Batkid Begins – Extraordinary Example of Human Kindness
On one day, in one city, the world comes together to grant one 5-year-old cancer patient his wish. Batkid Begins looks at the ‘why’ of this flash phenomenon. KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Nathaniel B. comments, “ I loved this documentary film about a five-year-old boy, Miles Scott, who battled leukemia for half of his life and his wish to be a real super hero. “ See his full review below.
Batkid Begins
Nathaniel B. KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, age 9
I just watched Batkid Begins. I loved this documentary film about a five-year-old boy, Miles Scott, who battled leukemia for half of his life and his wish to be a real super hero.
The Make-a-Wish Foundation helps kids whose childhoods have been affected with life-threatening diseases get a little part of their childhood back. They start planning his special day the same way they do all the time but, the event grew into a huge deal. They turned San Francisco into Gotham City and arranged for Batkid to fight fake villains and protect the people of the city. Miles is accompanied by an adult Batman who is Eric Johnson (EJ). He had worked with Make-a-Wish before, helping a young cancer survivor with his wish to make a computer game based on fighting cancer that he could send to his friends who were still battling the disease.
The organizers hoped to get about 200 people to come out to watch Batkid save the day but, because of social media, over 25,000 people come out and over 2 BILLION around the world got involved online – even President Obama! This would not have become such a big deal without social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Email and others).
The streets of Gotham City were packed and many people had signs they waived in the air and they waived and cheered for Batkid. The people in San Francisco were truly great and kind to the sick kids in the world.
To challenge Miles, they brought in super villains for him to fight and take to jail. He disabled the Riddler’s bomb and captured him. Then, he caught the Penguin, who was actually a friend EJ’s, his real name is Mike Jutan.
This heartwarming documentary film is a great story and features many people who wanted to help Miles become Batkid and stop being shy and be proud like a superhero. Director Dana Nachman used some comic strip animation to depict the real people and parts of the story. It looks really cool. I think this movie is good for all ages really but will recommend it for ages 7 to 15. I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars because sometimes it got a bit boring.
