Hey, guess what? This is a real good film. Actually, the first half of this production is an excellent movie and the second half is still pretty darned-good.

As the title implies "Batman Begins" is an origin story. This is usually my favorite part of Superhero epics -- how about you? The filmmakers took some interesting risks in casting a lesser-known, though strong actor -- Christian Bale. Bale fits the role and the costume well. He's brooding, strong, vulnerable, yet decisive -- and perhaps even more than all of that -- as about as real/believable as Batman gets.

Another surprise is director Christopher Nolan of the highly acclaimed Memento. For those who haven't seen this unique, yet brain-straining feature; suffice to say that Nolan is great with thought and suspense -- but action? What an exciting risk to employ. Personally, I think these risks pay off in spades. This is a film that cares a great deal for what is going on inside the Bat-Man's head; the action is more of an accent.

The fight scenes are shot close in; Nolan seems to have made a conscious decision not to compete with other more "martial arts" hand-to-hand action flicks. His action scenes are dark, the sounds and movement jeer a chill or more accurately -- fear.

Building a solid motif around fear, this strong screenplay unfolds masterfully until the two-thirds mark, at which point some of the pacing slips just a bit, and further complications blur its initial beauty. I enjoyed the idea of the masked foe introduced at that point, but his actual execution on film smacked of the phony supervillians I didn't like in earlier Batmans. That said, the film's other foes are well-acted, enjoyable, respectably intimidating.

A good film -- you'll get your money's worth.

"It's fascinating to me," Says writer/director Nolan, "the idea of a person who would confront his innermost fear and then attempt to become it."