Batman Begins

How do you rank Batman Begins?


  • Total voters
    15

Nightwing

New Recruit
darthskelington said:
I liked this movie a lot. I too went in expecting bad things, and was pleasantly surprised. Not sure if it's my favorite....movie, Batman, Bruce Wayne..etc. I've got so many different versions already in my mind (comics, other movies, cartoons), but all said it was good stuff. Scarecrow was amazing. It would have been nice if there were more of him. I actually fell for the Liam switcheroo. I think that was one f the things that ahd me fearing the worst.....I'd seen the cardback of the new toys and it named the bald guy as R'as Al Ghul. I was like...that's not wa R'as looks like.
I was really pleased about that as well. PC casting pisses me of a bit

And I think they picked the best villian in Ra's for the first film. He is Batman's equal in every way. Hopefully, when he pops up later on, we will see Talia and see the romance between Bruce and herself as a main storyline.



Also, to the best of my knowledge, the Joker has always been simply "the Joker"...no alias. And the Waynes killed by Joe Chill. The first movie (1989) simply made Joker and Joe Chill the same person.
The Joker was known as the Red Hood before he had his "accident"

As to who will play the joker, Guy Pearce may be a contender, seeing as he has had previous work with Chris Nolan in Memento
 

Jedi Daniel

Geek Jedi
Borsk said:
I'm not sure how they're gonna do this. They could just say that this movie takes place right before the first Tim Burton movie (which had the Joker in it). If they do a sequel, it may not have the Joker in it.

I've been reading the sequel to Batman Begins will have the Joker in it and then Two Face in the final part of this trilogy.
 

AmShak

Senior Moderator
Staff member
FYI
Well even though one part of her life is going well, another part is hitting a bumpy road. Just as Katie Holmes gets engaged to the biggest star in Hollywood, she gets dealt some bad news.

Warner Brothers revealed they’re dropping her from the 'Batman Begins' sequel, despite keeping all the other key characters, Christian Bale, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman.

Word is Warner is annoyed that her engagement to Tom Cruise took media attention away from the film.

A source says, "Everyone is in agreement that the movie's strength is with Christian Bale, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman... She won't be in the sequel. The next romantic interest will be a much stronger actress."

it would have been nice if oldman was mentioned along with the others
 

Borsk

Administrator
Staff member
I like Morgan Freeman and I liked him in this movie, but Gary Oldman's character ought to be much more important in the next movie. Freeman was basically playing "Q" from James Bond.

Seems dumb to drop Katie Holmes after the story kinda sets her up as the "love of his life". But, this whole scientology/Cruise thing seems to rub people the wrong way, so whateva.

I don't know that they necessarily need to replace Katie though. Part of the problem that I have with some of the Batman movies is that they bring in too many characters that have to compete for screen time. If they only brought back Bale, Caine and Oldman and then introduced a few new characters (Joker, etc), that would be fine.
 

CreepyBunny

Infiltrator
Borsk said:
I like Morgan Freeman and I liked him in this movie, but Gary Oldman's character ought to be much more important in the next movie. Freeman was basically playing "Q" from James Bond.

Seems dumb to drop Katie Holmes after the story kinda sets her up as the "love of his life". But, this whole scientology/Cruise thing seems to rub people the wrong way, so whateva.

Hey I'm happy as long as they keep Gary Oldman. I would like to see a little more of Cillian Murphy too. :love: Not just because he's beautiful, but because I would love to see him as a major villian and not just a pawn. I don't know if that will happen though.
 

Nightwing

New Recruit
Borsk said:
I like Morgan Freeman and I liked him in this movie, but Gary Oldman's character ought to be much more important in the next movie. Freeman was basically playing "Q" from James Bond.
In batman Year One, Gordon is a cop who has just moved to Gotham when Bats surfaces. he is not a big time character yet, and is the only legit cop in the force
 

Nightwing

New Recruit
Borsk said:
I'm not sure how they're gonna do this. They could just say that this movie takes place right before the first Tim Burton movie (which had the Joker in it). If they do a sequel, it may not have the Joker in it.
according to IMDB trivia: "The movie restarts the Batman franchise, having nothing to do with the previous four films"
 

Borsk

Administrator
Staff member
Here's a mini-review from the digital bits:
Matt, Sarah and I took a little time out yesterday to catch a late matinee of Christopher Nolan's new Batman Begins. We all enjoyed the film. It's significantly better than I was expecting, definitely an improvement on the previous live-action films. The film is dark and atmospheric, and I particularly liked the build up of the Bruce Wayne character. You see how he becomes the Dark Knight, and it's entirely believable. As all the pieces of his character fall into place, you're never asked to make a leap of logic that isn't easy to make. Christian Bale is quite good as the title character, while Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman are welcome indeed as Alfred and a Wayne Enterprises scientist. It's great to see Gary Oldman playing a good guy for a change. I really liked him as Police Sergeant Gordon (it's nice to know that as the franchise continues, we'll see Gordon move up in the ranks). Even Liam Neeson and Rutger Hauer contribute admirably to the film. Better still, the mood, look and production design is pitch perfect.

Batman Begins, however, is nowhere near perfect. For one thing, it could easily be trimmed by 15 or 20 minutes and you'd never miss them. The major bit of miscasting is Katie Holmes, who brings nothing unique to her role. And as good as the first half of the film is, it gets a little bit too paint-by-numbers in the second half. The build-up here gives this Batman its own unique style, but the action later is pretty pedestrian. There's also a bit of a twist in the last act that's entirely too predictable. Still, Scarecrow is nicely creepy and the final act does set up the potential emergence of a number of the signature villains in future sequels, including (in a nifty little touch) The Joker. That, I think, will be the real test for this remodeled franchise. Okay, I buy the new Batman. The character works, and Bale is more than capable of filling out the cowl and cape. But how in the hell will the filmmakers make me forget Jack Nicholson as Joker? I'll give them credit though... they're doing pretty damn good with Gotham so far. I'm certainly willing to take another ride in the Tumbler to see what's around the next corner. I'll give this film a solid B.
 

Barada

Saboteur
Nightwing said:
Forget about ROTS:

Okay, I have not seen Batman yet, and am debating whether I even want to, but Nightwing, this quote is just silly.

Sith will rule this year as the biggest box-office smash, and deservedly so. It is the best SW movie since ESB, bar none.

Sorry to hijack the thread - just had to get that off my chest. ;)

Barada
 

Borsk

Administrator
Staff member
Barada said:
Okay, I have not seen Batman yet, and am debating whether I even want to, but Nightwing, this quote is just silly.

Sith will rule this year as the biggest box-office smash, and deservedly so. It is the best SW movie since ESB, bar none.

Sorry to hijack the thread - just had to get that off my chest. ;)

Barada
Well, Sith is the best non-OT Star Wars. I disagree with putting it above ANH and ROTJ.

However, keeping it on topic: Batman Begins in the best Batman movie, bar none.

Depending on your tastes, I could see some people liking BB beter than ROTS. I'm not sure why you wouldn't want to see it...
 

Barada

Saboteur
Borsk said:
I'm not sure why you wouldn't want to see it...

Probably because I'm jaded after the last couple of Batman movies. I do keep hearing this is completely different, but I am still cautious. I kept hearing Spiderman was great too, but I thought it was way too overrated...

Barada
 

Nightwing

New Recruit
Barada said:
Okay, I have not seen Batman yet, and am debating whether I even want to, but Nightwing, this quote is just silly.

Sith will rule this year as the biggest box-office smash, and deservedly so. It is the best SW movie since ESB, bar none.

Sorry to hijack the thread - just had to get that off my chest. ;)

Barada
Titanic so far is the biggest grossing film. Does that mean it is good? Quality matters, not quantity.

Batman Begins has a brilliant cast, a great script, and probably the most crucial thing that ROTS did not have - a fantastic director. It kept CGI to the absolute minimum.

But if you really want to compare ROTS, compare it to Sin City, this is how digital films Should look. Again, a stellar cast, a script that is literally panel for panel from the original material, and put Rodriguez, Miller and Tarantino together and you get magic.

Sith may be the best SW movie since ESB, but there ARE other film made that are not SW-related ;)
 

Borsk

Administrator
Staff member
Barada said:
Probably because I'm jaded after the last couple of Batman movies. I do keep hearing this is completely different, but I am still cautious. I kept hearing Spiderman was great too, but I thought it was way too overrated...

Barada
If you're going to the movies this weekend and you're choosing between:

Herbie:Fully Loaded
Madagascar
The Longest Yard
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Batman Begins

I'd recommend Batman. That's all I'm saying. I guess you could see Star Wars for the 5th time too. Whatever works.

Batman & Robin is quite possibly the worst movie of all time. It ranks right up there with "Bean".
 

wookiee_cookiee

Moderator
Staff member
Borsk said:
If you're going to the movies this weekend and you're choosing between:

Herbie:Fully Loaded
Madagascar
The Longest Yard
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Batman Begins


You forgot Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants! :spin:
 

Barada

Saboteur
Borsk said:
If you're going to the movies this weekend and you're choosing between:

Herbie:Fully Loaded
Madagascar
The Longest Yard
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Batman Begins

I'd recommend Batman. That's all I'm saying. I guess you could see Star Wars for the 5th time too. Whatever works.

If I go to the movies this weekend, it'll be to see Land of the Dead. ;)

I did take my son to see Madagascar last week, and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was.

Barada
 

AmShak

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Borsk said:
Batman & Robin is quite possibly the worst movie of all time. It ranks right up there with "Bean".

are you going to make me list all of the movies that were worse than bean? when are we going to have that rancor pit?

we can start with any movie that has martin short paying any kind of semi-important roll.
 

AmShak

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Nightwing said:
Batman Begins has a brilliant cast, a great script, and probably the most crucial thing that ROTS did not have - a fantastic director. It kept CGI to the absolute minimum.

compared to star wars, you are correct, but i wouldn't say that it was at a minimum or anywhere close.
 

AmShak

Senior Moderator
Staff member
Nightwing said:
But if you really want to compare ROTS, compare it to Sin City, this is how digital films Should look. Again, a stellar cast, a script that is literally panel for panel from the original material, and put Rodriguez, Miller and Tarantino together and you get magic.

sin city looked good but it didn't do much for me beyond that. i also would not care to see that style become very popular. but... i would like to see a frank miller version of batman on the screen.
 

Nightwing

New Recruit
you'd be surprised how much of Gotham city was real - a full city block. They built most of it, including the monorail, and then moved to chicago when they couldn't fit it in the studios.
 
Top