Load of rubbish!!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

On November 15, 2013, I got a wonderful birthday present. I followed a link to a story about a child's Make-A-Wish request being fulfilled, and 20, 000 strangers participating to cheer him on. And, then, thousands more around the world touched by it and stopped to thank a young boy who wanted to be a hero, just for one day. How appropriate then, we hear a choral rendition of David Bowie's "Heroes," at the beginning of this documentary. Cancer is a harsh disease for anyone; but especially for children. These are some of the most vulnerable people, with developing immune systems. They have to turn into fighters to beat the disease. This film tells the story of one of these brave little warriors.Miles Scott was diagnosed with leukemia at age 18 months. 18 months! He finished his treatment in the year he turned 5. That's a long battle, for anyone. Along the way, he was introduced to the Make-A-Wish foundation, which grants wishes to kids fighting cancer, in the hopes of giving them a back a piece of their lost childhood. Miles wanted to be a superhero; he wanted to be Batman. Simple enough. Then, people took inspiration and the idea grew from a simple day dressing up and doing some superheroic stuff into a city stopping for a day to cheer on a brave little kid, whose wish was to portray someone who brings justice into the world.The story is amazing and the people involved even moreso. We meet Eric Johnston, who would be Batman to Miles' Batkid. Eric had worked with Make-A Wish before, helping a child develop a video game about fighting cancer, for other kids facing the same battle. Eric and the young man were recognized for their selfless act by the Dalai Lama. You see that same commitment from EJ, here, along with his wife and friends, the volunteers at Make-A-Wish and thousands of ordinary people, who were touched by the idea of helping a child play makebelieve. They got to be kids again, and see the world with clarity and bring some kindness back into it. All were heroes that day.The film captures everything wonderfully and will have you in tears of joy, constantly. It's a heartwarming story that a few cynics have tried to tear apart; but, its message is beyond that. Watch the film and take inspiration. Become a hero for someone else. Take a moment and extend a kind hand to someone in need. remember what childhood was like, when you did everything with enthusiasm and passion. This film makes you want to go out and make the world a better place. We could use a bit of that.Well done, Caped Crusader, and all of those who helped along the way.

This was an amazing film. Batkid is the superhero name of an American child who is also a cancer survivor. His wish was to be "Batkid", a sidekick of the comic book superhero Batman and the people at the Make A Wish Foundation turned San Francisco into Gotham City for a day. The city was completely transformed and everyone from the newspaper to President Obama got involved.We watched it as a family and found it to be a springboard for a number of topics like; Life and death, the inherent goodness of most people and how each of us can make a difference in the world. It was also beautifully filmed and tightly edited. I can't say enough about this movie.

It seems like there is never an end to the amount of depressing stories in the news today. Death, starvation, crime, race riots, global catastrophe, it's hard to find a positive story out there. I remember a story in November a few years ago that warmed my heart and rekindled my spark of belief in the good of humanity. The film Batkid Begins documents the true heart lifting story of Miles Scott, a 5 year old diagnosed with terminal Leukemia and his dream to become Batman. Through the tireless effort of the Make-a-Wish that dream took wings and grew into something no one ever expected. Through viral internet traffic and countless, tireless volunteers, the city of San Francisco played Gotham for one day to full fill a little boys wish. I loved this documentary. It does an excellent job giving a closer look at one of the most positive news stories in 10 years. It never really pushes that emotion button artificially to generate anything that this story doesn't possess on its own. It simply shows things as they unfolded. It also shows us uniquely what it was that caused this project to take flight as high as it did. We all want to be a kid again with dreams of Superheroes. Somewhere along the way we all seem to lose touch with that. Miles helps us remember what it means to want the impossible. At an 87 minute running time there is no reason you can't find a few minutes out of your time to be uplifted. Well worth it. My only complaint is that this movie needed to be marketed better. More people need to know about this movie and its positive message. If you enjoyed this review, please check out my blog at yourturntopick.com

In a world filled with bad news, I'm so happy to bring my young kids out to see a film that entertained them and showed them that people can be good. As an adult I quickly forget how dreams and imagination are the seat for a world where there can be hope. Watching the film as an adult my mind drifted to thinking about how much money was spent on the event. Then I saw how happy my kids were sitting next to me and immediately I saw the bigger picture. The amount of money spent on the event was proportionally small when compared to the impact the film had on terms of awareness for a good cause. Much more money is spent on ad campaigns for commercial products or even political views that do not improve our quality of life or bring people together for a positive cause. The events and the cause in the film were very positive. The fact that it grew to such a large scale was due to the fact that thousands of participants dedicated their own time out of compassion. It was basically a vote that was cast by the participants to say I will try to make this a better world instead of sitting and complaining. The symbolism is never lost throughout the film as we watch a kid dress up as his favorite mythical hero who represents hope in a time of darkness. The film was a very rare success for both adults and children and showed how people from everywhere can come together to make our world better. Hope is a powerful force.