Monday, June 20, 2005
Go see Batman Begins.
Seriously, that's basically what any review should say: go see the movie. It's not perfect--there are a number of things that could have been done better and a few plot holes, (Scott Kurtz brings a number of these to light, and he more or less nails them all) but Begins is still the best Batman movie made to date. It draws on the same source material that Burton did for his first Bat-flick, (ie. Frank Millar) but it does so in a more believable way.
I think everything boils down to Christian Bale and how he manages to perform all the aspects of Batman and Bruce Wayne. The other Batmans, they did this not so good. Keaton got the brooding Wayne and the Batman bits not too badly, but fumbled the rest of the Wayne persona. Kilmer got the playboy bits of the Wayne persona down, but muffed the rest. Klooney, well, the less said about that disaster of a film the better.
Having the right Batman is good, but it wouldn't really mean much if the rest of the flick fumbled the ball. Fortunately, the supporting cast was picked perfectly, and they can all act, something that does not go unnoticed. (Ok, ok, we'll make an exception for Katie Holmes.) Gotham was also portrayed nicely, mixing both the grungey grime that it requires for the Batman bits with the elegant grandeur that it requires for the Wayne bits.
Finally, the action bits were done exceptionally well, with but one exception. The idea of Batman fighting from the shadows like a ninja is drawn wonderfully from the comics and makes a lot more sense than the obviously staged fights from prior films. The above-mentioned exception is that the camera is crammed up against the action like a dog's nose is to a stranger's crotch. Mr. Nolan? For your next action bits, just take ten steps back and go from there. Your audience will thank you for letting them see the action and not get motion sickness. Other than that, it's all gold.
If you skipped all that stuff above just to get to the bottom line, this is it: Nolan pulled it off and delivered a film that belongs on the same shelf as Superman, X-Men and Spider-Man 2. Go see it. ¶ 6:54 p.m.
Seriously, that's basically what any review should say: go see the movie. It's not perfect--there are a number of things that could have been done better and a few plot holes, (Scott Kurtz brings a number of these to light, and he more or less nails them all) but Begins is still the best Batman movie made to date. It draws on the same source material that Burton did for his first Bat-flick, (ie. Frank Millar) but it does so in a more believable way.
I think everything boils down to Christian Bale and how he manages to perform all the aspects of Batman and Bruce Wayne. The other Batmans, they did this not so good. Keaton got the brooding Wayne and the Batman bits not too badly, but fumbled the rest of the Wayne persona. Kilmer got the playboy bits of the Wayne persona down, but muffed the rest. Klooney, well, the less said about that disaster of a film the better.
Having the right Batman is good, but it wouldn't really mean much if the rest of the flick fumbled the ball. Fortunately, the supporting cast was picked perfectly, and they can all act, something that does not go unnoticed. (Ok, ok, we'll make an exception for Katie Holmes.) Gotham was also portrayed nicely, mixing both the grungey grime that it requires for the Batman bits with the elegant grandeur that it requires for the Wayne bits.
Finally, the action bits were done exceptionally well, with but one exception. The idea of Batman fighting from the shadows like a ninja is drawn wonderfully from the comics and makes a lot more sense than the obviously staged fights from prior films. The above-mentioned exception is that the camera is crammed up against the action like a dog's nose is to a stranger's crotch. Mr. Nolan? For your next action bits, just take ten steps back and go from there. Your audience will thank you for letting them see the action and not get motion sickness. Other than that, it's all gold.
If you skipped all that stuff above just to get to the bottom line, this is it: Nolan pulled it off and delivered a film that belongs on the same shelf as Superman, X-Men and Spider-Man 2. Go see it. ¶ 6:54 p.m.
