A superhero movie of unusual psychological complexity*
So I finally watched Batman Begins. It was quite enjoyable, even if a few times I mini-ranted at the screen.
1) If your child is scared in the opera, you take him to the front hall, or the bathroom. You do not take your family out the back door into some shitty alley.
2) Wayne Senior was an awesome dad.
3) Liam Neeson's moustache distracted me much too much; I kept expecting it to unglue.
4) There were some really nice quotable bits, but I felt like I was getting hammered and pontificated at with all the exposition and going-on about fear. I get it, shut up already. That drive through the underworld of Gotham, narrated by Rachel? Yawn.
5) I fucking love Jim Gordon. I loved him as a young cop, as a lone good cop, as an uneasy acquaintance of Batman, and absolutely adored him driving the Batmobile. Oh, Gary Oldman, you lovely thing, you.
6) Alfred is love. Michael Caine is likewise love. Subtle, crafted love.
7) I saw more point in having Morgan Freeman this time around. (Although, does he even have any range? I mean, he's always the same character.) The whole "hi, I'm a massive department with a whole lot of money and unfinished products sucking money out of your company, yet unexplicably still standing" was strange, though.
8) Proof that Bruce Wayne's a prick:
Bruce Wayne: This place is a mausoleum. If I have my way, I'll pull the damn thing down brick by brick.
Alfred Pennyworth: This house, Master Wayne, has sheltered six generations of your family.
Bruce Wayne: Why do you give a damn, Alfred? It's not your family.
Bruce, Alfred is your butler. He taken care of your parents and then you. He's raised you. He grew up at the mansion when his father was butler, and his family's been taking care of the Wayne family for generations. So don't you dare say that Alfred shouldn't give a damn. He's the gardener, and the flowers he's been tending are the Waynes. 'Course he's going to be upset if there's a bulldozer running over them
9) Predicatable lines are never good, especially when I can anticipate them word for word. But then again, it had to be said:
Rachel Dawes: Come on, Bruce. We don't need to see this.
Bruce Wayne: I do.
10) I prefer feisty Rachel Dawes version 2 than this lame and flimsy version.
11) It sort of detracts from the enjoyment of a gangster when you realize you've seen him strutting his stuff in The Full Monty.
12) The ninja!shuffle test was cool, I'll admit.
13) Hated the Supposedly Head Boss of Ultra Secret Legion. Distracting moustaches should be outlawed!
14) I know the movie's all about the creation of Batman and all, but some bits were a bit slow. The development of the armour, for one. Still, interesting. (I loved the scene where Bruce and Alfred are ordering parts for the masks. "Well, at least we'll have spares.")
15) Cillian Murphy is too pretty for his own good. I liked him and his slimy Doctor Crane, but I loved him in the straight-jacket, all strapped down in the chair. Mmm...
16) Dude, Bruce should have gotten some help for that phobia ages ago.
17) I'm hand-waving a lot of the fear toxin stuff and the evaporating-of-water stuff. Because, well, it's a bit ridiculous. Oh noes! He's trippin' real bad! He's stuck in LSD-land!
18) I was really bothered by the amount of damage Batman was doing in his (awesome) car chase bit. I know Alfred says, "It's a miracle no one was killed!" but that's just it: a bloody miracle. Batman wasn't giving a rat's ass about anyone but Rachel.
19) More fake-drunk Bruce plz.
20) Christian Bale with his bangs in the way reminded me a lot of Ryan Gosling.
21) Ah, Arkham Asylum. Fanfics make so much more sense now.
22) *Wayne mansion burns* *Bruce's death imminent* NoooOOOOooo! Not the books!
23) Uh, Scarecrow? "There's nothing to fear but fear itself?" I mean, I know your the Fearmonger and all that, but laaaaame and overused quote much?
24) Scarecrow's girly (sorry ladies) screams when zapped by Rachel were total lulz.
25) Ok, I get it. Woman power yay. Invest in zapper thingies and pepper spray and you, too, can ward of minions and crazy folk. Ugh, movie-message overmuch? (Also, damn it woman, stop flicking your hair around!) Aaand of course, woman in alleyway protecting small boy from escaped convict (serial killer or rapist) with a police-issue gun...
26) The Batmask makes Bale look like he has a really chunky face. Thankfully, his Batvoice is still in the decent range.
27) Gordon's face when opening the Batmobile? ♥
Batquotes:
Henri Ducard: And do you still feel responsible for your parents' death?
Bruce Wayne: My anger outweighs my guilt.
Henri Ducard: But I know the rage that drives you. An impossible anger strangling the grief until the memory of your loved ones is just poison in your veins. One day you catch yourself wishing that the person you loved had never existed, so that you'd be spared your pain.
Bruce Wayne: I'm not afraid of you.
Gangster: Because you think you've got nothing to lose. But you haven't though it through. You haven't thought about your lady friend dowd down at the D.A.'s office. You haven't thought about your old butler. Bang!
Alfred Pennyworth: What is the point of all those pushups if you can't even lift a bloody log?
Police Boss: Gordon, there's nobody left to send in.
Jim Gordon: So I'm on my own?!?
Links of the Day:
The Dark Knight Cast and Director Remember Heath Ledger by Scott Huver
Heath Ledger Peers Into The Abyss in The Dark Knight by Scott Foundas
5 Actors Who Could Never Play Convincing Normal Dudes by Disractedbywords
Cillian Site.Com
* Scott Foundas, ibid
1) If your child is scared in the opera, you take him to the front hall, or the bathroom. You do not take your family out the back door into some shitty alley.
2) Wayne Senior was an awesome dad.
3) Liam Neeson's moustache distracted me much too much; I kept expecting it to unglue.
4) There were some really nice quotable bits, but I felt like I was getting hammered and pontificated at with all the exposition and going-on about fear. I get it, shut up already. That drive through the underworld of Gotham, narrated by Rachel? Yawn.
5) I fucking love Jim Gordon. I loved him as a young cop, as a lone good cop, as an uneasy acquaintance of Batman, and absolutely adored him driving the Batmobile. Oh, Gary Oldman, you lovely thing, you.
6) Alfred is love. Michael Caine is likewise love. Subtle, crafted love.
7) I saw more point in having Morgan Freeman this time around. (Although, does he even have any range? I mean, he's always the same character.) The whole "hi, I'm a massive department with a whole lot of money and unfinished products sucking money out of your company, yet unexplicably still standing" was strange, though.
8) Proof that Bruce Wayne's a prick:
Bruce Wayne: This place is a mausoleum. If I have my way, I'll pull the damn thing down brick by brick.
Alfred Pennyworth: This house, Master Wayne, has sheltered six generations of your family.
Bruce Wayne: Why do you give a damn, Alfred? It's not your family.
Bruce, Alfred is your butler. He taken care of your parents and then you. He's raised you. He grew up at the mansion when his father was butler, and his family's been taking care of the Wayne family for generations. So don't you dare say that Alfred shouldn't give a damn. He's the gardener, and the flowers he's been tending are the Waynes. 'Course he's going to be upset if there's a bulldozer running over them
9) Predicatable lines are never good, especially when I can anticipate them word for word. But then again, it had to be said:
Rachel Dawes: Come on, Bruce. We don't need to see this.
Bruce Wayne: I do.
10) I prefer feisty Rachel Dawes version 2 than this lame and flimsy version.
11) It sort of detracts from the enjoyment of a gangster when you realize you've seen him strutting his stuff in The Full Monty.
12) The ninja!shuffle test was cool, I'll admit.
13) Hated the Supposedly Head Boss of Ultra Secret Legion. Distracting moustaches should be outlawed!
14) I know the movie's all about the creation of Batman and all, but some bits were a bit slow. The development of the armour, for one. Still, interesting. (I loved the scene where Bruce and Alfred are ordering parts for the masks. "Well, at least we'll have spares.")
15) Cillian Murphy is too pretty for his own good. I liked him and his slimy Doctor Crane, but I loved him in the straight-jacket, all strapped down in the chair. Mmm...
16) Dude, Bruce should have gotten some help for that phobia ages ago.
17) I'm hand-waving a lot of the fear toxin stuff and the evaporating-of-water stuff. Because, well, it's a bit ridiculous. Oh noes! He's trippin' real bad! He's stuck in LSD-land!
18) I was really bothered by the amount of damage Batman was doing in his (awesome) car chase bit. I know Alfred says, "It's a miracle no one was killed!" but that's just it: a bloody miracle. Batman wasn't giving a rat's ass about anyone but Rachel.
19) More fake-drunk Bruce plz.
20) Christian Bale with his bangs in the way reminded me a lot of Ryan Gosling.
21) Ah, Arkham Asylum. Fanfics make so much more sense now.
22) *Wayne mansion burns* *Bruce's death imminent* NoooOOOOooo! Not the books!
23) Uh, Scarecrow? "There's nothing to fear but fear itself?" I mean, I know your the Fearmonger and all that, but laaaaame and overused quote much?
24) Scarecrow's girly (sorry ladies) screams when zapped by Rachel were total lulz.
25) Ok, I get it. Woman power yay. Invest in zapper thingies and pepper spray and you, too, can ward of minions and crazy folk. Ugh, movie-message overmuch? (Also, damn it woman, stop flicking your hair around!) Aaand of course, woman in alleyway protecting small boy from escaped convict (serial killer or rapist) with a police-issue gun...
26) The Batmask makes Bale look like he has a really chunky face. Thankfully, his Batvoice is still in the decent range.
27) Gordon's face when opening the Batmobile? ♥
Batquotes:
Henri Ducard: And do you still feel responsible for your parents' death?
Bruce Wayne: My anger outweighs my guilt.
Henri Ducard: But I know the rage that drives you. An impossible anger strangling the grief until the memory of your loved ones is just poison in your veins. One day you catch yourself wishing that the person you loved had never existed, so that you'd be spared your pain.
Bruce Wayne: I'm not afraid of you.
Gangster: Because you think you've got nothing to lose. But you haven't though it through. You haven't thought about your lady friend dowd down at the D.A.'s office. You haven't thought about your old butler. Bang!
Alfred Pennyworth: What is the point of all those pushups if you can't even lift a bloody log?
Police Boss: Gordon, there's nobody left to send in.
Jim Gordon: So I'm on my own?!?
Links of the Day:
The Dark Knight Cast and Director Remember Heath Ledger by Scott Huver
Heath Ledger Peers Into The Abyss in The Dark Knight by Scott Foundas
5 Actors Who Could Never Play Convincing Normal Dudes by Disractedbywords
Cillian Site.Com
* Scott Foundas, ibid