Like most things in my life, we never do things by half measures and nothing could be more true than my current fixation with Batman, or as I like to call him, Christian Bale, the best Batman ever. Bale starred in Batman Begins, the first in a trilogy directed by Christopher Nolan followed by Dark Knight and Dark Knight Rises.

With my son home with a nasty fever these last two days, it was time to call in the big guns.

So it must be 10 years since I saw first saw this film and loved it even more the second time. I’d forgotten the richness of the cast. Most notably Bale, and Michael Caine as his butler Alfred. Then we have Sgt. Gordan, played by Gary Oldman, who seems to be showing up in a lot of films I’m seeing lately. The thing is you can never have too much Oldman or Bale. This line, “I never said thank you. You’ll never have to,” exchanged between Batman and Sgt. Gordon illustrates everything right about the movie.

Strong direction, a great premise (how to Batman become Batman?) is far more psychologically based than any of its predecessor. Oh, and I forgot to mention Katie Holmes, Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman. And then there’s the clever writing that makes me think I could watch this movie once a week. It’s so fresh, even 10 years later as we watch Bale navigate the waters between guilt over his parents death, his deepest fears, and his selfless drive for justice in Gotham City.

There are so many toys, it’s hard to know where to look sometimes and so much action but more of the Ninja fighting kind than bloodthirsty. My son and I tried to watch the next film in the trilogy but it got too dark too fast with the Joker infamously played by Heath Ledger. Even I was terrified of the Joker. So we’ll have to enjoy our next version of Bale’s Batman when he’s a little older.

But back to Bale. This is his movie and he more than steps into Batmans’ shoes. Let’s see if the same can be said for Ben Affleck this summer in Batman vs. Superman.