Room service serving beer and wine to another at 11am. An old man with a gray and white beard down to his belt buckle. Women in cowboy hats and spaghetti-strap halter-tops. Twenty-something girls with their own bikes. A truck with a lift kit and a front bumper bent inward at the middle.

This evening though, I thought I would avoid all that and go see Batman Begins. Great flick. Supported by Michael Caine as Alfred and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, the head of a little known military manufacturing division within Wayne Enterprises, Christian Bale does Bruce Wayne and Batman justice in a movie that compares favorably against Tim Burton’s first Batman movie and leaves the others in the dust. Chris Nolan thankfully makes one forget Joel Schumacher.

Mild spoilers follow…
Katie Holmes’s role is marginal as an assistant DA who provides Bruce a check against becoming a killer vigilante. Gary Oldman wonderfully plays (future commissioner) Detective Jim Gordon, much better than Pat Hingle in the original series. Liam Neeson goes from Jedi Master in Star Wars I to a seriously evil Al Ghul, a pietistic (no, not Calvinistic :) ) sensei who has plans to raze Gotham because of its decadence.

Batman’s first villain is The Scarecrow, a.k.a. Dr. Jonathan Crane, psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum. Scarecrow actually gives Batman a good one, and the bat has to call Alfred. Later on though, the Bat sprays Scarecrow with his own chemicals, and in Crane’s mind Batman’s face takes on qualities from the Great Orcs of Lord of the Rings.

Batmobile? Gone is the long, sleek missile with rear-wheel fins. This is an all-terrain vehicle, emphasis on “all”: parking garages, church tops, some jumping capability…and some cool evasive tricks. There’s a good joke regarding the “make” of the vehicle in a chase scene.

Batman Begins is a very cool movie. Most of the humor is between Alfred, Fox, and Bruce. The creation of the Batcave, his martial arts training, and the evolution of his costume and gadgetry are credible. My only gripe is that I found his voice as Batman gravelly and forced, like he was trying to borrow too much from Michael Keaton. Lots of action, little romance (woo hoo!), and downright fun. Nobody dies outside of Bruce’s parents and one of the bad guys, but there are some things that will scare kids.