Batkid Begins (2015)

Critics be damned! This movie will quite simply make you feel good about humanity. This is a film about a storybook day in San Francisco--a day when downtown was pretty much shut down to make a little boy's dream come true. The best use of city funds? Probably not. But if a city's officials can't take time to be a little silly and do something for the sheer joy and good of it, maybe it's not a city worth living in. As a San Francisco resident, I can attest that the money was well spent, coming back in the form of boundless goodwill and smiles all across the city--and all across the world, in the form of social media. For once, the lead story on the news wasn't about homelessness or crime, it was about the humanity in all of us. (And I'm sure this humanity translated to lots of awareness and financial support for not only the Make-a-Wish Foundation but for many other childhood cancer organizations.) Hooray for Miles! And Hooray for San Francisco! And hooray for the director and producers of this film, who are putting the money made from the documentary right back into funding organizations that fight childhood illness.Watch Batkid Begins when you need a little mood-booster. If it doesn't lift your spirits, than you are just too far gone.

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.

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.

his upbeat documentary with a heart is a must-see. It tells the story of a young boy's Make-A-Wish that captured the imaginations of people all over the world. At a time when cynicism is rampant, the film shows that so many people are inherently good.The movie retells the story in an entertaining way, even adding fun animation. Which is so fitting since Batman began as a comic book hero.When Miles Scott, who was diagnosed with leukemia at 18 months, was finally in remission, his parents contacted the Make-A-Wish chapter in San Francisco. What began as a routine wish fulfillment mushroomed into a major caper-filled day with an audience of 25, 000 people and about two billion following the action via social media.President Obama tweeted his encouragement!Even if you're down on documentaries, you'll love this one. The critics did.