So Yeah... its been a while

To give assurances to those I haven't been in touch with by some means, I am, in fact, alive.

And last night I saw Batman Begins. Those who don't care about Batman, I have nothing for you today. Well, not right now, at the very least.

Batman, to put it simply, is about as embedded in my consciousness as any fictional character. Probably more than any other From watching videos of the old cartoons, to reruns of the Adam West tv series, as well as some of the first comic books I ever read, and two quality films by the esteemed Mr. Tim Burton, Batman was irrevocably lodged in my brain by age six.

Then the Animated Series came out. And it was brilliant. Fantastic artwork, and phenomenal voice acting. Mark Hamil got his first good role since Star Wars as the voice of the Joker; and it was easily the best executed role of his career. Everything was top notch. The writers just flat out knew the characters inside and out. Compared to it, the new series on the WB is akin to my scribblings as a child. It was by far the greatest adaptation of Batman to any screen, big or small. Then it got canned. Many of the same people are working on Justice League now, but its not the same. Not by a long shot.

Then Joel Schumacher and Val Kilmer, and later George Clooney had their way with Batman like a drunk, stoned frat boy fumbling around in a locked closet blindfolded after someone hit him in the head with a two-by-four. You may know these efforts as Batman Forever and Batman and Robin, which were perhaps the worst examples of comic book adaptation ever until some freaking brain surgeon decided to cast Hallie Berri as Catwoman in what can only be called an act of Hollywood vandalism.

I thought that I was done with Batman at that point. I mean, Batman Beyond was a hell of a ride while it lasted, and TV Land did pick up the Adam West series for a while, but for the most part, there was a lul. But then with X Men and Spider Man, comic book movies went back in vogue, as well as the general strengthening of geek culture in cinema propogated by the Star Wars prequels and The Lord of the Rings. Which brings us to this latest movie.

I shouldn't have to say this again

Christian Bale is Batman.

It really couldn't be more simple. He has the looks, attitude, and the voice (oh my God that man has an incredible voice) of not only Batman, but Bruce Wayne.

Batman Begins has done what I had thought would never be done. It topped the Animated Series as a faithful and kickass screen incarnation of Batman. Its Gotham City is Gotham City. Its Batsuit and Bat gadgets are... well you see where I'm going with this. I could go on for ages. The Batmobile? just woah. Ok, I'll stop gushing. Here's the point. It was spot on. Also, for the first time in the history of costumed superheroes, the hero uses a different voice when he's wearing the costume. And there were no stupid Lois Lane moments. Speaking of which; for two hours I felt no contempt for Katie Holmes. I just wish Tom would shut up about her and let her, if she is indeed as great as he says she is, show us so herself. Not that she gave an Oscar worthy performance, but she got the job done. And I know that the reviewers disagree with me here. Ignore them. They are MADE OF STUPID.

Liam Neisson's character was awesome. I'll not spoil, but what I will say is this

Dude... Ninjas

Seriously.

So yeah. See the movie. Now. I'm not kidding. Get up and see it now. Stop reading this even

I SAID STOP READING!!!