it's the bat man

[orangerful]

jimithingy, zauber_vz and Al (who obviously needs a livejournal) went and saw "Batman Begins" last night.

The short, spoiler free version - It's good. Go see it. Lots of action, lots of character development, and all those silly questions that nagged at you when you watched every other superhero movie (how does he buy that stuff and not have anyone know who he is!) are addressed in amusing ways. Christian Bale is Batman.



This movie was a lot of fun. It wasn't perfect by any means, but out of all the Batman films I have seen, this one might be my favorite. As true_review said in his write up, this film focuses on character. Who is Bruce Wayne? Instead of just being some rich guy indulging his vigilante urges, the writers of BB work on creating a complex hero, who is still trying to figure out what he's fighting for.

The movie opens not with the murder of the Wayne family, but with Bruce locked away in a chinese prison. What started as a journey to understanding the "criminal world" has drained Bruce of hope and he has "lost the mission". A shadowy Liam Neeson appears one day, to offer him a chance at starting anew, asking him to join a group of stealthy ninjas that take it upon themselves to deal out justice upon the world. Bruce has nowhere else to go (they even kick him out of the prison) so he climbs up to their hidden temple and starts to train there. We watch as he gains the skills that will soon help him protect Gotham. But we also see that he does not conquer his fear here. Even though he has trained for months?, when he opens a box filled with bats, his reaction is to cower on the floor until they are gone. Fear is the enemy, and fear will become his weapon.

Yeah, I'd have to say fear was the theme of this movie. Which is really what Batman depends on. He's not a superhero like Superman or Wonder Woman, with amazing powers or strength. He's just a guy on a mission, and fear is his greatest weapon.

I really enjoyed watching Bruce discover what that mission really was. When he sneaks into Sgt Gordon's (played by Gary Oldman! yay!) office and leaves by whispering "now we are two", it became clear that this Batman wasn't going to be alone all the time, he understands that he needs to join forces with people to take on the corruption of Gotham.

I have to say I liked Christian Bale's/Christopher Nolan's take on Batman. I felt it was different enough from Michael Keaton's style to not feel like he was mimicing him or mocking him, but at the same time, very true to Batman. I liked that he talked in a deeper voice when he was in costume. I liked the way he moved and fell outta the sky and made his enemies dissappear. He was scary. He was just a shadowy figure. Liam Neeson lists things that people fear in the beginning, and Batman fell into all of those categories.

The whole microwave/crazy gas evil plotline to destroy Gotham might have been a bit far-fetched, but it's hollywood, and even though you could nitpick it to death, you gotta have big threats for big heroes. And honestly, I'm just happy they didn't go for the "putting your girlfriend in peril" plot that Spiderman is so fond of. In fact, Katie Holme's character was very likeable! She wasn't just a damsel in distress, but a brave woman trying to help her city, even though she knew her life was at risk for just trying to do the right thing. I hope that she can come back in any sequels, even though she broke Bruce's heart at the end.

This movie begs for a sequel, as so much of it was setting up the characters, and making us care for Bruce/Batman. It made me think of the first X-Men movie: I left the theater feeling that I really liked the movie. Then X-Men 2 came out, and we got to spend 2 hours with these familiar characters and the film was twice as good. I hope that they can get this fantastic cast back together, because I think the Dark Knight has earned it.

I want to write more, but I'm at work so I can't really concentrate on this right now. but I think I've summed it up.


On a side note - did you know Bruce Wayne is "Bruno Diaz" in spanish? I was looking at the back of a BB toy at Target and it was written in English, French and Spanish, and only the Spanish changed his name. Wonder why.

Comments

[jellibean.livejournal.com]

Haha.. they should change his name to "Bruno Diaz." It would be funny AND confusing. Or at least have him use that as an alias in a future movie. ^_^

[orangerful.livejournal.com]

yeah, they should have him travel to Mexico on a secret mission and have to assume a new identity...that would be awesome!

[persephones-rev.livejournal.com]

I've always loved Batman! He's a guy on a mission, as you've said. He doesn't have super powers, he has sheer will. In fact, I've always considered him a bit unstable. Bruce has got some serious issues, and you know how much I love flawed characters! ;D

I'm so going to ask B if he can get his mom to babysit one of these weekends!