Batman Begins: Ra's al Ghul (Major Spoilers)

[Insight]

As long as we've got the spoiler thing going, anyone else think that kid Batman saved (the one Rachel was huddling over during the fear sequence, etc, and the one to which Batman gave that device earlier) is going to turn out to be Robin? After all, he did say he "couldn't find his mommy". What if mommy and daddy are dead, and Bruce Wayne takes the child in as his "ward"?

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

They played it ambigious, so it could go either way, but I suspect Ducard was always the Ghul. That said, I think Watanabe is a great actor and I wanted to see more of him in the flick. Maybe there will be cut scenes on the DVD. In this presenation, there does not seem to be much chance for Watanabe to come back, or for a Talia character.

That said, I thought it was a nice touch where Gordon gives the joker card to Batman - almost a direct lift from "Year One."

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

Who's Szasz?

A serial killer villian introduced in the 1990s. He kills people, then carves a hatch mark into his own skin afterwards. Its almost rare for Batman to have a villian so straigth forwards.

 

[Henry]

Here's a good bio on Zsasz:

http://www.legionsofgotham.org/BIOSzsasz.html

And here is info on the Batman: Year One 4-issue series with info on Gordon's partner Flass:

http://www.darkknight.ca/storylines/yearone.html

 

[Taelorn76]

As long as we've got the spoiler thing going, anyone else think that kid Batman saved (the one Rachel was huddling over during the fear sequence, etc, and the one to which Batman gave that device earlier) is going to turn out to be Robin? After all, he did say he "couldn't find his mommy". What if mommy and daddy are dead, and Bruce Wayne takes the child in as his "ward"?

My girlfriend said the same exact thing and she is not familiar with Batman. Heck she had never even heard of Batgirl when we were discussing Barbara Gordon being in the credits.

 

[Tonguez]

um you do realise that putting RAS AL GHUL in the title is a SPOILER!!!

 

[Taelorn76]

um you do realise that putting RAS AL GHUL in the title is a SPOILER!!!

I don't believe it is.
Ra's has been known to be one of the villans in Batman Begins from the begining. The spoiler is which actor actualy played Ra's

 

[fba827]

I don't believe it is.
Ra's has been known to be one of the villans in Batman Begins from the begining. The spoiler is which actor actualy played Ra's

I don't believe it is either, the commericals even have him in it so it isn't as though he's a secret character. plus, as you said, they show ra's pretty much at the beggining of the movie.

 

[Mouseferatu]

As long as we've got the spoiler thing going, anyone else think that kid Batman saved (the one Rachel was huddling over during the fear sequence, etc, and the one to which Batman gave that device earlier) is going to turn out to be Robin? After all, he did say he "couldn't find his mommy". What if mommy and daddy are dead, and Bruce Wayne takes the child in as his "ward"?

God, I hope not.

This series, and this version of Batman, should stay as far away from the very concept of Robin as is physically possible. The idea of a kid sidekick was barely acceptable in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. It's absolutely anathema to Batman now, particularly this incarnation of him.

In fact, if I were one of the writers, I would include a scene in the second movie set at a circus. In this scene, an entire family of acrobats--including the pre-teen/teen son--would be killed. I would include this scene purely as a way of telling everyone "Not gonna happen. Not making that mistake again."

I just cannot see any way in which the presence of Robin wouldn't detract from this version of the Batman mythos, or this portrayal of the character, and I would have to seriously consider if I was even willing to go see a Batman movie that introduced the character.

 

[DonTadow]

God, I hope not.

This series, and this version of Batman, should stay as far away from the very concept of Robin as is physically possible. The idea of a kid sidekick was barely acceptable in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. It's absolutely anathema to Batman now, particularly this incarnation of him.

In fact, if I were one of the writers, I would include a scene in the second movie set at a circus. In this scene, an entire family of acrobats--including the pre-teen/teen son--would be killed. I would include this scene purely as a way of telling everyone "Not gonna happen. Not making that mistake again."

I just cannot see any way in which the presence of Robin wouldn't detract from this version of the Batman mythos, or this portrayal of the character, and I would have to seriously consider if I was even willing to go see a Batman movie that introduced the character.

I think Robin, or at least the idea of a Robin, is very much apart of the batman Myth. Robin represents the future. He represents Batman not only changing things for the better but teaching others how to change things for the better. A Tim Drake Robin would be a great idea for a future movie.. again done right. Tim's not some sidekick. He's a unique character in himself and one of my favorite young characters in the DC universe.

Again it's how they do it. Heck before this movie if you would have told me that they'd have three villians I would have grimaced as well. With such a great movie franchise in the works, they can't afford to pick and choose what part of the mythos they will take and won't take.