Let’s All Gnome to the Movies: Batman Begins (Possible Spoilers)

[Dillgaar]

Disclaimer: this review may contain spoilers. So if you don’t want the movie ruined please read ahead with caution.

Who remembers the 1989 smash hit ‘Batman’? How about the 1992 not so hot sequel ‘Batman Returns’? How about the “should never have been made” follow ups ‘Batman Forever’ and ‘Batman and Robin’? Well have no fear you can now wipe those movies from the dark (and scary) recesses of your mind.

I would like to introduce you to a new little flick I like to call ‘Batman Begins’. Why ‘Begins’ you may ask, because it does. Let’s take everything you have come to know about Batman and its movie related franchise and crumple it up, set fire to it and feed it to the fishes. It has been rewritten, redirected, and redefined into what the originals should have been.

Gone are the days of over the top (and often times campy) special effects and locations and in their place are more realistic additions used to help the story along and bring the action straight to the screen. No, they aren’t perfect, but they are a far cry from the last few installments.

We see Bruce develop from a child (mostly in flashbacks) and into an adult as he deals with the death of his parents and the corruption of the city they worked to beautify. We see him struggle with his own guilt and with his overwhelming fear of (you guessed it) bats. On the way he learns a few tricks and some fancy martial arts from a secret society of ninjas (pirates would have been cooler) called the League of Shadows. He then returns to Gotham where he meets an old friend of his fathers who hooks him up with some neato-keen gadgets. Then the butt-kicking begins.

We have thus far had Michael Keaton (by far the most capable of the original 3), Val Kilmer and George Clooney under the cape and cowl and have now been gifted with the presence of Christian Bale who, at last, seems to have caught on to who Batman should be. Is Batman broody? Yeah sure he is. Is Batman a little bit psycho? If you would call someone dressing up as a bat and fighting crime psycho, then yes. Is Batman human? If you have watched the first four features the answer to this question would be up in the air, but after watching ‘Begins’ you definitely get the human side of Bruce Wayne/Batman.

Bale’s performance, the great screenplay by Christopher Nolan (Director of ‘Memento’) and Davis S. Goyer (no stranger to comic movies having written scripts for all three Blade movies and scheduled for the writing behind ‘Ghost Rider’ and ‘The Flash’, both due out in 2006) , the hotness of Katie Holmes (ever since she dumped that Dawson kid), and some pleasantly light and humorous moments, make this the complete package when it comes to a comic book movie. No, it’s not another ‘Spiderman’, maybe not even an ‘X-Men’, but it does fare well on its own and is a far cry from the franchise that began in 1989.

Overall I am incredibly excited about this movie as it has completely blown away all of my expectations. For you comic book fans, there are some really cool parts of the movie you will giggle like a pre-teen girl about; and the ending is just begging for a sequel (which I am sure is being plotted out as I type this review), even if it is as subtle as a 2 ton palette of bricks falling on a naked man’s genitalia.

I give this one 3½ out of 4 Gnomes

Lets All Gnome to the Movies © 2005 by Dillgaar
All Rights Reserved

[Draco]

One question though. So in "Batman Begins" Mr. and Mrs. wayne died when bruce was a kid and they were killed by that homeless dude who was subsequently shot after his hearing 10 years later. What about the bit in the original batman where his parents were killed by the joker?

[Dillgaar]

yeah... there are a couple of things in the movie (I was trying to limit my explicit detail of the movie) that significantly change the history of Batman...

one being who the Legion of Shadows truly are and who their leader is (and the fact thaat in the movie they trained Bruce) and another being the whole joker thing... one of the major reasons Batman and the joker were such heated enemies came from the fact that the Joker killed Batmans parents in the comics... the writers chose to do things differently, and I can't blame them

It was done in the first movie (1989) and if they did it in this one thy would have been looked at as just copying the first. The way they brought it about in this movie humanized Bruce more and in a much quicker fashion plus it added a new twist that fans wouldn't expect.

In the 89 Batman, Bruce was more of a mental case than anything else and had repressed his feelings. In Begins, we see Bruce's struggle with his guilt and his anger which make a lot more sense and definitely portray more passion by this Batman thus not really needing something like the Joker killing his parents and then meeting up with him later to create the climax...

I am sure in a sequel if they have the Joker they would have him do something so heinous that it would send Bruce off again thus creating more passion and anger to fuel the Bat-fires.

I just think that in this movie the focus is more on Batman the person and his quest for justice as opposed to sticking to continuity.

[Homeslice513]

I didn't really know the rundown in the comics and what was the true story but looking at the movie just as it was, I thought it was awesome. Definitely the best Batman movie yet and I hope the same folks are doing the next ones :D

[Havelock]

Saw it again last night and loved it just as much.

Dilgaar, the whole "Joker killed Batman's parents" thing didn't come around until the first Batman movie, and I believe the comics continuity shifted later to try to avoid confusing people who started reading because they liked the movie. But prior to that it was just some thug who killed Batman's parents, which made it easier for him to fight crime in general rather than pursue a specific person for vengeance. Batman Begins resolves this problem in its own way, and I think does it pretty well.

The only false note in the movie really was Katie Holmes, who I think was either miscast or miswritten since her character was supposed to be both an innocent reminder of Bruce's childhood and at the same time a gritty prosecutor standing up to a web of corruption.

But man, I can't wait for the sequel.

PS The sig will shrink, I need to work on it a little more.

[Raya]

Saw BATMAN BEGINS last week. It was an awesome movie, both in acting and storyline (not to mention the fantastic cinematography). Although I grew up on a mixture of classics and comic books, I have to admit the super hero "easy way out" storyline is getting a little lame. Spider-Man works and no one could beat Christopher Reeves as Superman, but the previous Batman shows were hokey and advertised as "camp." I don't like camp, never did, never will. This version of Batman is head and shoulders above the previous movie/TV versions.

On another note, saw MR. AND MRS. SMITH this Saturday. It rocks!! I laughed so hard I nearly choked. Also got some grand ideas of what to do to my ex :twisted: Okay, I won't do them, but it was fun fantasizing.

Mrs. Smith (Angelina Jolie) (after a particularly fierce round of gunplay as the two trash their own house): Sweetheart...are you still alive, honey?

Mr. Smith (Brad Pitt) (after diving behind a wall in a narrow escape from Mrs. Smith's huge hand-held cannon): uhnnnnnnnn (drops gun on floor - long pause as Mrs. Smith cautiously moves down the stairs, then he rolls over and gets off a shot at Mrs. Smith)

Mrs. Smith (diving over the railing): You bastard!!

Classic action humor, done with flair and amazing stunt action.