Batkid Begins - B

Rated PG, 87 minutes

We have all wanted to be a superhero at some time in our lives, and the sweet, entertaining new documentary "Batkid Begins" tells how that became possible, for one day, for a sick young boy. On one day in November 2013, in San Francisco, California, the world comes together to grant one 5 year old leukemia patient (and now cancer survivor) named Miles Scott his wish. Batkid Begins looks at the 'why' of this flash phenomenon and how it all came together. Directed by Dana Nachman and co-written by Nachman and Kurt Kuenne, the sentimental, very likable new documentary "Batkid Begins" ultimately explores how one city came together in a selfless act to stage the most elaborate and most unlikely Make-A-Wish projects ever.  Uplifting for sure, you'll certainly have tears in your eyes on more than occasion, especially since the memorable event, which caught nationwide attention as San Fran temporarily became Gotham City, went off much better than anticipated. It's certainly worth a look for how the human spirit can come together to help, but it's also fascinating and relevant for other reasons. "Batkid Begins" goes into great detail in explaining how the event came together, and it occasionally forgets its subjects, the delightful Scott and his family Nick and Natalie and Miles' younger brother, who are all much more interesting than some of the banal event planning details that the movie spends considerable time on. The relevancy is not only with its planning and especially the people involved, including some gregarious characters in Eric Johnston, Sue Johnston, Mike Jutan, Phillip Watt, Lou Seal as well as the coordinator of it all, San Francisco Make-A-Wish Foundation head Patricia Wilson, but in the power of social media, and how it transformed what was initially a small-scale event into a huge one. As long as the movie sticks with the event's emotional impact and not the event itself, then the enjoyable "Batkid Begins" is a heartwarming experience yet one that would be hard to top. Definitely worth a look and take tissues with you.