And so it Begins...

Let me say up front that I have possibly the best little sister ever. Why would I make such a statement? Well, how else would you describe someone who took you to an AOL exclusive advanced screening of the biggest movie of the year... BATMAN BEGINS!

That's right folks. I have seen the future, and it is good. Spare no expense when it comes to a theater near you... next week. It is worth every penny (though... our tix were free). This is Batman the way Batman should be. And I'm not just talking about the special effects and action sequences. I'm talking about a tortured Bruce Wayne compelled to become an everlasting symbol that criminals would forever fear, while simultaneously forcing himself to maintain his identity as Bruce Wayne out of devotion to his dead father. I'm talking about a Batman that is brutal, terrifying, and unrelenting. Tim Burton's darkly fantastic Gotham is replaced by a city that is strikingly chlostrophobic, grimy, corrupt, and totally hopeless. While Keaton's Batman whispered in the dark, Christian Bale's Batman roars in the night.

All the characters are amazingly portrayed. Of special note are Michael Caine as Alfred, Gary Oldman as a young James Gordon and Morgan Freeman as Lucious Fox.

Now, Batman Begins will probably not make as much cash at the box office as Star Wars, but in my humble opinion, Christopher Nolan has brought us Batman the way Sam Raimi brought us Spider-Man: as close to perfection as you can get. That makes this the movie of the summer for me. Go see it.