POW! I just got back from watching Batman Begins!
I enjoyed the movie a lot. Definitely better than anything since Burton was at the helm. Possibly the best silver screen version of the Dark Knight yet.
I do have a few complaints, as a loyal fanboy of the franchise. One film critic wrote,
“And now a simple appraisal for the fanboys: Darkity-darkity dark-dark-dark! Happy now? You should be!”
But no, I’m not. Not completely. Read on if you wish to learn why. Be warned, though, I do give away plot items!
I’m not happy because the movie portrays the younger Bruce Wayne as a stupid, lost little bitch. While I will give props to writer Goyer for FINALLY getting the killer right (Thomas and Martha Wayne were killed by a common thug by the name of Joe Chill, not by the supervillain du jour!), having him caught and killed was a bad call. After his parents are killed, Bruce gets the drive to become Batman because the killer was never brought to justice. He knows exactly what he wants to do and goes after it with everything he’s got. He definitely doesn’t have the time to flunk out of Princeton or get caught in a Chinese prison.
Along those lines, Bruce travelled the world to study everything there was to learn under the best of whatever it was. He certainly didn’t get all his training at one ninja compound run by Ra’s Al Ghul. Just like how he didn’t all his toys in-house at WayneTech. The movie made it seem like Bruce is a dumbass with a good body and a heart of gold. He’s got a freaking brain! There’s a reason he’s referred as “the Detective.” He can solve his own problems, without running to Lucius for help.
Oh, and the movie, as with all superhero movies, makes a big point of contrasting his dual personas. But Bruce was ready and willing several times to throw his civilian life away for the sake of being Batman in this movie. The real Batman knows that using Bruce as his disguise is vitally important, and was very careful to keep anyone from finding out what he was doing. At the end of the movie, at least four people know who he is. I’d suspect several more.
Finally, and most importantly… Batman is never willing to except casualties. In the final battle with Ra’s, he has the line,
“I won’t kill you, but I don’t have to save you.”
That made me want to jump up in the middle of the theater and shout, “What the fuck?!” The real Batman would have saved Ra’s and brought him to prison/Arkham. The reason Batman is so freaking awesome to me (my all-time favorite superhero!) is that he balances on the razor’s edge of darkness. He has to be SO bad-ass that he (as a mere mortal) can take down the worst of the worst (and their legions of henchmen), but still good enough to never, EVER take a life. That is the only thing that separates him from the baddies. And that is why he is so much cooler than Superman, or any other hero.
I have some minor gripes, too, but those four big ones almost ruined things for me. Still very much worth seeing, though! Like I said before, possibly the best Batman movie yet. (I don’t have a very high opinion of the non-Burton ones, and it’s just about even with the original.) But don’t take my word for it. See the movie yourself, and tell me what you think. I’d probably be down to see it with you if you like. Gotta support Batman!
(Oh and did you hear? Christian Bale is going to be doing at least one sequel. And he wants “Batman” sex.)
I have to agree on those complaints. Bruce Wayne knew exactly what he was getting into the moment he set out to be Batman even if he didn’t know at the time he would be Batman as we know him. However, I have to say, it couldn’t be TOO dark — it is after all aimed at children as well as adults. And although he did get his training from other places, that might have been too much to film…? It’s easier to have one main setting…?
He is a bit too lost, but I don’t mind because it’s a different version of him but not altogether completely inaccurate. Just a different way of growing up I guess. And Rachel was very accurate that Bruce Wayne was a mask. If you think about it, Batman was Bruce for a while… it took a few things (ie Robin II’s death, other people’s deaths, Bane, the recent plot where Bruce was thought to be a murderer, etc) that really sucked Bruce out of Batman. Bruce was definitely less of a shell when he started out than he is now.
Btw, Liam Neeson really is Ducard and Not Ra’s although that’s what Bruce calls him in the end. . The kid they showed as Ra’s is probably Ra’s but after he went through his Lazarus Pit thingy. (Poor Ken Watanabe! He needed a bigger role! He makes a good Ra’s) But he totally should have shoved him out of the train or something… that was really bizarre… but you know considering how Ducard is…well… Ducard I doubt he’s dead anyway, despite the huge explosion.
I’m all for watching it multiple times faults and all — I still