On The Bat

[dtsou]

Saw Batman Begins over the weekend and thought it was quite good. What I liked best about the movie was that it took more time to really tell a more complete story, resulting in the movie being 140 mins. I enjoy getting to know the character(s) more and think that a lot of movies these days lose a lot by trying to pack everything into a shorter

Comments

[pessen]

I enjoyed the movie too, although there were a number of things that bothered me. I thought Bale did a wonderful job as Bruce Wayne, but I wasn't thrilled with him as Batman. I think his voice was what bothered me. I also felt that Gary Oldman did a great job. Actually, I think pretty much all the actors did a great job.

The thing that bothered me about the Batmobile was how it kept moving him from sitting upright to laying down on his stomach. Was that supposed to give him a better view of the road or something? I also don't think it was handled consistently. At first I thought it only went into that mode when he had to shoot his harpoons at something but it seemed like it did it other times as well. I also had some major issues with how much damage he caused with the Batmobile, not to mention all the cops he might've killed. Was all that really necessary?

Also agree a bit with Katie Holmes. I think she did ok, but I'm not sure I liked her character. Didn't feel like they did enough to develop her and her relationship to Bruce. I also didn't understand what happened at the end. Did she pull a reverse Spiderman?

The only minor problem I had with Crane is that his part seemed a bit too small. He didn't have much interaction with Batman at all and their one "fight" was a bit of a downer. It was also a bit disappointing how he was defeated at the end. I am glad that they chose not to kill him off, though. Shows that they are learning from the first batman movies.

One thing that I did love, though, is the very end. When Gordon tells Batman that he has some criminal that he wants Batman to check out and gives him the evidence left behind, that sent shivers done my spine. What a great way to lead into the next movie.

[dtsou]

Yeah, I thought that Batman's voice was rather interesting too. It definitely seemed like they purposely had him talk differently as Batman, kinda more raspy. At first I thought it was cool, because I've always thought that if someone who knew him well (in this case Katie Holmes) talked to him while he was dressed up as Batman, they would be able to tell it was him right away from his voice - so talking different would be good. What I was disappointed with was they just kinda had him do it without employing a voice-changing device or even really mentioning it (tho I can't think of how they would mention it).

I also thought the Batmobile switching from sitting to lying down was rather odd, though it probably wasn't as much a problem for me as it seems like it was for you. I just wrote it off as Hollywood-ifying. They did have Alfred mention after his spree with the Batmobile that he didn't kill anyone. Not that it seemed like he took especial care not to kill anyone anyways. I actually like it more that way, because I think it is rather naive to think that you can go around doing all that stuff and still be concerned with not killing anyone.

Yeah, I think Katie Holmes just turns him down, I guess because she doesn't like him as this vengence-driven Batman character. I actually liked that they didn't end up together, as it was refreshingly different from other oftentimes impossibly happy-ending movies.

Yeah, the thing at the end was really cool. And from what I've read, the movie has done well enough that they are going to do a sequel. My question is, how are they going to resolve a sequel with the first Batman movie (if they are at all). I actually kinda hope they just make a sequel in the same type/genre as this one and don't worry about reconciling it to the other movies. Apparently this movie followed the actual comic much more closely anyways.

[pessen]

It just bothered me that he caused so much damage and there seemed to be no good reason for it other than to have some crazy chase. There also didn't seem to be any way he could've known that no cops would've been killed. Makes it seems a lot more valid that the cops would consider batman a villian considering all the needless damage he caused.

I think I would've preferred it if she just didn't have feelings for him at all. I mean, what's the point in her kissing him if she was going to turn him down RIGHT after doing that?

I thought that they were just planning on ignoring the first movies because Batman Begins already has a big thing which contrasts with the first movie if you think about how his parents died. Right there, they already broke away from the first movie.