Of course, when in comparison to many of the films released this year, Batman Begins stand higher than others, and I might say that as a stand alone film it is quite entertaining. However, it would be blasphemous to consider this even a door step in comparison with Tim Burton's masterpiece, which starred Michael Keaton in his signature role. The original, a realization of a comic legend, only received 7.4 on the IMDb scale. It confuses me how the general public thinks these days. Are they comparing Batman Begins with the other films released during the year, or are they being serious about it exceeding the original? Here is what I think about Batman Begins............It doesn't even feel like a Batman movie. It misses the point completely. And I hate the excuses of 'making a new Batman film for the new generation'. THE NEW GENERATION ALSO NEED GOOD FILMS. I agree with the casting of Christian Bale, a great actor and once a child prodigy (most memorable in Spielberg's Empire Of The Sun), however he alone could not save this film from disaster. Christopher Nolan is a respectful director, but did he really think he could create his own Batman? Or was it a cash-in opportunity?
The Batmobile - every time I looked at it, it made my face grimace. I understand the director wanted a modern prototype of Batman, but this.......what a contraption. The Batman suit did it worst for me though. The new re-done Batman symbol is pathetic. It looked more like the Nazi Eagle than the original symbol that really looked like a Bat. Why does Nolan require Batman to be modernized anyway? It is the Gothic, 1950's film noir style of the original film that made Batman a household name. The whole atmosphere so vividly created by Tim Burton in the original was breathtaking and bought a comic book to life. Christopher Nolan wanted a more serious approach to Batman, for it to be more realistic. The fact Batman is wearing a Bat suit is ridiculous enough anyway, and so the fact that the director sees the legend of Batman as serious totally misses the point of THE BATMAN LEGEND. It is just a comic book, and so the unbelievable can still be believable. It doesn't have to be explained, because it is simply fiction. Like the larger than life Gotham City Tim Burton vividly bought to life and much like in the comic book itself, it is just a story that takes us to another world - and utilizes our imagination. We don't have to make Batman real. It's like explaining how Superman flies.
Although the film ran for well over two hours, and felt way overlong, the characters were poorly developed. I felt, walking out of the theater, like I didn't get to know the characters. It didn't feel like they were communicating in any way to the audience. Alfred, played well by Michael Caine just didn't click with me .nothing to do with the veteran actor. He just didn't have enough screen time or dialog for me to feel anything between him and Bruce Wayne. Also, the death of Wayne's parents in Batman Begins compared to the same death in the original, is like comparing the song "Rain drops are fall on my head" to "adagio for strings". Nolan was attempting to make a dramatic, touching scene and failed miserably. It seemed almost ridiculous like an episode of Bold and the Beautiful. They should have made this scene the focal point of the film, so we could feel Bruce Wayne's pain and understand his Legend. I thought 'Scarecrow' was an effective villain, and he scared the hell out of me first time he revealed himself. But he too could not have saved this film from inevitable down fall.
Worst of all, fighting scenes were atrocious. Unlike the Tim Burton classic, I couldn't see what the bloody hell was going on on screen. Close-ups, over-layered by shaky cameras, over-layered by quick-cuts so as we don't see how well the actors really fight - what a joke. Sure the story is great, but we came to see Batman kick the enemies butts. Some nice CGI effects were added to the film well, but they could not assist Batman in anyway, because they literally weren't really needed. I think people have either forgotten Tim Burton's unmatched atmosphere of Batman or what makes a good film. From Beginning to End I didn't feel like I was watching a Batman movie - it felt more like a normal action blockbuster we see too much of. It missed the whole Gothic exterior that made the original film larger than life and at times scary. The actors, including Michael Caine, Rutger Hauer, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman all did great jobs, apart from a few. It was the sets designs, the suit, the Batmobile, the normal look of everything that made this just a boring entry that shouldn't even be called 'Batman'. It is definitely better than Val Kilmer and George Clooney's mediocre sequels. However for this film to get a higher score than the original is like spitting in Tim Burton's face and forgetting the greatness of how film used to be made. Let's not forget one of the most memorable movie scores of all time from the original that assisted to define THE BATMAN. I can only predict that Batman Begins, only in a few years, will be laughable.
The Batmobile - every time I looked at it, it made my face grimace. I understand the director wanted a modern prototype of Batman, but this.......what a contraption. The Batman suit did it worst for me though. The new re-done Batman symbol is pathetic. It looked more like the Nazi Eagle than the original symbol that really looked like a Bat. Why does Nolan require Batman to be modernized anyway? It is the Gothic, 1950's film noir style of the original film that made Batman a household name. The whole atmosphere so vividly created by Tim Burton in the original was breathtaking and bought a comic book to life. Christopher Nolan wanted a more serious approach to Batman, for it to be more realistic. The fact Batman is wearing a Bat suit is ridiculous enough anyway, and so the fact that the director sees the legend of Batman as serious totally misses the point of THE BATMAN LEGEND. It is just a comic book, and so the unbelievable can still be believable. It doesn't have to be explained, because it is simply fiction. Like the larger than life Gotham City Tim Burton vividly bought to life and much like in the comic book itself, it is just a story that takes us to another world - and utilizes our imagination. We don't have to make Batman real. It's like explaining how Superman flies.
Although the film ran for well over two hours, and felt way overlong, the characters were poorly developed. I felt, walking out of the theater, like I didn't get to know the characters. It didn't feel like they were communicating in any way to the audience. Alfred, played well by Michael Caine just didn't click with me .nothing to do with the veteran actor. He just didn't have enough screen time or dialog for me to feel anything between him and Bruce Wayne. Also, the death of Wayne's parents in Batman Begins compared to the same death in the original, is like comparing the song "Rain drops are fall on my head" to "adagio for strings". Nolan was attempting to make a dramatic, touching scene and failed miserably. It seemed almost ridiculous like an episode of Bold and the Beautiful. They should have made this scene the focal point of the film, so we could feel Bruce Wayne's pain and understand his Legend. I thought 'Scarecrow' was an effective villain, and he scared the hell out of me first time he revealed himself. But he too could not have saved this film from inevitable down fall.
Worst of all, fighting scenes were atrocious. Unlike the Tim Burton classic, I couldn't see what the bloody hell was going on on screen. Close-ups, over-layered by shaky cameras, over-layered by quick-cuts so as we don't see how well the actors really fight - what a joke. Sure the story is great, but we came to see Batman kick the enemies butts. Some nice CGI effects were added to the film well, but they could not assist Batman in anyway, because they literally weren't really needed. I think people have either forgotten Tim Burton's unmatched atmosphere of Batman or what makes a good film. From Beginning to End I didn't feel like I was watching a Batman movie - it felt more like a normal action blockbuster we see too much of. It missed the whole Gothic exterior that made the original film larger than life and at times scary. The actors, including Michael Caine, Rutger Hauer, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman all did great jobs, apart from a few. It was the sets designs, the suit, the Batmobile, the normal look of everything that made this just a boring entry that shouldn't even be called 'Batman'. It is definitely better than Val Kilmer and George Clooney's mediocre sequels. However for this film to get a higher score than the original is like spitting in Tim Burton's face and forgetting the greatness of how film used to be made. Let's not forget one of the most memorable movie scores of all time from the original that assisted to define THE BATMAN. I can only predict that Batman Begins, only in a few years, will be laughable.