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The W - Movies & TV - Batman Begins
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Big Bad
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Since: 4.1.02
From: Dorchester, Ontario

Since last post: 1927 days
Last activity: 1496 days
#1 Posted on | Instant Rating: 3.80
I attended the midnight screening, and if anyone was worried how Christopher Nolan would adapt the material, the fears have been put to rest. A great story, terrific acting from the whole cast (particularly Bale, Oldman and Murphy, who made Scarecrow more intimidating than he's ever seen in the comics or cartoons), and really smart direction from Nolan. His action scenes have lots of cuts, but he leaves just enough that there is a feeling of impact rather than editing.

9.5 out of 10, with the lack of a half-star since I'll probably think up one niggling detail tomorrow. But the bottom line is that this is a masterpiece.

(edited by Big Bad on 15.6.05 0405)


"You can look the other way once, and it's no big deal, except it makes it easier for you to compromise the next time, and pretty soon that's all your doing; compromising, because that's the way you think things are done. You know those guys I busted? You think they were the bad guys? Because they weren't, they weren't bad guys, they were just like you and me. Except they compromised... Once." -- Jack Bauer
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Freeway
Scrapple








Since: 3.1.02
From: Calgary

Since last post: 3749 days
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#2 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.79
Fantastic film. We get into the deep motivations of Bruce Wayne, get a lingering look at his parents, and the narrative is much tighter than in the other films. This isn't a bubble-gum comic book movie: it's a true, flesh & blood piece of filmmaking that lingers after a viewing. Characters are given motivations and their actions have consequences.

The acting is fantastic. Bale inhabits the Batman costume like it's a second skin and provides so many tiny nuances in his performance that one must recall his previous great work in films like American Psycho and the Machinist. Liam Neeson is great, too. Katie Holmes isn't showy, but isn't given a showy role. Gary Oldman is great. Ken Watanabe is great when on screen. This may be Cillian Murphy's breakthrough in North America. And the rest of the cast (Rutger Hauer, Michael Caine, Tom Wilkinson and others) all hit their marks with superb work.

This film is as different from its' 1989 predecessor as the 1989 version was from its' 1966 forefather. Cinematography, music and tone are completely different. The film hits on all cylinders, and I must recommend it highly. The only possible knock on the film is the runtime, a breezy two and a half hours.



DVDs; Blog

SchippeWreck
Banger








Since: 26.3.03
From: Glendale, CA

Since last post: 2106 days
Last activity: 176 days
#3 Posted on | Instant Rating: 2.94
Thank God it's finally out, so I can talk about it.

I saw it last week at a special screening on the Warner Bros. lot and I was FLOORED. I have never had such a satisfying movie experience. Every element of Batman Begins is perfect. The drama. The action. The sheer depth of every single character. The humor. Yes, finally smart humor that strays far from the camp of Batman flicks past. (Well, except for one line by Jim Gordon about the Batmobile. But the sheer awesomeness of the scene that contains it makes it forgiveable.)

I'm hoping to catch an IMAX screening tomorrow night. This is a BIG movie and deserves to be seen that way.

My full review, with more gushing and no spoilers, is here in my LiveJournal.

Highest possible recommendation.



My mom says sigs are bad for you.
Alpha Dog
Pickled pork








Since: 10.2.03

Since last post: 2922 days
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#4 Posted on | Instant Rating: 6.75
Best film of the year so far. I had high hopes for this film, being a huge fan of Chris Nolan (Memento is still the most amazing film I have ever seen), but this flick far exceeded my own inflated fanboy-ish expectations.

Nolan even got good, non-hamming performances out of Gary Oldham and Michael Caine!

    Originally posted by Freeway420
    Bale inhabits the Batman costume like it's a second skin and provides so many tiny nuances in his performance that one must recall his previous great work in films like American Psycho and the Machinist.


Sweet fancy moses, where is the love for Equilibrium???

That said, Bale is a great centerpiece to this film and I hope this cements him as an A-List name above the title, the way he would in a just world.

I am going to need some distance to compare and contrast to the greatest comic book films of all time (the two Spider-Mans and Superman), but this is definitely in the discussion.

Wow. Probably the film of the year.



The People's W of the Day - 6/3/05!
It's False
Scrapple








Since: 20.6.02
From: I am the Tag Team Champions!

Since last post: 2199 days
Last activity: 581 days
#5 Posted on | Instant Rating: 3.00
Well...that was awesome! It's definitely right at the top of the comic book mountain, along with Sin City and Spiderman 2. And yes, it absolutely must be seen in IMAX.

Christian Bale hits a total home run. One of the little things I loved was the fact that he used two distinctive voices, one for Bruce Wayne and one for Batman. It's one of those little details that the past Batman actors didn't use, but one of the things that made the early Batman: The Animated Series stand out in my mind. What made Bale the quintessential Batman was the fact that he was more INTIMIDATING than any of the previous actors. He was a genuinely scary dude and that's what Batman should be all about.


Spoiler Below: Highlight text to read
And on the spoiler note, the theater had been quiet for whole movie like a good audience, but then suddenly popped HUGE for the Joker's calling card at the end.





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El Nastio
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Since: 14.1.02
From: Ottawa Ontario, by way of Walkerton

Since last post: 43 days
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#6 Posted on | Instant Rating: 7.33
Just an INCREBILE movie. I want to say so much about it, but I'd be typing for hours. Music was AWESOME. Plot was AWESOME. Acting AWESOME. Script AWESOME. Best movie of the year, and it ranks up there as one of my favorite movies of all time. Already.


It's False, that spoiler you mention had people (myself included) pointing and standing at the screen. TOO AWESEOME.

And lest we forget; MORGAN FREEMAN as Mr. Fox. YEAH!



BXVI

Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul the II)....pray for us.
Oliver
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Since: 20.6.02

Since last post: 3314 days
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#7 Posted on | Instant Rating: 2.54
To those who saw the movie: when Bruce's parents were killed by the mugger...was there any indication that the mugger was to be the Joker eventually?

Or, is this storyline completely different than anything previously written concerning Batman's origins?



I play chicken with the train, play chicken with the train train, uh-huh uh-huh!
EddieBurkett
Boudin blanc








Since: 3.1.02
From: GA in person, NJ in heart

Since last post: 63 days
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#8 Posted on | Instant Rating: 2.87
    Originally posted by SOK
    To those who saw the movie: when Bruce's parents were killed by the mugger...was there any indication that the mugger was to be the Joker eventually?

    Or, is this storyline completely different than anything previously written concerning Batman's origins?


It has its differences.


Spoiler Below: Highlight text to read
The thug winds up getting killed, so unless there's some resurrection invovled, he's not the Joker. Plus, his name was Chill, not Napier.


I feel ashamed for not recognizing Rutger Hauer.

The movie was good, but I felt like it never got off the ground. Like I was waiting for it to start (hence, Batman Begins is an apt title). I like how they had Bruce just throwing around his money. Its easy to forget that Wayne is a millionaire.

The cast was awesome. I think Scott Keith described Liam Neeson as "evil Qui-Gon". It totally fit.


Spoiler Below: Highlight text to read
I also feel ashamed for not figuing out that Neeson was really Rhas-Al Ghoul.




"Now that you've built up the courage to get into the gym, let me give you five reasons why you should put in the time to train with consistency: 1. Increased strength 2. Improved self-confidence 3. Injury prevention 4. Self-discipline 5. Sex (Trust me, you'll have a better shot with the ladies if you're in shape.)" -- Making the Game, pp. 14 - 15
JoshMann
Andouille








Since: 17.11.03
From: Tallahassee, FL

Since last post: 5736 days
Last activity: 5733 days
#9 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.81



    Spoiler Below: Highlight text to read
    The thug winds up getting killed, so unless there's some resurrection invovled, he's not the Joker. Plus, his name was Chill, not Napier.





Spoiler Below: Highlight text to read
In comic book canon, Joker and Joe Chill were always two different people. In fact, at the time there was a massive fanboy bitchfest about Burton's combining of the two characters. Except for the 2-second homage to the iconic spot in Batman 89 where Batman holds up Falcone by his collar and says who he is, there's not any resemblance whatsoever to the continuity that existed in the previous series. And if there's any retconning going on with the origin/Joe Chill story this time around, it's using him as a symbol for Gotham's corruption rather than what was used in the comic arc where Batman, The World's Greatest Detective, was not able for ages to solve the one crime that haunted him the most. In orginal DC canon it took Batman forever to discover Joe Chill.



Oh, and just so there's some non-spoiler stuff to put here, I really really loved this version of Batman and it absolutely makes me want to see what Nolan/Bale can do with a full start-to-finish Batman story now that the telling of the origin is out of the way.

The things that really sold me were: a) The scene on the cargo freight absolutely nailed one aspect of Batman we never get to see from the criminal's POV, b) Bale's incorporation of The Voice, which was the best of any live-action version of Batman and c) someone finally created an Alfred in the script that wasn't just one-dimensional.

But almost everything else in this is note-perfect as well. Almost a perfect comic-book movie, although I need some separation to figure out if it's the best one ever made. But it's up there.




(edited by Blanket Jackson on 17.6.05 1221)

"Did you get your Journalism degree from a box of Cocoa Puffs?"
StaggerLee
Scrapple








Since: 3.10.02
From: Right side of the tracks

Since last post: 937 days
Last activity: 937 days
#10 Posted on | Instant Rating: 1.56
GREAT flick. Perhaps the best superhero movie ever.
The Vile1
Lap cheong








Since: 4.9.02
From: California

Since last post: 5456 days
Last activity: 5188 days
#11 Posted on | Instant Rating: 3.79
Sadly this movie is not setting the box office on fire as I hoped it would. I think a sequel is in jeopardy.




"Don't compare my arm...to your cheap arm!"
-Edward Elric
Tenken347
Knackwurst








Since: 27.2.03
From: Parts Unknown

Since last post: 41 days
Last activity: 19 min.
#12 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.06
I'd wait until after the opening weekend to make those kinds of predictions. It's not a holiday weekend or anything, so I wouldn't expect Wednesday and Thursday night showing to be hauling in the viewers. Once they've tallied up the Friday and (especially) Saturday receipts, then we'll have a much better idea of how well the movie stands to do.
Lord of the Manor
Chourico








Since: 24.2.03
From: London, United Kingdom

Since last post: 4048 days
Last activity: 1785 days
#13 Posted on | Instant Rating: 1.47
Amazing, AMAZING film. I think WOM will gaurantee a sequel for this one. It just blew me away. There's so much to say about the movie, I don't even know where to begin.

I absolutely marked out for the tease at the end.


Spoiler Below: Highlight text to read
I thought it was great how the DA was knocked off in the storyline. It was subtle and would seem pretty unimportant to the uninitiated, but it clearly leaves the door open for Harvey Dent taking the job in the follow up film.


Such a bad-ass movie.




The REAL Cerebral Assassin
Brian P. Dermody
Liverwurst
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Since: 20.9.02
From: New York, NY

Since last post: 4381 days
Last activity: 3803 days
#14 Posted on | Instant Rating: 9.01
I had my issues with it, as a film snob and not a comic guy, especially. I'll go into that at length on that blog I have that nobody reads, but the thing that kept taking me out of the movie was how much Bale as Batman sounded like GOB.

There. I said it, I'd say it again if I had to.

I mean, it was ok. But it didn't knock my socks off my ass or anything.



And that's how you narrate a story.
Current celebrity crush: Yeah, that's right
oldschoolhero
Knackwurst








Since: 2.1.02
From: nWo Country

Since last post: 5431 days
Last activity: 5365 days
#15 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.13
"Sadly this movie is not setting the box office on fire as I hoped it would. I think a sequel is in jeopardy."

Sequels have been made for movies that hauled in a lot less cash. I mean, Daredevil made enough to convince someone to make Elektra. Plus, most of the primary cast members are already signed on for a second, and usually those kind of deals are pay-or-play. I would doubt that the WB would want to burn that contract money when they could make a big-money sequel, plaster a more recognisable villian over the advertising and get an even bigger box-office than part one. There'll be a second installment, I'm sure of it.




"That Squirrel Can Waterski!"

HMD
Andouille








Since: 8.6.02
From: Canada

Since last post: 2541 days
Last activity: 2541 days
#16 Posted on | Instant Rating: 4.53
    Originally posted by Brian P. Dermody
    I had my issues with it, as a film snob and not a comic guy, especially. I'll go into that at length on that blog I have that nobody reads, but the thing that kept taking me out of the movie was how much Bale as Batman sounded like GOB.

    There. I said it, I'd say it again if I had to.

    I mean, it was ok. But it didn't knock my socks off my ass or anything.


You know, it was sort of the same thing for me. I didn't want to be the only one to say anything negative in the thread, and run the risk of appearing to be "trolling", but yeah, I wasn't exactly needing a cigarette after this film either. I found his bat-voice to be a little silly. They also completely overdid it with his ability to fight ten guys at once, which will make a future one-on-one fight against anyone without his training background seem more than a little unrealistic. I wasn't convinced as to the mechanics behind his ability to seemingly fly at will, except of course when it's convenient (more dramatic) for him not to. I appreciated the shifting of focus from the villans to the hero versus the Burton films, but the problem with that philosophy is that the villans, in Batman particularly, are about thrity million times more interesting than he is. The story of the renegade wanting to protect the innocent from suffering as he did has been told many times, and been told better, in my opinion. I felt the Scarecrow was wasted and could have been so much more than an unwitting pawn in Qui-Gon's plot. And that's another thing, after Kingdom of Heaven, I never want to see Liam Neeson in this kind of role again.

I have a sense that it isn't so much the filmmaking itself, but Batman that I have grown apart from. I walked away thinking this is the best film interpretation of Batman yet. Still, I'm just not impressed by "dark" things/ideas anymore. I find the character of Superman to be just as fascinating and easily as complicated. Who is pure and good just for the sake of purity and good? A figure with total power who is somehow not corrupted by it, that's so engaging to me. He's not in it for romanticized revenge like Batman is, or rabid guilt like Spider-Man. He just does what's right because it's right, which is a strength of character so far beyond any other superhero, and that's why I doubt that any character will ever match him. I can't wait for that movie, personally, but I really hope that it delves into what motivates that kind of righteous figure.

Anyway, there was still plenty of good in Batman begins. I liked the new elements that have never been done before in any tv/film version of Batman, such as, Bruce Wayne : Asshole and the tension between him and Alfred. I liked how they didn't linger on the bat babe, because like James Bond we all know no matter what he wants her to think he's movin' on to new tang in the next one. And I really, really like the rumours that Mark Hamill himself will be playing the Joker in the sequel. I just hope he gets more than fifteen minutes of screentime.



Hot Virgins-The World's Most Steadily Shrinking Commodity
Oliver
Scrapple








Since: 20.6.02

Since last post: 3314 days
Last activity: 3308 days
#17 Posted on | Instant Rating: 2.54
I went to see it yesterday; and I didn't really MIND it. Admittedly, it took a few minutes after leaving the theatre for my eyes to adjust to the light.

I liked the new BATMAN. Christian Bale was awesome, and his chemistry with Morgan Freeman was fantastic. While I can't really understand some of the logic in the movie, (how Bruce bought the company after everything that had transpired) it flowed really well for me.

There's an open opportunity for the Scarecrow to come back; I mean...was he killed? I recall him getting hit by a tazer, but not killed.

One thing: Flass (the one who looks like Mark Madden of WCW fame) looked alot like the corrupt cop from the 1989 Batman movie.

I didn't like the new Alfred. No offence, but...no. Michael Caine is funny, but I didn't care for him here.

I'll give it four out of five, and I'll probably catch it a couple more times when it debuts at the repeat theatres in Calgary.



I play chicken with the train, play chicken with the train train, uh-huh uh-huh!
The Vile1
Lap cheong








Since: 4.9.02
From: California

Since last post: 5456 days
Last activity: 5188 days
#18 Posted on | Instant Rating: 3.77
    Originally posted by Tenken347
    I'd wait until after the opening weekend to make those kinds of predictions. It's not a holiday weekend or anything, so I wouldn't expect Wednesday and Thursday night showing to be hauling in the viewers. Once they've tallied up the Friday and (especially) Saturday receipts, then we'll have a much better idea of how well the movie stands to do.


It is a holiday weekend. Last time I checked Sunday is Father's Day, is that not a Holiday?



    Sequels have been made for movies that hauled in a lot less cash. I mean, Daredevil made enough to convince someone to make Elektra. Plus, most of the primary cast members are already signed on for a second, and usually those kind of deals are pay-or-play. I would doubt that the WB would want to burn that contract money when they could make a big-money sequel, plaster a more recognisable villian over the advertising and get an even bigger box-office than part one. There'll be a second installment, I'm sure of it.


Yeah well look what happened with that. Elektra was one of the biggest flops of the year, and the Daredevil franchise is pretty much on indefinite hold now. In other words its dead.

This movie will need tremendous word of mouth and have to stay strong over this week and next weekend. I hope that is the case. Most people seemed to like it I think/hope.


(edited by The Vile1 on 19.6.05 2348)

(edited by The Vile1 on 19.6.05 2348)


"Don't compare my arm...to your cheap arm!"
-Edward Elric
Tenken347
Knackwurst








Since: 27.2.03
From: Parts Unknown

Since last post: 41 days
Last activity: 19 min.
#19 Posted on | Instant Rating: 5.06
Father's Day:

A) is not an official holiday, in that it does not get anyone a day off from work or contribute in any official way to a long weekend, and

B) is on Sunday, anyway, so people wouldn't even take an unofficial day off from work for it.

Rosh Hashana and Good Friday are holidays, too, but I don't think any of them are going to do much for the weekend box office.
Mike Zeidler
Pepperoni








Since: 27.6.02

Since last post: 3515 days
Last activity: 737 days
#20 Posted on | Instant Rating: 3.98
Good Friday tends to get lumped in with holiday two days after it, which is considered a holiday weekend. (at least as far as my company's holiday pay schedule is concerned.)



The kid is all confused and thinks to himself "I'm not calling anyone mommy because the last time I did that, it led to this." -My Wife on adoption
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