As I drink my morning coffee, I will give you my geek-ass review of the movie BATMAN BEGINS.
Since I am too lazy and untalented to write a witty summary of the movie, feel free to paste your favorite review [HERE].
Now, my thoughts.
How this Batman ranked: 1st - Though I really liked the Keaton Batman movie(mostly the first one, I thought the second got goofy and Schumakkkers versions were just plain gay).
Bale's portrayal of Batman: 1st - Although at times he kinda comes off as a dumb jock (really just in his scenes with Katie Holmes), he's still not as mumbly as Keaton's Batman and he has more life to him.
The overall storytelling of the film: 1st -- The other Batman's skimp over everything that made Bruce Wayne Batman. This movie goes into, relatively, great detail. Pretty much the first hour or so is background. You don't see Batman until the last 40 minutes or so. While this may sound boring to some, it's great. Unlike other Batman movies, it really gets you into the character and seems like a movie instead of a cartoon.
Supporting cast: Everything in me is telling me to hate Katie Holmes right now. I thought she did alright. I still don't like her as an actress though. She made the movie feel like Dawson's Creek. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman pretty much kicked ass as they always do. These guys are like Heston or Connery - put them in front of the camera and it just works - even if they are talking about Stag Hearts. Gary Oldman does a good job as Gordon - but he really doesn't get much character development - which is understandable since there are a lot of characters in this movie. Liam Neesen as Qui Gon Jin does a great job too, and has a nice twist at the end. Rutger Hauer just plays 'Evil Corporate Baddie #4'. He has great presence, but his character ends up being pretty weak. Tom Wilkinson is pretty cheesy as Falcone -the mob boss. Cillian Murphy's Scarecrow character is cool, but he's such a pretty boy that it's hard to adjust to him at first. Ken Watanabe Is Japanese!
Special Effects, costumes, etc: When you first see Bale as Batman, he looks a little goofy, but I think that happened with all the Batmans. He has one scene though that officially qualifies him, in my eyes, as the best (and most badass) Batman ever -- it's subtle, but I just thought he portrayed more emotion than previous Batmans who would just use the outfit to scare people - but then talk in a montone voice without any inflection whatsoever. The Batmobile is pretty cool. I think they did a great job on the sound editing to make it sound like a real car/suv. It doesn't sound like a spaceship like previous models.
All in all, I really liked it, and even the wife enjoyed it - but that was probably because she wants to nail Christian Bale.
Out of 8=====D, I give it a 8====D
Wow! 4 out of 5 inches from Ken! Almost a fully erect rating.
ReplyDeleteI just don't know if I can accept Gary Oldman as a good guy. It just feels wrong, like drinking a Pabst or having your underwear on backwards.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching it last weekend, I can now comment and review this film.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ken, it's the best Batman movie. A friend of mine here who's a Batman addict has some issues with Batman letting a person die and apparently shooting a gun (I don't remember that). In any case, it has the best backstory and the supporting cast was well thought out.
I was hoping Qui Gon was gonna get impaled, but alas no. Katie Holmes didn't make me wince too much and oddly, my biggest problem was Bale. He does a great job as Bruce Wayne, and looks fine as Batman, but I hope in the next one he drops his "tough" voice. It reminded me of Halle Berry in the first X-Men. They realized it was a bad idea after the fact and she drops the accent for the sequel. Hopefully, that will be the case for Batman Continues/Goes On/May Not Be Forever/Kicks Robin In The Nuts ... whatever the title will be.
Well, Ken gave a pretty thorough report so not too much else to add. I think this is the best of all 5 films (throwing out the original film with Adam West because it stands alone). I would give it an 8 on the Richter Scale*.
*The Richter Scale is a trademark of the Forbes Corporation and any unlicensed use will result in a punch to the ear.
Not than anyone's going to read this, since this post is pretty old, but yes - this is by far the best Batman film and Bale is by far the best Batman. Oldman was EXCELLENT as Gordon and they developed a good rapport between him and Batman which should serve future films well. My only gripe cast-wise was with Cilian Muprhy (sp?), who looked a little too young and freshly-scrubbed to be playing The Scarecrow, but whatever.
ReplyDelete"I don't know, I swear to God!"
"SWEAR TO ME!!!!!"