Batman Begins

[Dan]

Ebert just gave it 4 stars. It's getting rave reviews across the board, I've read two or three reviews saying this is not just the best superhero movie of the summer, but the best movie of the year altogether. Lots of theaters are doing midnight showings tonight, but alas mine isn't. Who's going to see this?

 

[5stringJeff]

Better than ROTS?

 

[wolverine]

It will have to go a long way to be better than ROTS, but I do plan on seeing Batman this weekend.

 

[Dan]

Better than ROTS?

Well, thinking back, I think Ebert gave ROTS 3 stars, so his opinion is not to be taken as the Word anymore (not that it ever really was).

I really do want to see it, though. My roommate's going to see it tonight, but I'll probably have to wait until I have some more money.

 

[Dan]

Awesome, simply awesome!

Y'know how ROTS was supposed to be "the Star Wars movie for the kids who saw the originals and now want an adult story"? Well, that's what this is, it's a Batman movie made for adults. And it's great.

My roommates were kind enough to loan me the $8 to go see this with them and, man, it was amazing. It's really amazing what a dark story this really is. Basically, the movie retells the story of how Bruce Wayne became Batman. I understand this movie followed the Dark Knight comic series very closely, and it's a wise move. Much of the story is different from in the original film, from where Bruce's fear of bats comes from, or where he really does get those wonderful toys from. Funny thing is, the whole story was told in such a realistic way that once Batman actually dons the cape and becomes "Batman", there were moments where I found myself starting to worry about it being a little unrealistic before I had to remind myself, "oh, wait, it's a Batman movie."

The acting was great across the board, especially from Christian Bale and Cillian Murphy. Gary Oldman really manages to get a lot out of a mostly one-dimensional character.

It was really great the way they grounded every single aspect of the Batman backstory into a character-driven story. Even the villan's master plan to destroy Gotham City is refreshingly original.

This is by far my favorite Batman movie now, and it may be tied with Spiderman 2 for my favorite superhero movie of all time. I never thought the story of Bruce Wayne would be so involving and ultimately satisfying. I'd definitely give this one an 'A'.

I should note that this movie is very dark, so parents may want to research it a little bit before letting their kids see it. There were only four or five bad words (the worst being "Goddamn" and "asshole"), there was much fighting violence, though the majority of it was done in a fast-paced way, so that you can't really see anything too violent. The plot hinges on a hallucinogen being dumped into Gotham's water supply, and we see a few of the effects of the hallucinogen, which, honestly, creeped me out a little bit. It's probably OK for kids, like, 8 or 9 and over.

Oh, and to get off-topic for a second, the trailer for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory looks great on the big screen, I can't wait for that one.

 

[5stringJeff]

But how much of Katie Holmes do we get to see?

Thanks for the review Dan. I wasn't particularly interested in seeing this, but now I will certainly consider it.

 

[Johnney]

as long as its better than daredevil. that one kinda of blew i thought.

 

[Dan]

as long as its better than daredevil. that one kinda of blew i thought.

Dude, you can't even compare the two. Unfortunately, not many people are seeing it, so it's doing Daredevil numbers.

I'm surprised more people on here haven't seen it yet. Come on, I wanna discuss this thing to ridiculous ends, a la Ep. III!!!

 

[GotZoom]

But how much of Katie Holmes do we get to see?

Thanks for the review Dan. I wasn't particularly interested in seeing this, but now I will certainly consider it.

Probably not as much as that smurf Tom Cruise does.

 

[Dan]

Probably not as much as that smurf Tom Cruise does.

THere's something very not right about that relationship. Not to sound cynical, but there's only 2 things I can get from their relationship:

1) Tom and Katie REALLY want Batman and War of the Worlds to get lots of publicity.

or

2) Tom REALLY wants people to stop thinking he's gay.

Lately in interviews, she's come across as very reserved, as though she has been brainwashed or she's in a cult or something (Scientology, hmmmmm....). She's pretty good in the movie, she doesn't really get a whole lot to do, but she makes do with what she's got.

 

[Avatar4321]

I'm surprised more people on here haven't seen it yet. Come on, I wanna discuss this thing to ridiculous ends, a la Ep. III!!!

Excuse me. i havent gotten the girl to agree to go with me yet. so i cant see it yet.

 

[krisy]

My husband and son went to see it tonight and said it was definitely the best of the Batman movies. The hubby really liked it!!!

 

[dmp]

Concur with above. FANTASTIC. The more I think about what I saw, the more I enjoyed the movie. During the movie I kept expecting to be disappointed...kept looking for that moment when one realizes 'ahh...okay...this DOES suck."

Moment never came.

Pay full price for this movie.

 

[deaddude]

Is scare crow the villian? I have seen some of the ads and am wondering if that was their version of him, it looked pretty good.

 

[Dan]

Scarecrow is one of the best parts about the movie! The actor playing him is great (Cillian Murphy from 28 Days Later), the character was treated with weight, and his hallucinations were downright scary (my roommate jumped twice while watching it).

But, anyway, yeah Scarecrow is one of a couple villains in the film, and my personal favorite part of the film.

 

[Avatar4321]

Alright, I haven't gotten back to this before now, but Batman Begins is the best freakin movie I've seen in a long time. Seen it twice already. Might see it a third time (Mostly because this total hottie i used to work with wants to see it and I offered)

It was just so cool. Raj Al Ghul is deffinately one of the best villians Bruce has been up against, Alfred was Hilarious, and They really play up the billionaire playboy in this one. I loved it.

And I loved how they had Jim Gordon play a integral role in it. They explained alot better how the future commissionar and Batman got together. I never liked how they portrayed Jim in the other Batman movies as some dumb fat guy that didn't do much.

I also love how they made gotham look like a real city and not that dark town the portrayed in the first two or the crazy statueque place in the last two (honestly what on earth were they smoking during the second two movies?)

All and all very good movie. Like I said the best in a very long time.

 

[wolverine]

I saw Batman Begins and agree it's the best of all the Batman films. Rumor has it that WB wants to re-make the other films with Christian Bale playing the role of Batman in all of them. I hope they do. Now that they have a "grittier" feel of the story, the Joker can be reintroduced as the true villian he is.

I think Scarecrow was a really awesome villian in this film and all credit goes to the guy who plays him. But that guy's facial expressions could have him play the Joker. Imagine his face painted white and hair dyed green when he says "He's here - The BATman." That says it all. Sign this guy up to play Joker.

Batman Begins is a true Batman fan's movie.

 

[Dan]

Now that they have a "grittier" feel of the story, the Joker can be reintroduced as the true villian he is.

I can't vouch for its authenticity, but here's a supposedly real picture of Joker from the next Batman movie...

Regardless of whether this is real or not, this is probably the general direction they'll go with the character. I really never had more than passing interest in the first 2 Batman movies (and a passing hatred of the last two!), so this is the first real Batman movie I've loved.

I think Scarecrow was a really awesome villian in this film and all credit goes to the guy who plays him.

Cillian Murphy, yeah, he was awesome, my favorite Batman villain out of all of the movies. If you want to see another great performance from him, rent 28 Days Later, though I should warn you that his weiner makes more than one appearance. Still, the movie is great and he's great in it.

I can't remember if Scarecrow died or if he was just put into a hospital? I would like to see him come back in the next movie, he wasn't really given enough to do in the first.

I've read that the studio is still trying to decide whether they should continue with the darker path or go lighter again in the next one, which is just ridiculous. Batman Begins had great word of mouth and eventually did great business (though, admittedly, it did stumble a bit when it first opened), but I think that's because they had trouble marketing it. I'm sure their natural thing would be to market it to little kids: it is a Batman movie, after all, and studios basically market to kids anyway (hence the fact that there have hardly been any R-rated studio horror films since The Ring did so well). However, I don't really think it is a movie that kids will like very much, and younger kids will certainly be scared at a lot of the imagery.

If it were my decision, I'd say go ahead and try to market it to adults, there are plenty of adults willing to admit they like Batman, and plenty more who like it whether they admit it or not. But, we'll see, I guess, that's a long way off.

 

[wolverine]

I can't vouch for its authenticity, but here's a supposedly real picture of Joker from the next Batman movie....

That is close to the look that I was thinking. Cool.

I can't remember if Scarecrow died or if he was just put into a hospital? I would like to see him come back in the next movie, he wasn't really given enough to do in the first.

If I remember correctly, he got tazored by Katie and the horse he was on ran off with him flopping around on it. Door could to be open for a return, let's hope.

 

[hylandrdet]

I can't vouch for its authenticity, but here's a supposedly real picture of Joker from the next Batman movie...

Regardless of whether this is real or not, this is probably the general direction they'll go with the character. I really never had more than passing interest in the first 2 Batman movies (and a passing hatred of the last two!), so this is the first real Batman movie I've loved.



Cillian Murphy, yeah, he was awesome, my favorite Batman villain out of all of the movies. If you want to see another great performance from him, rent 28 Days Later, though I should warn you that his weiner makes more than one appearance. Still, the movie is great and he's great in it.

I can't remember if Scarecrow died or if he was just put into a hospital? I would like to see him come back in the next movie, he wasn't really given enough to do in the first.

I've read that the studio is still trying to decide whether they should continue with the darker path or go lighter again in the next one, which is just ridiculous. Batman Begins had great word of mouth and eventually did great business (though, admittedly, it did stumble a bit when it first opened), but I think that's because they had trouble marketing it. I'm sure their natural thing would be to market it to little kids: it is a Batman movie, after all, and studios basically market to kids anyway (hence the fact that there have hardly been any R-rated studio horror films since The Ring did so well). However, I don't really think it is a movie that kids will like very much, and younger kids will certainly be scared at a lot of the imagery.

If it were my decision, I'd say go ahead and try to market it to adults, there are plenty of adults willing to admit they like Batman, and plenty more who like it whether they admit it or not. But, we'll see, I guess, that's a long way off.

I was definitely happy to had seen Batman Begins. I was glad that they finally got things straightened out concerning how Batman should be portrayed on the screen.

I was definitely pissed off at Tim Burton for making a mockery of Batman by using over the hill actors and actresses; then top it off with strange backgrounds that woud make Oliver Stone cringe.