I saw Batman Begins. I hesitate to critique, but simply because the painful recognition of Batman and Robin springs to mind. I still can't talk about that catastrophe; it insulted my very being and left scars carved deep into my fanatical batman-loving skin, and I'm simply not ready to talk about it. Batman Begins was, well, better, but I still had plenty to complain about.

I am an avid devotee of the crusader and the massive amounts of money he utilizes as opposed to crazy super powers. This is mainly because of the brilliant, beautiful, breathtaking perfection of Batman TAS - never before has an animated series done such justice to the original idea; the dark, deco animation and eloquent screenplay converted me into an active aficionada- reminds me of what can be done. It glorifies its hero, but doesn't stop short of pointing out the fact that the dude's a wack (for example: batman's penchant for dealing with the death of his parents by fighting strangers and donning spandex). The villains are ostensibly metaphoric yet superbly developed, conveying the gamut of human obsession and vice, equipped with stylish dress and moderately bad puns.

Imagine my dismay when a multi-million dollar movie with Michael Cane, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman and Liam Neeson fell short of doing half as fantastic a job as the crew of TAS. Come now! The batmobile was a hummer? Does that not fight the very existence of batman? Katie Holmes, a romantic interest? Ra's Al Ghul the principal villain?

Poppycock! The movie put me right to sleep.