« Maybe Dean Does Represent the Party | Main | Random Moviegoing Thoughts »
June 16, 2005
To Heck With Burton...
That was the Batman I knew from the comic books.
Batman Begins is an outstanding movie. It's good enough to erase the memory of the Burton movies and the horror of the Schumacher films. I thought the first Batman movie by Burton was good, but not exactly the Batman of the comic books. The second Burton movie, though, started the long slide toward camp.
The best part of this movie was Christian Bale. His growling was a bit much at times, but overall he did a great job playing Bruce Wayne and Batman. The other highlight was Michael Caine as Alfred. I think Caine and the writers understood who Alfred is much better than anyone involved with the previous movies. Alfred is Bruce Wayne's last link to sanity and civilization. Without a relationship with the man who basically raised him, Wayne would probably slide into a harder-edged vigilantism than he exhibits as Batman.
Now, I really can't discuss the rest of the movie without some somewhat major spoilers, so click below for more thoughts, but beware, spoilers ahead.
The Ra's Ah Ghul backstory was well-done and had some unexpected twists. While I suspected where the film was going after Wayne saved the life of Ah Ghul's associate, the director did surprise me a bit. I figured we'd see Liam Neeson again, but thought he'd be the "new" Ra's Ah Ghul, not that he was the villian all along.
The Scarecrow was always one of my favorite Batman villians, so I was happy to see him here, mask and all. And man, was that mask creepy. Perfect. And I liked that he didn't die at the end - I hope we'll see him again.
Sargeant Gordon? Very well-done. I wanted to see more scenes between him and Batman, but I understand this was the first movie, so I think that will come. Gary Oldman is a chameleon, and he melts into this role.
Like the Spider-Man movies, it took a relatively unknown director to get what makes the comic books so popular. As with any good movie, it's about character - who are these superheroes? What makes them do what they do? Why should we care about these costumed doers of good? This movie gives us a plausible reason for Bruce Wayne's transformation into Batman, and it was appreciated by fans of the comic like me.
I hope Christopher Nolan is given the chance to direct the sequel, and that the Joker makes an appearance. For the record, I can think of one actor who could do the role justice, and it's not Jack Nicholson.
Katie Holmes was appropriately cute and spunky as the love interest, but the movie didn't really need her character. Plus, when was the last time we saw Bruce Wayne really fall in love? Attention Hollywood - not every movie needs romance.
And the fight scenes were a bit confusing. At some moments, I had no idea who was kicking butt and who was having their butt kicked. As contrived as the 'villian who wants to destroy the city' storyline at the end was, I really did enjoy the last confrontation between Batman and Ra's Ah Ghul. And Batman's last line to Ah Ghul could have been taken right out of the comics.
For a comic book movie, that's the highest compliment I can give.
Posted by slublog at June 16, 2005 09:20 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.slublog.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/1429
Comments
Appreciation for the great blog post. I am glad I have taken the time to learn this.
Posted by: Gil Schwimmer at November 7, 2010 10:41 PM
Credit for the great blog post. I am glad I have taken the time to read this.
Posted by: Charity Cockrell at November 8, 2010 12:40 AM
Credit for the great blog post. I am glad I have taken the time to read this.
Posted by: Abel Brissett at November 8, 2010 12:41 AM
Kudos for the great piece of writing. I am glad I have taken the time to read this.
Posted by: Camelia Deem at November 8, 2010 12:56 AM
Thanks for your insight for the great written piece. I am glad I have taken the time to read this.
Posted by: Carol Albares at November 8, 2010 12:56 AM
Thanks for your insight for the great posting. I am glad I have taken the time to see this.
Posted by: Shanel Vidrine at November 8, 2010 12:57 AM
Kudos for the great article. I am glad I have taken the time to learn this.
Posted by: Columbus Steenrod at November 8, 2010 01:11 AM
This is the best blog I've ever seen in my life! I really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy day to share your this with everyone.
Posted by: Link Building at November 12, 2010 12:18 AM
This is the best blog I've ever seen in my life! I really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy day to share your this with everyone.
Posted by: Backlinks at November 30, 2010 04:57 PM
Great wordpress blog here.. It's hard to find quality writing like yours these days. I really appreciate people like you! take care and see you soon
Posted by: Link Building at December 2, 2010 10:46 PM
interestingly posts I'm greatful to have reding
Posted by: greener teas dietary at December 12, 2010 01:03 AM
Amazing freakin blog here. I almost cried while reading it!
Posted by: English Lessons Online Teacher Skype at December 22, 2010 06:05 AM
Way to focus and straight to your point, i love it. Keep up the work people. Dont let anyone stop us bloggers.
Posted by: Get Backlinks at December 22, 2010 07:44 AM
Great wordpress blog here.. It's hard to find quality writing like yours these days. I really appreciate people like you! take care and see you soon
Posted by: Golf Club Grips at December 27, 2010 09:18 PM
Throughout this grand design of things you'll get a B+ just for hard work. Where you confused everybody was first in all the specifics. You know, as the maxim goes, details make or break the argument.. And it could not be more true at this point. Having said that, permit me tell you what did deliver the results. The authoring is certainly extremely powerful which is probably why I am taking an effort in order to comment. I do not make it a regular habit of doing that. Secondly, whilst I can certainly notice a leaps in logic you make, I am not really certain of just how you appear to connect the ideas which produce your final result. For the moment I shall yield to your point but hope in the near future you link the facts much better.
Posted by: Computer monitors at December 29, 2010 07:57 AM
Almost all of what you mention is supprisingly precise and that makes me ponder the reason why I hadn't looked at this with this light before. This piece truly did switch the light on for me personally as far as this particular topic goes. But at this time there is 1 issue I am not really too cozy with and whilst I make an effort to reconcile that with the actual central idea of the position, let me see exactly what the rest of your readers have to point out.Nicely done.
Posted by: Computer monitors at December 29, 2010 10:47 AM
oyle bir gecer zamanki dizisinin 17. bolum
Posted by: oyle bir gecer zamanki 17. bölüm at January 2, 2011 08:27 AM
Belgesel izleyenlerin bulustugu en genis arsive sahip online belgesel izleme sitesi olan belgesel.biz sizlere bircok kategoride belgesel izleme imkani sunmaktadir.
Posted by: belgesel izle at January 9, 2011 06:19 AM
The info here is exactly what i was trying to find. It would be awesome to see your write more on this topic...will come back to see
Posted by: bigger Breasts at January 17, 2011 06:17 AM
I will be sure to post a link to this website on my blog. I’m certain my readers will find this post really useful.
Posted by: breast enlargement review at January 17, 2011 06:51 AM
What you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts
Posted by: Citrato de Tamoxifeno at January 18, 2011 05:35 AM
Work expands so as to fill the time available
Posted by: india product silagra 50 at January 23, 2011 07:24 AM
You guys really know how to write a blog! This was extremely helpful. Thank you vey much.
Posted by: Abortion Clinic Tampa Florida at January 27, 2011 10:31 PM
Big fish eat little fish
Posted by: lasix culturismo at January 29, 2011 08:07 AM
Another warning signal indicating that it is better to remain with the seller, is that if enough votes seller. It's best sellers, the 10 or less feedback must avoid, even if they are all positive.
Posted by: Louis Vuitton Handbags at February 3, 2011 03:39 PM
It's no use locking the stable door after the horse has bolted
Posted by: Njoy smokeless cigarettes at February 12, 2011 10:08 PM
A cat may look at a king
Posted by: cheap oem software at February 17, 2011 06:48 PM
The road to hell is paved with good intentions
Posted by: serien online schauen at February 19, 2011 09:04 PM