Batman Begins

[Mike Olbinski]

I only have two nitpicks: 1) Bale voice as Batman seemed WAYYYYY over the top. His appearcne alone is intimidating, Bale didn't need to be shaking every time he spoke. 2) I was underwhelmed by the score.

Besides that - a REALLY good re-boot of the franchise. Not as good as Batman or Returns - but pretty damn close, while being wildly different stylistically.

Wow, not as good as Returns??? No way...

This was the best Batman I've ever seen, and probably one of the best comic book movies ever made.

I completely loved it...totally captured what Batman is all about...not funny goofy enemies...but the real Batman, his motivation and where he came from.

The first Batman I will always love, but like Ebert said once...it was mostly about the Joker and Jack Nicholson than Batman it seemed...or at least he stole the show.

This one was dark and spooky...maybe two cheese parts, but otherwise, very well done. Bale was great, his voice was fine to me...

Mike

 

[Cheesebeef]

Wow, not as good as Returns??? No way...

This was the best Batman I've ever seen, and probably one of the best comic book movies ever made.

I just watched Returns a couple days ago and I think people sell that movie incredibly short. The romance between Wayne and Selina is actually believable and watchable. Catwoman is probably the sickest, most well realized comic-book villain ever and the whole romance hinging on dual personalities is really involving. Combine that with stunning visuals, a dark witty performance by Devito as the Penguin and the score and you still have a better movie than Begins IMO - not by much, but still better.

As far as the original Batman, yeah it was Joker-centric (reall as was the entire 1st hour of Returns), but that what I love about those movies. When do you EVER see such incredible realizations of Villains? In reality if you watch Batman Begins, you can see Batman and Returns as natural progressions as Batman gets older.

That being said, it was a very good origin story. I just didn't think it had that "magic" that Batman had or the relationship between characters that Returns had.

 

[Chaplin]

I just watched Returns a couple days ago and I think people sell that movie incredibly short. The romance between Wayne and Selina is actually believable and watchable. Catwoman is probably the sickest, most well realized comic-book villain ever and the whole romance hinging on dual personalities is really involving. Combine that with stunning visuals, a dark witty performance by Devito as the Penguin and the score and you still have a better movie than Begins IMO - not by much, but still better.

As far as the original Batman, yeah it was Joker-centric (reall as was the entire 1st hour of Returns), but that what I love about those movies. When do you EVER see such incredible realizations of Villains? In reality if you watch Batman Begins, you can see Batman and Returns as natural progressions as Batman gets older.

That being said, it was a very good origin story. I just didn't think it had that "magic" that Batman had or the relationship between characters that Returns had.

Until Batman Begins, Batman Returns was my favorite of the 4 movies, for all the reasons you've already said.

However, I firmly believe that Begins is the best of the bunch because with the exception of Katie Holmes, everything about it was top-notch. I'm surprised you didn't like the score, I thought it was brilliantly underplayed and not like most superhero movies where the score often dominates.

 

[JPlay]

It was good I liked it. Batman didn't have as many gadgets, it was more hand 2 hand fighting. This Batman was more for adults. I could see how it would be scary for kids with the whole drub induced hallucination thing.

The best part about the movie was the trailer for War of the Worlds. Damn that looks good.

 

[Chaz]

Very good movie.

Excellent update to the series.



I loved the discovery of the batcave, story of the gadgets and armor, etc..


I thought the performances were very good and the plot line was great.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I'm surprised you didn't like the score, I thought it was brilliantly underplayed and not like most superhero movies where the score often dominates.

I'm a sucker for real distinctive Super-hero score. Elfman's Batman score is probably my favorite score in film history.

 

[JPlay]

You know what didn't make sense, what the hell was Morgan Freeman's job. There was nobody working down there with him. If he was once helping produce those things and they were no longer producing them, then what was he supposed to be doing. Sounds like a pretty kick back job.

 

[Chaz]

You know what didn't make sense, what the hell was Morgan Freeman's job. There was nobody working down there with him. If he was once helping produce those things and they were no longer producing them, then what was he supposed to be doing. Sounds like a pretty kick back job.

LOL

I think he said his job was staying out of the board's way.

 

[UncleChris]

Very good movie.

Excellent update to the series.



I loved the discovery of the batcave, story of the gadgets and armor, etc..


I thought the performances were very good and the plot line was great.

Agreed!

However, Ebert and Roper definitely overstated it. Batman Begins is a very good, entertaining movie. But Michael Keaton's first Batman was better... but then again, I enjoyed the more comic book feel of Batman rather than the "reality feel" of Batman Begins.

Anyway, both me and my bride really enjoyed Batman Begins!

 

[vince56]

IMO Tim Burton got Batman all wrong, much like it looks like he's messed up Willy Wonka (from the craptastic trailer I saw). Yeah, the first two Batman movies were decent, but they weren't really the Batman from the comics. Batman Begins is the first film to really capture the essence of the dark knight I remember reading about as a kid. Dark, angry, mean and tense, with the bad guys set on destroying Gotham.

Batman Begins ranks right up there with Spiderman 2 as the best superhero movies ever IMO.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

I went and saw the movie a few days back and IMO this was what the batman movies should be about. I have a soft spot for the first one as it was one of those movies i couldnt get out of my head, but as was stated earlier, that was due to Nicholson, my fascination with the villian Joker, and the way he portrayed the character. BUT MICHEAL KEATON IS THE WORST ACTOR EVER CHOSEN TO PORTRAY AN SUPER HERO. I mean seriously that guy is as intimidating as nap time in kindergarten. Yeah Yeah he played the whole "dealing with my internal demons" part of the character, but did you see him as a millionaire playboy that Wayne is supposed to be? Did you see him taking on 5 or 6 guys in a fight. I can't get Multiplicity out of my head everytime i see the guy. Terrible casting. Now Christian Bale was exactly what I expected of Batman. He had the look of Wayne as well as an intimidating persona where you could sense the darkness behind his thoughts. The trying too hard to sound gruff as Batman was annoying but otherwise Bale was awesome. Holmes and Oldham were not so bad where it ruined the movie. (on that note did anyone see Cary Elwes in SAW? I'm sure thats in another thread somewhere but man did that guy kill an otherwise awesome movie) The biggest upgrade was the return to Gotham having more of a realistic feel as well as the entire atmosphere of the movie. So much more story driven and realistic and even though i read the comics in my more formative years, I could have seen this movie on its own merit and been completly sold. (in that respect my background knowledge of the Dark Knight is the only thing that would make me look at the movie as flawed) The reality is that Superman and Spiderman have never had the dark edge that Batman has (thats Frank Miller right there) and the Batman movies should be done accordingly. For obvious reasons i am looking forward to the next movie and villan, but I'm hoping the casting will not be a let down.....

 

[O]

I just saw the movie today and thought it was exceptional.
This is what a Batman movie should be.
If anything, I thought Oldham underplayed his role.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

Just got an email from Warner Bros. promoting the upcoming Batman Begins DVD. Here was the trivia question they included with the info...

WB Trivia: The Batmobile is 9 feet wide and 16 feet long and has a top speed of 106 miles per hour. It can accelerate from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 6 seconds. The engine is a 5.7 liter V8 Chevy. Approximately how many miles per gallon does it get?






























Answer: It runs on unleaded fuel and gets about 7 miles per gallon.

 

[clif]

When does the DVD come out? I would love to get it.. since I didn't see it in theatres.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

October 18th, 2005

Batman Begins explores the origins of the Batman legend and the Dark Knight's emergence as a force for good in Gotham. In the wake of his parents' murder, disillusioned industrial heir Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) travels the world seeking the means to fight injustice and turn fear against those who prey on the fearful. He returns to Gotham and unveils his alter-ego: Batman, a masked crusader who uses his strength, intellect and an array of high tech deceptions to fight the sinister forces that threaten the city.

There will be a standard Single-Disc Edition available in separate Widescreen and Full Screen versions, and a 2-Disc Deluxe Edition featuring the widescreen presentation of the main feature. Both include English and French DD5.1 Surround audio and optional English, French and Spanish subtitles.

Features on the 2-DISC DELUXE EDITION with Special Bonus Comic Book include...

Exclusive collectible 72-page comic book from DC Comics™
Detective Comics #27 - The very first Batman story
The Man Who Falls - A classic story that influenced Batman Begins
Batman: The Long Halloween – The chilling first chapter of the acclaimed epic that also influenced the film
Genesis of the Bat: Batman incarnations from the mid-1980s to the present.
The Journey Begins: Creative concepts, story development and casting
Shaping Mind and Body: Fighting style
Gotham City Rises: Production design
Cape and Cowl: The new Batsuit
The Tumbler: The new Batmobile
Path to Discovery: Filming in Iceland
Saving Gotham City: The monorail chase sequence
Tankman Begins: A spoof on Batman Begins
Confidential files character/weaponry gallery
Still gallery of design ideas developed to market the movie
Batman Begins mobile game and DVD-Rom* weblinks

Features on the SINGLE-DISC EDITIONS are limited to the theatrical trailer.

 

[Brian in Mesa]

...

 

[PDXChris]

I saw it today(though this is one I wanted to see the most during hte summer, but was unable to at the time) and I have to say I loved it and I can not wait for the next one.

 

[arthurracoon]

Solid movie!

 

[MigratingOsprey]

just watched this tonight and I loved it

it continues with the trend that shows comic books can be gritty, raw & dark without a bunch of cartoon humor

as a character, batman is a tormented soul, motivated by the death of his family along with personal vindication to save a city from itself

i enjoyed how they showed a young wayne, dead set on revenge and moving in a sloppy manner mature and become a focused threat

what I always liked about batman, is that it was a man with technology and I think this showed it

gotham is a dark city, with some good people and high social life - corrupt to the core, but with people fighting the good fight everyday

there were a couple nitpicky things I would of changed - some of the attempts at comic relief fell really flat - but I think they did a good job with the villans and even through in some subtle "villans" (the chairman of the board, the crooked cops, etc)

I almost hate to see that they have a joker on tap for the next one - i loved the keaton batman, mainly because of the joker and how jack was able to blend a deranged craziness with a light character

i dug this flick though and look forward to seeing what direction they want to take this character now that they have him developing