Batkid Begins (2015/Warner DVD)

Picture: B- Sound: B- Extras: D Film: B

Batkid Begins is a new documentary about the largest Make-A-Wish Foundation dream ever staged: the wish to become Batman for a day.

If you see special interest segments on the news, I'm sure you saw a lot of buzz online about Miles Scott and the huge event when it happened last year but here it's really laid out how massive of a project this really was and to what lengths it took to make the event possible.

Miles Scott is a cancer survivor from Northern California that was diagnosed with lymphoblastic leukemia, a form of leukemia, or cancer of the white blood cells characterized by excess lymphoblasts... at 18 months old! In chemotherapy treatment for several years, he is now in remission, and the celebration is in honor of his completing treatments. Aided by an incredible turnout of millions (who learned of Miles through several social networking outlets) came to cheer him on as Batkid in downtown San Francisco (which was Gotham City for the day) and helped make an ill child's impossible dream a reality.

What started as a peaceful morning with Miles Scott and his family in a 'Gotham City' hotel room, soon became a call to action when Batman himself knocked on the door and asked Miles for his help in fighting off two villains in the city that are causing chaos, The Riddler and The Penguin under his secret alias of 'Batkid'. A bank is under attack and the San Francisco Giants mascot, Lou Seal, has been kidnapped!

Batkid took part in these staged events and received the key to the city from San Francisco mayor Ed Lee. President Obama and other elected officials and representatives from law enforcement also took part, and the San Francisco Chronicle, the city's main newspaper, produced a "Gotham City Chronicle" in honor of the efforts with the headline "Batkid Saves City: Hooded hero nabs Riddler, rescues damsel in distress."

The film shapes our young hero very well with a little on his background and interviews with his family. Some of the most amusing parts of the documentary are the interview tidbits where you see how genuinely shocked everyone was by how flawless and unprecedented the massive event turned out to be with incredible contributions. Batkid Begins has a positive message and shows that there are still good people out there.

Presented in standard definition with an anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 track, Batkid Begins looks and sounds fine for the DVD format but, as with many releases, would look even better on Blu-ray disc.

No extras, sadly, with the exception of some trailers before the presentation including DC's Batman Vs Superman (the first teaser) and a sneak peek at the upcoming Lego Dimensions videogame.

Batkid Begins is a nice little documentary and a great demonstration of human kindness and shows an incredible display of affection and collaboration by Make-A-Wish. There's even talks about a feature film in development with Julia Roberts attached.

- James Harland Lockhart V

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