Batman Begins (Movie spoilers)

Friday

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And so it has begun. Wensday morning, at 12:01 am the newest Batman movie was released nationwide. To start let's get a few things straight. This is not a remake, sequel, or prequel to the progressivly worse Batman franchise of years past. There is no Joel Schumacker mucking about with neon lights or overly colorful villains. There is no Bat-visa, and there is certainly no outlandishly designed Batmobile with floppy fins. This movie, much like the dearly departed animated series of the 90s, is what Batman should be, both in comics and in film.

The movie opens with Wayne in an Asian prison, fighting inmates for his meager food until he's thrown into solitary for striking back against them all. From there we see a series of flashback, obviously filtered through the eyes of a child. Wayne's father is a perfect person, his mother a kind, caring woman. Even his fears are magnified beyond what a person would experience, but fit perfectly with a child's larger than life view of the world. Through his eyes we see the death of his parents, and the building of the lost soul he's become by the time the League of Shadows finds him fighting for scraps in hell. The movie shows his training, the building of the man who would become Batman, and his finding of a purpose instead of the near aimless wondering he's done till now.

Once the film moves to Gotham City it gets into the meat of the plot. Bruce Wayne, steadily moving towards becoming Batman, starts by arming himself out of the Wayne Tech laboratories, with a series of not-improbable, and fairly utilitarian devices such as grappling guns, high quality body armor, and lightweight fabric that snaps into a makeshift hang glider at the jolt of a current. The Batmobile is particularly impressive, dropping all of the silliness of the vehicle designs over the years and making it a streamlined, military ATV with impressive capabilities. And boy does the bass thud in your chest when he goes to full throttle. The designs and trials Bruce and Alfred had to go through to get parts for the Batsuit itself were particularly amusing.

The final act revolves around Batman foiling the plot of Ras Al Ghul and his lackey, The Scarecrow. Ras himself was excellently portrayed in the film. For the uninitiated to the comics Ras Al Ghul is the head of a worldwide criminal empire called The Demon. His plan with it is nothing so simple as world domination, but world reclamation. He wants to bring the human population under control, and is willing to do almost anything to achieve this goal. In the film Ras is similar, but instead of attempting massive genocide he is more like a surgeon. He removes the most decadent bits from civilizations, and has set his sights on Gotham City.

The cast and crew for this film are perfect. I literally could not have come up with a better team to handle Batman. From Christian Bales always outstanding performance, to the underutilized Ken Watanabe the cast does a stellar job of bringing these abstract characters to life. The screenwriting and directing duo of David Goyer, a longtime comic writer and scribe of the Blade trilogy, and Christopher Nolan, director of such mind bending thrillers as Insomnia and Memento, show a true love for the characters, each one getting his time in the spotlight. No one got shortchanged. And damn if Gary Oldman didn't make the perfect Jim Gordon.

In conclusion, this is an excellent adaptation of Batman to the silver screen, for one reason: it keeps Bruce Wayne as the main character, instead of just being a cover for Batman to assume when he needs to. If you enjoy strong, character driven thrillers then go see Batman Begins this summer.

9/10 :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon:
 
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Yeah.......

It was kidna long at first, but then it picked up. Like you said, it was amazing. Everything in the movie made more sense and was better excuted than the last 2 films. But so far, BATMAN RETURNS is better that the other one.

I do wished that they had set used the Scarecrow more. That's all Im complaing about. Overall.......good.

8/10
 
This thread should be marked for spoilers...

Anyway... Batman Begins indeed.

There's one thing I didn't like about this film. No John Willaims score :(

Other than that. There was no one bad actor in the cast, Acting was amazing, fights were great, dialogue was great, setting was great (anything is better than that crap they started with when Batman Forever started).

The whole Liam Neeson twist had my head spinning.

I didn't think the start was slow at all. It set up Batman/Bruce Wayne pretty nicely.

I'm at a loss of words this movie was unbelieveable and as much as I hate to say it sorry Mikey Keaton but I don't think I can even remember that movie after seeing this. 9.5/10

-.5 for no Williams score... Yeah, I'm a fan.
 
Did I just see a Batman Movie?

Because I think I just saw a Batman movie. A GREAT Batman Movie. And not only that, but a flat out fantastic movie.

I would like to formally thank Joel Schumaker for destroying the original Batman movie franchise with "Batman and Robin". The original franchise had dozens and dozens of flaws, even in the seemingly-perfect Burton Batman movie... The films centered around the Villains, and the depth of Bruce Wayne varied with whoever donned the Bat-suit. The movie had no foundations, nothing that made it stable. When Joel destroyed the Batman movies with rubber nipples and Ah-nold, I was as pissed off as the next fan. But IT WAS WORTH IT! If the travesty of B&R hadn't happened, this movie wouldn't have been made, and its because of that that I thank Mr. Schumaker.

The Movie is great. Abso-****ing-lutely great. It has its flaws, *cough* the love interest *cough*.... BUT OH MY GOD, I JUST SAW A BATMAN MOVIE!!!!!!!!

Christain Bale's demonic banter is scary as hell, as is the elegant droll of Cillian Murphy as the horrifying Scarecrow. (Plus, I am now madly in love with Dr. Crane. DAMN he was pretty.)

Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, Perfect.
Tom Wilkinson as Carmine Falcone, Perfect.
Michael Caine as Alfred, Beyond Perfect.
Liam Neeson as Ducard, The Perfectest Perfect of all.

when i first heard that Ra's Al Ghul would be in the movie played by Ken Watanabe, I have to say I was disapointed... But when they reveal that Ken was the cover leader, and that Liam Neeson was in fact Ra's.... wow. Beyond Perfection. Liam Neeson sets the stage for all Batman Villains from hence-forward. Wow. He was great. And if they introduce Talia as his daughter, you could see how she'd envy/love Bruce


But in summary, DAMN, that was arguably the best Comic Book Movie ever made.

The reason I was disapointed with Ken as Ra's is that his race is supposed to be indistinguishable. He should be able to look foreign to the world, because he is from the Past....

I love Neeson as Ra's... It was perfect

9.5/10, because of Rachel's character. Unnecessary. But yeah... great movie.

Rene, I don't see how you think Batman Returns was better, could you explain?
 
Dr.Strangefate said:
Rene, I don't see how you think Batman Returns was better, could you explain?

I didnt say it was better. I said it's just as good. Im just a big fan of Batman Returns. It was more dark, and more twisted. This movie was dark, but not as dark as I wanted it to be.

Movie is F***ING amazing, but there where to many jokes. Batman doesnt make jokes, Bruce Wayne.... once in a while. That's what annoyed me, that every one was making jokes. Aside from that, the score. Either John Williams or Danny Elfman. Yup!
 
TheManWithoutFear said:
Is it true this movie was based on Batman: Year One by Frank Miller?

No, the one that was based on Batman:Year One, was 1989's BATMAN.
 
René said:
No, the one that was based on Batman:Year One, was 1989's BATMAN.

No, Batman from 89 was its own made up story. The Joker never appeared in Millar's Year One.

Jim Gordon's role is taken from Millar in Year One, the rest was original. So yes, a bit of this movie was based on Batman: Year One.
 
TheManWithoutFear said:
This thread should be marked for spoilers...

Anyway... Batman Begins indeed.

There's one thing I didn't like about this film. No John Willaims score :(

Other than that. There was no one bad actor in the cast, Acting was amazing, fights were great, dialogue was great, setting was great (anything is better than that crap they started with when Batman Forever started).

The whole Liam Neeson twist had my head spinning.

I didn't think the start was slow at all. It set up Batman/Bruce Wayne pretty nicely.

I'm at a loss of words this movie was unbelieveable and as much as I hate to say it sorry Mikey Keaton but I don't think I can even remember that movie after seeing this. 9.5/10

-.5 for no Williams score... Yeah, I'm a fan.




John Williams IS my IDOL. I own 20 of his soundracks, and they're about the only music I listen to (on cd's, of course, I'm not that big a NO-Music freak :wink: ).
 
Ok my freakin sweet heaven. I think I'm going to cry. This is the way Batman should be done. Those fear illusions were sweet. The twist that Liam was really Ra was something I didn't see coming. I hope they make a sequel. That ending left it wide open with the Joker card and everything. I give it a 10/10. There was nothing wrong woth this movie. :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon:
 
Yesterday In the U.S., it made 15.1 million dollars. Hopefully this'll put an end to the 16-week drought at the Box Office. (Each weekend, for the last 16 weekends, the combined money all the movies in the top ten made have been less than that of the same week one year ago in 2004. :( )
 
I'm still deciding whether I should see this or not. All the reviews are awesome, but I've never even read a Batman comic, and the only movie I saw was the 1989 one and that was a long time ago (when I saw it), so it might be confusing for me (I get confused easily). Is there a novelization of the movie (I would see the film then read the book if there is.)?
 
ultimatedjf said:
I'm still deciding whether I should see this or not. All the reviews are awesome, but I've never even read a Batman comic, and the only movie I saw was the 1989 one and that was a long time ago (when I saw it), so it might be confusing for me (I get confused easily). Is there a novelization of the movie (I would see the film then read the book if there is.)?

The movie isn't confusing, and you don't need to know any backstory going in to enjoy it.


But yes, DC's Novelization came out this week.
 
Dr.Strangefate said:
The movie isn't confusing, and you don't need to know any backstory going in to enjoy it.


But yes, DC's Novelization came out this week.


I just bought it like ten minutes ago. :oops:

I also bought the Fantastic Four novelization (350+ pages) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
TheManWithoutFear said:
-.5 for no Williams score... Yeah, I'm a fan.


yeah...i thought i heard slight williamsess elements to the score...but it just quite didn't get there...my only...yet VERY minor complaint with an overall freaking sweet movie.
 
:crazy: I want this movie to come to Denmark right now :crazy:

Batman is just ****ing awesome and i cant wait for this to be released. Thx for the nice reviews. Damn.
 
ultimatedjf said:
I'm still deciding whether I should see this or not. All the reviews are awesome, but I've never even read a Batman comic, and the only movie I saw was the 1989 one and that was a long time ago (when I saw it), so it might be confusing for me (I get confused easily). Is there a novelization of the movie (I would see the film then read the book if there is.)?

Just forget 1989's Batman happened and go and see this. Seriously the first Batman does not tie into this at all. So this is the origin story and THE jump on point. Get off your *** an go.
 
TheManWithoutFear said:
Just forget 1989's Batman happened and go and see this. Seriously the first Batman does not tie into this at all. So this is the origin story and THE jump on point. Get off your *** an go.


I think I'm gonna go this weekend. :D
 

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