Rate Batman Begins

[Klaus]

The opera was actually "Der Fledermaus." ("The Bat.")

Actually, no, it was Faust. Unless there's a Mephistophele in Die Fledermaus (the IMDB credits list the tenor as playing Mephistophele).

I gave this movie a 10, 'cause the poll won't let me vote 11.



SPOILERS ABOUND, SO BEGONE!!!!!




Christian Bale -> There aren't enough praises to make justice to his work. Even if I didn't know that his previous work was The Machinist, I'd still be impressed at his physical condition. The man was built like a brick wall! His Bruce Wayne was top notch, and his Batman was the best I have ever seen. "I-I swear to God!" "Swear to ME!".

Michael Caine -> The best compliment I can give to the Alfred/Bruce scenes is that at times it felt like watching the Animated Series. "If you're out to battle crime, I hope you'll conceal your identity, to protect the ones you care about.""You're talking about Rachel?""Actually, sir, I was talking about me..."

Morgan Freeman -> A small part, but Freeman made it work perfectly. And the corporate maneuver to place Fox where he is portrayed in the regular Batman mythos (that is, as defacto head of Wayne Enterprises) was brilliant!

Gary Oldman -> He is the everyman in this, who marvels at the Batmobile and sees Batman for what he truly can accomplish. Gordon manages to be serious and yet to serve as comic relief when most needed (his reactions inside the Batmobile were great).

Rutger Hauer -> "Didn't you get the memo?" indeed!

Liam Neeson -> I knew the truth about his character as soon as I saw his first picture! I knew it! And it was still great! Liam plays the mentor figure really well, but managed to stay sharp even as he turned into villain. No scenery-chewin' here, thank you very much. His serene posture when facing certain (?) death was great.

Ken Watanabe -> I didn't see Last Samurai, so this was my first exposure to his work. I was certainly impressed. I wonder if his character was actually named Ubu...

Cillian Murphy -> There's something very wrong with this man. He plays crazy tooooo well!

Katie Holmes -> She did a decent enough job (she hasn't been overexposed down here, so I won't hold the Cruise saga against her). Her one-sided smirk is her weakness, though...

The Microwave Emitter -> I don't have a problem with it. First, it's a Plot Device (tm). Second, one could argue that it evaporates purified water, and the H2O is the human body isn't purified, so the microwaves pass right through ya.

Gotham -> This is a true crime-ridden city, believable in every way. Far less operatic than Burton's Gotham, it just increased the scope of the movie (since it wasn't restricted to sound stages.

Arkham -> Amazing! Smack in the middle of the worst neighboorhood, and it looks like a true asylum inside (Hannibal Lecter would fit right in!). Batman's stroll along the cell blocks with his swarm of bats crystalized his image in the minds of all inmates who saw him, so now they have a reason to be obsessed with the Bat.

The Final Scene -> That interplay spoke volumes about how good this movie is. It explained why Gotham will become what we know it will become (a running ground for freaks). And the card... that scene is brilliant!

The costume and the car -> It all works, it all seems realistic... Kudos to the producers!

Forget the other attempts. Now I can finally say "I saw a Batman movie".

 

[devilbat]

I gave it an 8. I thought it was a great movie, all in all. A few things I didn't like though.

I thought Katie Holmes was brutal.
I didn't like "The Voice"
I thought Batman's cowl was to big.
I wopuld have liked to see something referencing Bruce Wayne's intellectual training. He is the "World's greatest detective" after all. Not jus the Worlds greatest fighter.

Everything else was excellent.

 

[Thanee]

A solid 9.

I really enjoyed it. A great movie, superb cast and incredibly well done.

Sir Michael Caine was really cool as Alfred.
Christian Bale surely is the best Batman actor so far and by far.

There was one thing, I really wondered about, tho...

[sblock]Why didn't the microwaves evaporate the humans, too? [/sblock]

Bye
Thanee

 

[Flyspeck23]

A very solid 9, and the best movie for quite some time.

My take on the microwaves:

Spoiler

IIRC it was mentioned that the microwaves are concentrated at a specific point, aiming at the water supply. It wasn't aimed at humans, so none have been vaporized.
It's still superhero science, but makes somewhat more sense.

Christian Bale -> There aren't enough praises to make justice to his work. Even if I didn't know that his previous work was The Machinist, I'd still be impressed at his physical condition. The man was built like a brick wall! His Bruce Wayne was top notch, and his Batman was the best I have ever seen. "I-I swear to God!" "Swear to ME!".

Christian Bale seems to be the young (relatively speaking) actor to watch. He goes from top-notch-performance to even-better-performance, and he might well be the Daniel Day-Lewis of our time, if it wasn't for the fact that he stars in more than one movie every 5 years

Anyway, I was very impressed - especially considering the co-stars and Bale's ability to not seem weak in comparison. To the contrary.

 

[Jdvn1]

A solid 9.

I really enjoyed it. A great movie, superb cast and incredibly well done.

Sir Michael Caine was really cool as Alfred.

Definitely.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Rent Equilibrium. Seriously. Right now. It's hard to find in most video stores, but it's available on Netflix. Heck, I'd almost recommend buying it sight unseen, I thought it was that good.

It's the movie that convinced me they'd chosen right when they first cast Bale.

I bought Equilibrium on a whim (bargain bin ex-rental) and it has probably become my most watched DVD - I loved the story and I thought Bale was spot-on in it. Like Mouseferatu I was delighted that he was cast as Batman on the basis of his role in Equilibrium.

Cheers

 

[Plane Sailing]

I would have voted 9 but having *every* fight scene done in such a way that you can't see the action irritated me, and brought it down to an 8. As others have said it makes sense for the mooks, but not for the major fight scenes - and if you've seen equilibrium you'll probably agree that Bale does fight scenes pretty well when the choreography is there.

For the record I hated the Bourne Second Coming with its shaky camerawork.

The very best 'finish em quick' fight scenes I remember seeing where in Brotherhood of the Rose (four part TV movie about CIA assassins http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096985/ ). The hand to hand combats with Peter Strauss and others were all short and brutal - the way that you'd expect them to be when highly trained people are involved.

Cheers

 

[ssampier]

I liked it, I saw it on a whim (relatives wanted to go and I didn't have any other plans). Overall I give a 8, I think the acting and casting was good.

My main criticisms were there was too many "tiered" adversaries; the mob boss, the scare-crow, then Ra's Al Ghul. Furthermore, I thought scare-crow was defeated too quickly. He was such a neat character, I was disappointed that he wasn't the main adversary. He's literally a psychological villian, I would like to see more cunning; i.e. a villian that messes with your head.

 

[Berandor]

As to Batman's Detective Training: I think Lucius Fox will see to that I'm sure in the following movies, Batman would take Fox's role in this one, too. I think Nolan thought having Batman invent his equipment and a cure even though he spent the last years as a criminal or in prison would have stretched the "realism" he tried to bring to the movie.

 

[WizarDru]

A solid 10. Not entirely perfect, but I wouldn't change anything. The fight scenes weren't as blurry or jumpy as Bourne Supremacy (which was made irritating because the excellent fight sequences of the first film set a standard they essentially violated, IMHO), and sometimes it worked more than other for me...but I never felt annoyed by the jumps; in fact sometimes I felt they were entirely appropriate.

Awesome performances, solid writing (I like how things like the blades on his gloves came from Ra's gauntlet design; I really liked how he arrived at the bat design slowly, rather than just "I shall become a BAT!" of the original comic) and some really great characterizations. I loved how the Scarecrow WAS the Scarecrow, and not some ninja-trained version of same. A good left hook could take him out (

Spoiler

or taser, as the case may be

). Oldman's Jim Gordon was an unexpected gem, and Gordon's significant role was very welcome.

Maybe Stevelabny's audience didn't applaud, but mine did. They cheered when Lucius Fox gave Earle his notice, and enjoyed the film immensely. Valanthe and I turned to each other at the end and said "Best. Batman. EVAR".

Oh, and I gotta get me one of those.