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Created May 03, 2008 01:25PM PST • Edited May 03, 2008 01:26PM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Perfect 5.0

   Batman doesn’t spring from the ether as a highly skilled detective with an infallible moral compass. This is the point Christopher Nolan is making with his restart of the previously embarrassing Batman franchise (Batman & Robin). We are given the development of a flawed, spoiled, traumatized and angry – though deeply good – Bruce Wayne and given a believable basis for a character that has permeated popular culture for the better part of 70 years.

   Everything is functional. Every character, every character trait and every piece of equipment the Batman uses. They give him a reason for the cape (so he can glide) other than just theatrics. Nolan gives us a functional Batmobile rather than a long black armored car that can’t make turns or go anywhere off road. This attention and creation of the beautiful details of Batman’s origin and the realistic world surrounding him in this movie are the reason this is one of the best superhero films ever made.

4. Acting

   Great 4.0

5. Male Stars Perfect 5.0

   Bale is the best Batman. Great as Bruce Wayne although very reminiscent of Patrick Bateman yet still identifiably different. As Batman, Bale is confident and menacing and also able to hint at the fact that Bruce/Batman is still learning what he has taken on in order to show the development as an individual.

6. Female Stars Good 3.0

   Katie Holmes was terrible and wooden. Go back to Dawson’s Creek or the Scientology compound and don’t act again unless you actually feel something for the script as you did in “Pieces of April”.

7. Female Costars Good 3.0

   The supporting women have little or no importance.

8. Male Costars Perfect 5.0

   Michael Cain, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Cillian Murphy and even Rutger Hauer… all absolutely amazing. This is one of the best casts on every level – aside from Katie Holmes – that I have ever been a witness to. They became the characters and played each of them flawlessly.

10. Film

    Great 4.0

11. Direction Really Great 4.5

    Christopher Nolan’s direction here is pitch perfect. His vision for the Batman franchise is wonderful and deeply rooted in a sense of the real world that hasn’t been brought to Batman on any screen before.

12. Play Really Great 4.5

13. Music Great 4.0

    Sadly, I still prefer Danny Elfman’s theme song but the score for the film is amazing and sets the tone; it isn’t merely background noise or emotional cues – it is a viable part of the connection that one has with this film.

14. Visuals Really Great 4.5

    I love Nolan’s strict use of as little CGI as possible. This made action sequences feel gritty like the rest of Gotham City and also upped the visual quality.

15. Content

16. Edge

    Sordid 2.7

17. Sex Erotic 2.7

18. Violence Brutal 2.7

19. Rudeness Profane 2.7

21. Reality

    Glib 1.4

    The whole point of this film was to be grounded in an identifiable reality. It is set in a world that is believably our own. Bruce Wayne has bruises and is psychologically unstable for the longest time. This gives an organic feel to the development of the all to human character that is Batman.

22. Circumstantial Surreal 2.1

23. Biological Natural 1.0

24. Physical Natural 1.0