The One and Only Batman Begins thread

[Downhome 0]

Mocked for what? Praising the movie? Screw those people. Batman Begins kicked 37 different kinds of ass. It's easily the best Batman movie. I'd even say that it's the best comic book/superhero movie. Batman Begins deserves all the love it gets.

 

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You guessed it. Since I only like talking about films that I really like, people see me as someone who loves everything, thus they mock me every time I post in here. The only time I speak out about shit that I hate is when I REALLY hate it (The Village, The Forgotten, The Day After Tomorrow, The Grudge, etc...).

 

So yeah, you nailed it.

 

For what it's worth, this film has an overall rating of 82%on RottenTomatoes, and has a rating of 8.6/10 and is now ranked #83 on the top 250 list of all time.

[Guest SP-1]

SPOILERS BELOW

 

 

 

Something interesting I noticed tonight:

 

Ra's never really claims he's not immortal. He in fact makes alot of statements that complement that idea. However, all we know is what Bruce knows so it's just shady enough that they can never bring him back and it's fine. However, he only asks, "Is Ra's Al Ghoul immortal?" It's BRUCE, who assumes that everything is a facade. That's interesting.

 

Ra's talks about the League's earlier exploits (Rome, London) with a degree of familiarity.

 

Just some interesting things I noticed the second time about that scenario.

[Ravenbomb 0]

also (spoilers below):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

in Batman Beyond, Ra's was using his daughter's (name escapes me) body. Ducard says "you left me for dead", when Bruce clearly saved his life (a fact that Ducard did not dispute). But Bruce DID leave the Ken Watanabe Ra's for dead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

END SPOILERS

 

 

 

 

 

chalk me up as someone who doesn't want Glover to play Joker. I think he'd go too far towards the just plain weird side

[Downhome 0]

RB, wow, I didn't even think of that for a second, good catch.

 

And you know what, fuck it:

 

Oh my God, this is one of my favorite movies ever. Not just one of my favorite comic book flicks (this IS my favorite film of that type), but just one of my favorite films ever, out of any type of films.

 

I don't want to get into specifics, but I'll mention two moments (which were really just lines) that made me want to stand up and just scream "Holy God this is KICKASS!":

 

POSSIBLE SPOILERS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Batman: "Tell me, where is the other have of the shipment?"

Guy (I forget his name): "I have no idea, I swear to God!"

Batman: "SWEAR TO ME!!!!"

 

Ducard: "Go ahead, do it..."

Batman: "I'm not going to kill you...but I don't have to save you."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was not a comic book movie in my mind, not really. Yes it's based on the characters and the universe, but this one was way more than that. This movie is more along the lines of some sort of psychological thriller/horror than anything else, and it blew me away.

 

I give Batman a 10/10 rating, for what it's worth.

 

I can't remember the last time I left a theater feeling this pleased. Christopher Nolan continues to be my favorite most recent new director. This guy is going to go down in film history. I said it after Following and Memento, and I am still saying it. I can't wait to see even more of his projects.

[AndrewTS 0]

in Batman Beyond, Ra's was using his daughter's (name escapes me) body. Ducard says "you left me for dead", when Bruce clearly saved his life (a fact that Ducard did not dispute). But Bruce DID leave the Ken Watanabe Ra's for dead.

 

Ra's daughter-- Talia.

 

He also has a daughter named Nyssa, and in The Animated Series he has a son.

 

And when he did it to "Ra" he was essentially doing it to "Ducard"

 

You guessed it. Since I only like talking about films that I really like, people see me as someone who loves everything, thus they mock me every time I post in here. The only time I speak out about shit that I hate is when I REALLY hate it (The Village, The Forgotten, The Day After Tomorrow, The Grudge, etc...).

 

It's cool. It's good to have somebody easier to please, since it helps keeps us cynics more in line. Plus, when you really hate something, it helps us gauge its crappiness more accurately.

[Guest JMA]

About Ra's immortality in the film universe:

 

Shortly after the movie, I read some of Batman: The Visual Guide (written by Scott Beatty) and it actually mentioned that Ra's was immortal AND that he was looking for a male heir. It was even put together with help from Christopher Nolan.

 

I have a strong feeling that Ra's will be back in either the second or third movie. He's one of Batman's A-list villains, after all. I actually think that he would be glad that Bruce chose not to save him.

[Blade2kxx 0]

After a bout of brainstorming, I came up with a name for Joker... but I dunno if it would work.

 

John Leguizamo...

[Guest ShootingStylesPress]

I thought that Ra's was more of a title, than anything else. One Ra's died, so the next in line became him. Like an heir thing. The immortality is just a certain point of view.

[cabbageboy 0]

Wanna know something funny? Here in Louisville our local critic Judith Egerton gave this movie **. I'm going to see it at 1:00, so I can't comment on this yet but it seems as though she was way off base. I tend to wonder why they even had a chick critic review something like this. When Sith came out they had the guy who usually does the music reviews do the review, and he gave it ****.

[bob_barron 0]

Batman Begins led the box office on Friday with an estimated $15.2M in its third day of release pushing its total to $39.4M. The Friday tally came in lower than last Friday's $18.6M launch of Mr. & Mrs. Smith, although the Caped Crusader debuted on Wednesday pulling much of its fan base out on Wednesday and Thursday. For the Friday-to-Sunday session, Batman Begins might collect $42-46M givng Warner Bros. $66-70M over five days. By comparison, openings for the last two films in the franchise were $52.8M for 1995's Batman Forever and $42.9M for 1997's Batman & Robin. Both bowed in June on a Friday.

[Boner Kawanger 0]

After a bout of brainstorming, I came up with a name for Joker... but I dunno if it would work.

 

John Leguizamo...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Could work, but they'll avoid him since he played a similar role in Spawn.

[Guest SP-1]

I thought that Ra's was more of a title, than anything else. One Ra's died, so the next in line became him. Like an heir thing. The immortality is just a certain point of view.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Nah. Given Nolan's apparent commitment to respecting the source material, I have a feeling there's more to this than we've been let in on.

[RedJed 0]

I went and saw this in a fucking IMAX theatre yesterday and lets just say I was blown away. Fantastic story and insane action which was definately amped up seeing it on that huge screen with top notch sound. If any of you live near one of these theatres, it's worth spending $14 for a ticket as it's different than just seeing a normal movie - the fact that this one in particularly was so immersing with the backstory of Batman as well as the astetics (sp?) made this one of my most favorites movies ever. Made ROTS seem like an afterthought to me. I'm probably the only one but the movie was so good it almost had me shedding tears a few times. Ending was a markout moment for sure with the card.

[AmericanDragon 0]

I'm probably the only one but the movie was so good it almost had me shedding tears a few times.

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My eyes teared up a lot too but for different reasons. This movie had a lot of scenes where it would cut quickly to a drastically different set of colors. The constant switching between light and dark in some scenes made my eyes hurt.

[RedJed 0]

I'm probably the only one but the movie was so good it almost had me shedding tears a few times.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

My eyes teared up a lot too but for different reasons. This movie had a lot of scenes where it would cut quickly to a drastically different set of colors. The constant switching between light and dark in some scenes made my eyes hurt.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Yeah some of the scenes were hard on the eyes visually on the IMAX screen too as you can imagine. Some fight scenes for examples.

[Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly]

I'm a little drunk right now so please excuse any typos.

 

This is the best comic book movie I've ever seen. this movie was so good but I'm afraid that all those shitty Batman movies from the 90's have made people apathetic towards it because I really wasn't excited about this movie going into it. Once the movie started, I was sucked into it because the storytelling was good. They nailed everything. They established the characters and they actually made a Batman that you could sympathize with. The other movies were very sloppy and rushed while this movie had great pacing. You get the action scenes right from the jump but you also have characters being built while the stuf is going on. The fight scenes were a little close, but that's how Batman fights SHOULD be. The problem people had with Spiderman is the fact that the movie took way too long to get to the nitty gritty but this mopvie started you out with action. This movie had action on top of action and then it had great storytelling too. I liked all of the characters in this movie, and his parents actually get some onscreen time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was tricked by Ra's Al Ghul because Ken Wanatabe was all up in the credits as Ra's Al Ghul. Qui Gonn (his real name escapes me) played an EXCELLENT Ra's Al Ghul and him being the villain was a good choice. He's a big Batman villain that the main stream hasn't had much exposure too and the role that they had him in suited him perfectly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This movie is even better if you've read some of the stuff like Long Halloween, Dark Victory and Batman: Year One. I think Harvey Dent is going to be introduced in the next movie and that we'll see two-Face by the time the third movie rolls around. Does anyone think that we'll have to see Robin at any point in time? I really hope this franchise lasts beause this movie was THE BOMB.

[AmericanDragon 0]

My favorite aspsect of the movie is Thomas Wayne's character actually being developed. You see him as some huge optimist who really wants to help Gotham and that made his death much more emotional than the death of that anonymous character in Burton's Batman. I actually felt his presence throughout the movie even after he died. Also, they even gave some depth to the Wayne mansion and I actually cared when it burned down.

[Guest Askewniverse]

I just saw it again and it's still awesome. I'll definitely be buying the DVD when it's released.

 

I loved how Batman Begins focused on Bruce Wayne/Batman, instead of focusing on both Batman and the villains. In my opinion, the other Batman movies focused too much on the villains. The previous Batman movies might as well have been called The Joker vs. Batman, Batman vs. Catwoman and The Penguin, etc.

 

Anybody else catch the Batgirl cameo? I thought that was a nice touch.

[Angle-plex 0]

I saw it again (dragged by a friend against my will basically, saw if for free though) and picked up on a few more things I didn't like about it.

 

-Comissioner Gordon in the Batmobile shooting out the train tracks was just ugh. He looked like a bumbling idiot who just gets lucky with the shots. Granted that Gordon was never an action hero, but then why put him in the situation?

 

-Too many main villians. First, the "big" bad guy is the mobster. Then we find out that it's actually the ScareCrow. Then we find out that it's Ra's. All three villians were done well, but we didn't need all of them in this movie. I really liked Scarecrow though.

 

-Clunky fight scenes, but that's somewhat understandable.

 

-Batman is an action hero in this movie, not Batman. Where is the detective skills? He didn't figure anything out. In fact, he was more like The Punisher in that he just went after the bad guys and fought them. One of the keys to Batman's character is that he's smart - really smart, and he's usually ten steps ahead of everyone else.

 

-Lastly, Batman letting Ra's die was horrible in my book. "I'm not going to kill you, but I don't have to save you? Please. Batman's code of honor is not to kill anyone throught action or inaction. Plus, Ra's is a cool villian who shouldn't have died, as they could bring him back in the sequals.

 

Upon the second viewing though, I liked a few things even more, like the Scarcrow, the Batman scene at the docks (he's actually scary), Katie Holme's character (she does have a purpose, at least until the end), and the car chase, which I didn't care for the first time (rooftops?), but ended up really enjoying the second time. I actually think reading Batman: Year One ruined the movie a little for me, but I'd still give it a 7 or 8 out of 10.

[Guest SP-1]

The villains worked. Because you get this sense that Gotham is overrun with corruption. When you learn that Ra's has been after Gotham for a while, things make sense. Think about it: if Bruce had come back with Ra's, Gotham would have really been destroyed. Bruce would have worked with Dr. Crane and Ra's and there would have been no stopping the League. There was a master plan that Bruce was supposed to have been a part of there, but because of his singular moral conviction to not directly kill in vengeance, but to pursue justice, he throws a kink in the plans and then directly opposes it.

 

That's pretty complex storytelling. And it makes you think. Makes the movie that much better in my book.

[Guest JMA]

I found this to be pretty interesting:

 

Will Batman Rescue the Box Office?

 

Analysts are predicting that Batman Begins will earn $60-65 million in its opening weekend and, with a strong line-up of holdover players, end the 16-week slump that the box office has endured. (If it does not, it will equal the 17-week recession record set in 1985. "That's one box office record we don't want," Exhibitor Relations chief Paul Dergarabedian told CNN.) The Warner Bros. superhero movie earned a solid, if not exceptional $15 million on opening day Wednesday -- strong by most standards, but not close to the $40.4 million that another superhero franchise movie, Spider-Man 2, took in when it debuted on a Wednesday. The last Batman movie, Batman & Robin, earned $16.1 million when it opened on a Friday in June 1997. Some analysts noted that the film will be competing against final exams and graduation ceremonies in many parts of the country. The Hollywood Reporter observed that only 60 percent of schools will have broken for summer vacation by this weekend, with an additional 10 percent set for next weekend.

[cabbageboy 0]

On the box office front the theater I was in had very few people, but then it was a fancy "director's hall" ripoff where you pay 2.00 more per person to have leather seats and an usher....maybe people just waited for the 1:30 showing and skipped that con job.

 

Anyway, I thought the movie was pretty decent, better than the last 2 or 3 but not as fresh as the 1989 film. There's a bit too much going on here that isn't really marketable to the public...the avg. filmgoer doesn't know much about Ra's Al Ghul, Falcone is a remote character, Scarecrow is a jobber basically. It's more like a graphic novel of Batman (as said, stuff like Batman Year One) than a typical "Batman fights _____ heel." As in an interpretation of Batman's origin rather than something truly definitive. In the first film the Joker killed his parents...in this one it's a bum named Chill. Personally I think the Joker doing it is cooler, but I might be in the minority. Having Ra's Al Ghul involved in Batman's origin and training seemed like a geeky fanboy thing along the lines of Jango Fett being at the root of the Clone War....it's not a definitive sort of vision.

 

Neeson was actually better than the Ra's on the cartoons...I never got Ra's on the animated series. He was just this boring dude in a cape who hung around a lava pit and called Batman "detective" in annoying fashion. It WAS nice to see a Batman villain who didn't go over the top like a fool, but it's really impossible to play Ra's that way. Then again I thought it was hard to play Mr. Freeze over the top too. And bear in mind we just saw the train crash, so we're not really sure what happened with Ra's at the end here. That said, I don't really want to see Ra's Al Ghul constantly in the series...he's just not as good of a villain as the Joker or whoever.

 

Direction wise I think it was decent enough but the film has a sort of bland feel to it. Not really a distinctive look, especially after seeing the Burton and Schumacher movies. Good or bad those films had a definite feel to them, whereas this just looks and feels like Batman dropped into any number of cities. I think if you took this script and approach and merged it with Burton's visual style you'd have a truly jaw dropping film.

 

Just wondering but what was all that talk about the depression? It seemed to be talking about the 1930s debut of Batman, but nothing in the film seemed at all like the 30s-40s.

[AmericanDragon 0]

In the first film the Joker killed his parents...in this one it's a bum named Chill.  Personally I think the Joker doing it is cooler, but I might be in the minority.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Sure it was a pretty interesting idea, but it ended up being negative because it turned the whole Batman story into a revenge story. After he killed the Joker, what the hell was he supposed to do? I guess that's why he looked so boring in Returns. There was no motivation for anything in the other three movies because he already killed the person who killed his parents. And that's also how he slowly became a supporting character in the next movies when his damn name is in the titles.

[Guest JMA]

Personally, I'm really glad that the whole "Joker killing the Waynes" concept has been discarded. I like the fact that some nobody (in this case, Joe Chill) indirectly created Batman. Besides, I prefer that the Joker be a normal guy before his transformation, showing exactly what "one bad day" can do to a man.

[Guest rawmvp]

This was a good film, but not nearly as unique and imaginative as Batman and Batman Returns.

[Ravenbomb 0]

I think the editing seemed quicker than it may have been because so much of the picture was dark

 

also, he hadn't honed his detective skills yet. He was new at the whole thing

[Guest SP-1]

I have to chuckle at the fact that 90% of the negativity boils down to this not being a standard formulaic superhero movie.

[Guest El Satanico]

I have to chuckle at the fact that 90% of the negativity boils down to this not being a standard formulaic superhero movie.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Or that it's not Burton.

 

That's the one I have the biggest trouble accepting. His bat films are seriously not that good. They aren't even that good as Burton films.

[AmericanDragon 0]

And then there are some people who criticize Nolan for not paying any respect to Burton by doing a different take on the character. But for some reason nobody ever criticizes Burton for making his own weird version of Batman and not respecting the 60's television show or the 1966 movie.

[Golgo 13 0]

Sure it was a pretty interesting idea, but it ended up being negative because it turned the whole Batman story into a revenge story. After he killed the Joker, what the hell was he supposed to do? I guess that's why he looked so boring in Returns. There was no motivation for anything in the other three movies because he already killed the person who killed his parents. And that's also how he slowly became a supporting character in the next movies when his damn name is in the titles.

 

Personally, I'm really glad that the whole "Joker killing the Waynes" concept has been discarded. I like the fact that some nobody (in this case, Joe Chill) indirectly created Batman. Besides, I prefer that the Joker be a normal guy before his transformation, showing exactly what "one bad day" can do to a man.

 

Definitely. A low level thug like Chill killing Batman's parents is integral to the story. It makes Batman's plight and character more sympathetic and tragic, and Chill epitomizes Gotham's uglyness. Not to mention that without Chill, Batman's own "one bad day" twist of fate parallel to his enemies is lost.