?Batman Begins,? starring Christian Bale as the Caped Crusader, has been voted favourite film of 2005 by the readers of Total Film magazine.

The list of winners, which polled 15,000 film fans, was released Sunday.

?Batman Begins was a smart but funny reinvention of an iconic figure and had fantastic performances. It was also excellently directed by Christopher Nolan,? said magazine deputy editor Nev Pierce, according to the BBC.

?Film fans want more and ?Batman Begins? overcomes the horrible taste that previous outing ?Batman and Robin? left in people’s mouths.?

Mickey Rourke was named man of the year for his portrayal of tough-guy Marv in ?Sin City.?

Scottish actor Ian McDiarmid won best movie villain for his role as Supreme Chancellor Palpatine in ?Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.? Last year’s top villain was U.S. President George Bush for his unwitting role in the Michael Moore documentary ?Fahrenheit 9/11.?

?War of the Worlds? star Dakota Fanning, 11, was voted best child actor, while the squirrels in ?Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? were named best movie animal.

?We had more people voting for our awards this year than ever before and 2006 looks set to be another great year at the box office,? said Pierce.






Related Stories: