael Keaton's Batman, however, he was the most human of the lot. I had more empathy for him than Kilmer's or Clooney's versions.)
The Gotham City of BB is close enough to 'real' to be affecting and its decay is believable. I was never quite sure if one of its denizens was to be trusted at any given time and the villains weren't necessarily clear-cut, I liked that.
The plot was well-handled, staying within the bounds of comic-book reality but not taking a huge amount of suspension of disbelief to make it palatable. While I've been a fan of Batman for years it was mainly for the 60's TV show, I've not delved much into the comics. I don't know if this 'origins' story is consistent with anything that came up there but in this instance it all hangs together nicely as far as I'm concerned.
The casting was, for the most part, excellent and it was great to see so many British actors in a major US production. : ) Christian Bale did a good job, the conflict, the tension, was never far below the surface. This is the third movie in recent years where Liam Neeson has been a mentor with a sword but he does it so well! <g> Gary Oldman, as always, looked like he was born to the role. His Gordon seemed to be an amalgamation of all the other screen incarnations, tying them together, whereas other versions of other characters seemed to be swimming in other directions.
Now, let me rave a bit about the settings...
Oh oh the scenery! And oh oh the iconic images! I was grinning fit to burst in a couple of places cos visually the thing just sang. Not all the time, but when I was stirred by the visuals it was deeply felt.
There was a section that made me giggle, though - I don't think I've giving away anything here. Our hero is released from prison in a desolate, empty area with only his clothes and a small satchel. As he makes his way up the mountain he manages to accumulate scarves and hats and balaclavas and overcoats and cloaks... <g> By the time he got to the top he looked like a very grubby Staypuft Marshmallow Man! Okay, perhaps that was an exaggeration but I did wonder where he got all the extra clothes from - we only saw one village and he'd acquired most of the gear before then...
A quick word about the soundtrack. It was a wee bit loud in places but never for long and not overpowering. The music really did underscore and enhance the action. I'd be interested to hear the CD now, see if it has the same impact without the visuals to back it up.
I enjoyed this movie, it was a great ride! However it didn't tug on quite the same chords as Kingdom of Heaven did so I'll be happy to let this one go and pick up a copy of the DVD when it's on special. It's not going to lose all that much impact on a small screen.

And speaking of KoH, I found some lovely dark-red velvet which will just perfect for my Balian plushie...