A glowing review of Batman Begins

[missionhockey21]

Harry Knowles posts his review of Batman Begins. I have been waiting so long for this movie, my favorite super hero is finally going to get the kind of movie he deserves it appears.

BATMAN BEGINS review

In May of 1988 I got the script to Sam Hamm’s BATMAN and dreamt of a Batman movie that was to never be. This wasn’t to be a cartoon or a tv show… but an epic Batman movie on an enormous scale. In late April of 1989, I came to Austin to go to college. Moved in with my father and to earn a living and my way through college we began selling our Silver Age and Golden Age comics at conventions all over Texas and all anybody anywhere could talk about was BATMAN. When I finally saw Burton’s BATMAN – I walked out of the theater depressed. It was ok. Hell, it beat the living shit of the last two SUPERMAN movies, it was even a pretty good BATMAN movie… but it wasn’t a hair on the ass of Sam Hamm’s script. Anyone that read that legendary draft, a script that Tarantino has been heard to say it was one of the best scripts he’s ever read. As the subsequent Batman movies strived to be bigger, sillier and cuter… I began to get pissed.

Some of the earliest and biggest coverage that the outside media has ever given Ain’t It Cool News was for the coverage we gave to BATMAN & ROBIN. A film so awful it still forces a reaction out of any and all film & comics lovers. That film was so bad that every time there’s a new superhero film, it’s the monkey on comic film fan’s back… whispering in our ear, “psst… it could be BATMAN & ROBIN bad.”

Like many of you, the second I got my hands on David Goyer’s draft of BATMAN BEGINS – I read it through – and I liked it… Liked it fine. I loved that it got Wayne out of Gotham, that it had Batman as a detective, undercover man, billionaire playboy, shrewd business man… and, um BATMAN. What Goyer nailed was Batman and Batman’s world… what it was that made Batman Batman. What really seemed to be missing was emotion, atmosphere and… for a story involving Scarecrow it didn’t read scary.

Well… I just got out of the BATMAN BEGINS screening and Holy Shit! This is the BATMAN movie we’ve been dreaming of for a long time. I know it is the Batman film I was dreaming of in May of 1988 when I read that script. Batman is scary. He’s scarier than the Scarecrow. Sure, the Scarecrow has his fear toxin… and when you see his face after the toxin got a hold of you… it’s scary, horrific and terrifying… But man… When you’re a corrupt cop upside down looking at a 17 story drop, hanging by god knows what staring into the face of some lunatic in a Bat mask interrogating you with a voice forged out of ****ing hell… I realized… It isn’t the chin or even the eyes that make Batman… it’s that hideous scary as **** voice and that he holds your life on a press of a button – and to that criminal… you have utterly no idea what his ethos is… He’s not in a uniform, he can’t be bought and there’s something utterly unhinged about him. Something insane, methodically insane. This isn’t a jokey Batman… This Batman is all business.

The way Nolan shoots Batman… he doesn’t pull back to show you how Batman does his tricks and torments. Instead he focuses on misdirection, quickness, ferocity and the end result. No longer will you see clumsy half-assed martial arts routines… and one point early in Wayne’s training Liam Neeson, before kicking Bruce’s ass says… “This isn’t a Dance,” when Wayne tries his learnt Kung Fu. Liam’s Ducard takes him down and begins to kick the shit out of him. It’s scary, fierce and unforgiving. And that’s exactly who and what Batman becomes. This isn’t fancy Fred Astaire neatly choreographed fights… This is brutal, tight and mean. Just incredible.

Half the time you never know where Batman is coming from. The focus is on the victim (criminal) instead of the hunter. Sometimes the blackness that grabs them comes from above, behind, beneath, beside… but never where you expect it. The first time Batman is full on hunting criminals is on a dock and this is scary. This isn’t some slow moving lunk in an all white Captain Kirk mask… you don’t see what’s hunting you… you can hear this flapping sound, something heavy moving beyond the edge of light and no matter where you fire, when you stop, you hear that sound somewhere else entirely, then suddenly BAM he’s got you. In many ways, this is a horror film for criminals. A ghost story that scum tells each other late at night… after a job, before a job. And man, I hope to God that somebody at Warners has signed everyone involved in this film on a 20 film contract… cuz this is a fierce Batman movie that just is unrelenting.

Click here for the full review

[BuckFoston]

I can't wait for this movie. I love Batman.

[DirtyKash]

Your favorite superhero is Batman? I find him so dark and disturbed. Plus he has no super "skills" except for special gadgets like the batmobile, the bathooks, and the batpizza. And he hangs around with a teenage boy all day long.

I'd rank my top superheroes as follows:

1. Superman - top on the list because he has a hot chick, can fly and has x-ray vision.
2. Wolverine - I'd love to have claws like him, also his healing powers.
3. Spider-Man - and I'd also love to be able to fling webs.

4. Inspector Gadget
5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
6. Hulk
7. Duffman - heh heh

8. Batman

[General]

Superman wears his undies on the outside. Batman wears them on his head...

[General]

So, using my SUPERHERO WIN METHOD, Superman would win the faceoff.

[missionhockey21]

Your favorite superhero is Batman? I find him so dark and disturbed. Plus he has no super "skills" except for special gadgets like the batmobile, the bathooks, and the batpizza. And he hangs around with a teenage boy all day long.

Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns" is why I fell in love with comics. Yeah Batman is disturbed and dark, his tragic flaw happens to be one of the most true to life of any of superhero. He's human and life simply has not gone his way. He doesn't have a "power" per se other than the power to strike fear into his enemies. He fights evil so others won't have to live through what he has. So while he is dark, he also is fighting for a noble cause. A lot of writers for both the flicks and comics have made Batman into a joke. Hopefully this flick will tell the story like it should be told.

[DirtyKash]

Fair enough. Hey, mh, who has been your favorite actor to have played the role of Batman so far? I'm going with Michael Keaton here. (I thought that Val Kilmer was horrible and George Clooney was a mess.) Not sure how Christian Bale is going to do, but the reviews seem to praise his work.

[missionhockey21]

Yep, Keaton for sure. He wasn't perfect for the role, but he captured the essence of Batman much better than the other two (didn't hurt either that his Batman flicks were much better produced.)

[General]

Man, Ahhnold was god in that role.

[DirtyKash]

I went to see Batman Begins last night. Definitely the best of the Batman series (though that's not saying much). You're all going to love the new Batmobile. Also, Liam Neeson is awesome in this movie, this is like the third or fourth movie in a row that he plays a mentor/teacher to an apprentice. I'd give this an 8.5/10.

[ATLien]

I think I may be the only one who didn't like it. I thought Bale and Holmes performances were god awful. The only other Batman I've seen is the one with Jim Carrey and Arnold, and the new one blows that one out of the water. Although, like DK said, that isn't saying a whole lot.

[Cardinal Optimist]

I loved Batman Begins, the effects when Scarecrow uses his gas is awesome.

[777rak]

Your favorite superhero is Batman? I find him so dark and disturbed. Plus he has no super "skills" except for special gadgets like the batmobile, the bathooks, and the batpizza. And he hangs around with a teenage boy all day long.

I'd rank my top superheroes as follows:

1. Superman - top on the list because he has a hot chick, can fly and has x-ray vision.
2. Wolverine - I'd love to have claws like him, also his healing powers.
3. Spider-Man - and I'd also love to be able to fling webs.

4. Inspector Gadget
5. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
6. Hulk
7. Duffman - heh heh

8. Batman

Lol very true! And you are correct that he doesnt have any super power, though his gadgets are cool.

[777rak]

So, using my SUPERHERO WIN METHOD, Superman would win the faceoff.

yea really! lol

[love_that_reefer]

Michael Keaton was a good Bruce Wayne. Kilmer and Clooney's films were too cartoony and not comic book. Batman is supposed to be dark. Nicole Kidman and Uma Thurman were horrible Batman women. And Batgirl? jesus christ. The Batmobile better be awesome.