Bale-A-Thon, Part 2
So, onto Batman Begins. Remember that picture from the last post, with rail-thin Christian Bale? Well, check this one out:
That's what Christian Bale really looks like. And that's for the ladies out there.
So aside from transforming from an insomniac ghoul into everyone's favorite non-super-powered superhero, what else did I like about Batman Begins?
EVERYTHING!
I really can't think of a better way to bring the Dark Knight to the screen. Free of the campy tone of the Schumacher films (and, to a lesser extent, the Burton films), Christopher Nolan was able to create Bruce Wayne/Batman as a real person, with logical motivations and an explanation for everything. Wondering where the mask came from? Or the Batmobile? Or even why he's got gauntlets? Questions answered.
That's the best part about Begins. Everything makes sense. None of this Daredevil crap (by which I mean the idea that a blind guy made his own custom, leather, superhero costume.) Nolan goes out of his way to not insult the audience's intelligence, to his credit.
Well, maybe the best part is seeing these characters, that I am emotionally attached to, brought to life. While I said in my Sin City review that is was the most faithful comic adaptation yet, I must now amend that. Visually, I stand by that. But as far as character goes, Begins beats it by a nose. Gary Oldman, who I have a huge non-gay man-crush on, as Jim Gordon is 100 percent exactly how I would picture the comic book character if he were real. Pat Hingle as Gordon in the old Batman films was your stereotypical random police guy. But Oldman brings the frustration and resignation I always saw in the comics into the movie.
Dear Warner Brothers, please bust out some Killing Joke nonsense in the next flick, and put Oldman through that insanity. I would follow Gary Oldman around like the Dead if they did that. I would be an Oldhead. And instead of tie-dye and Patchouli, I would have the Fifth Element haircut, and would demand that Harrison Ford throw me out of a plane.
Same goes for Cillian Murphy as Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow. Murphy exudes the cool confidence of a supergenius, and while my initial concern was his ability to be terrifying, Nolan took care of that. That's all I'll say here.
I can see some rabid fanboys out there dissecting this movie, and complaining about plot continuities and character origins, but I don't see the need to complain. The creative team behind this movie obviously has a deep affection for the character, and nothing seemed out of place, to me anyway. Ra's Al Ghul, in the film, really has nothing to do with Ra's Al Ghul, the comic book character, but I think that's okay. It's not like they screwed up a top-tier Bat-villain. They already did that, three times, in Batman and Robin.
I also don't know if Joe Moviegoer is going to dig it as much as I did. It starts off pretty slow, as it is a true origin story, and he doesn't become Batman until about an hour in. This film doesn't have the popcorn-flick non-stop intensity of Spider-Man 2 or the X-Men movies. It's essentially a film masquerading as a movie. Nolan is an auteur, brought in to provide some credibility to a franchise that had been torn to shreds by well-noted archvillain Joel Schumacher.
And Nolan succeeds. Boy, does he ever.
I'm really tired right now, and I don't want to give a whole lot away, so I'll shut up. But see this movie. See it on the big screen. Batman Begins gets an A for frickin' awesome.
Swipe this after seeing the movie>>>>>But what's with Scarecrow's exit? That kinda sucked. Oh well.<<<<<
That's what Christian Bale really looks like. And that's for the ladies out there.
So aside from transforming from an insomniac ghoul into everyone's favorite non-super-powered superhero, what else did I like about Batman Begins?
EVERYTHING!
I really can't think of a better way to bring the Dark Knight to the screen. Free of the campy tone of the Schumacher films (and, to a lesser extent, the Burton films), Christopher Nolan was able to create Bruce Wayne/Batman as a real person, with logical motivations and an explanation for everything. Wondering where the mask came from? Or the Batmobile? Or even why he's got gauntlets? Questions answered.
That's the best part about Begins. Everything makes sense. None of this Daredevil crap (by which I mean the idea that a blind guy made his own custom, leather, superhero costume.) Nolan goes out of his way to not insult the audience's intelligence, to his credit.
Well, maybe the best part is seeing these characters, that I am emotionally attached to, brought to life. While I said in my Sin City review that is was the most faithful comic adaptation yet, I must now amend that. Visually, I stand by that. But as far as character goes, Begins beats it by a nose. Gary Oldman, who I have a huge non-gay man-crush on, as Jim Gordon is 100 percent exactly how I would picture the comic book character if he were real. Pat Hingle as Gordon in the old Batman films was your stereotypical random police guy. But Oldman brings the frustration and resignation I always saw in the comics into the movie.
Dear Warner Brothers, please bust out some Killing Joke nonsense in the next flick, and put Oldman through that insanity. I would follow Gary Oldman around like the Dead if they did that. I would be an Oldhead. And instead of tie-dye and Patchouli, I would have the Fifth Element haircut, and would demand that Harrison Ford throw me out of a plane.
Same goes for Cillian Murphy as Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow. Murphy exudes the cool confidence of a supergenius, and while my initial concern was his ability to be terrifying, Nolan took care of that. That's all I'll say here.
I can see some rabid fanboys out there dissecting this movie, and complaining about plot continuities and character origins, but I don't see the need to complain. The creative team behind this movie obviously has a deep affection for the character, and nothing seemed out of place, to me anyway. Ra's Al Ghul, in the film, really has nothing to do with Ra's Al Ghul, the comic book character, but I think that's okay. It's not like they screwed up a top-tier Bat-villain. They already did that, three times, in Batman and Robin.
I also don't know if Joe Moviegoer is going to dig it as much as I did. It starts off pretty slow, as it is a true origin story, and he doesn't become Batman until about an hour in. This film doesn't have the popcorn-flick non-stop intensity of Spider-Man 2 or the X-Men movies. It's essentially a film masquerading as a movie. Nolan is an auteur, brought in to provide some credibility to a franchise that had been torn to shreds by well-noted archvillain Joel Schumacher.
And Nolan succeeds. Boy, does he ever.
I'm really tired right now, and I don't want to give a whole lot away, so I'll shut up. But see this movie. See it on the big screen. Batman Begins gets an A for frickin' awesome.
Swipe this after seeing the movie>>>>>But what's with Scarecrow's exit? That kinda sucked. Oh well.<<<<<
posted by Brent Jensen at 2:48 AM
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