jedibuttercup (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
jedibuttercup) wrote2005-06-19 04:50 am
jedibuttercup) wrote2005-06-19 04:50 am
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Batman Begins -- Worth Every Penny
Saw two movies today with my brother: Mr & Mrs Smith and Batman Begins. Was amused by the first; I can see why Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were accused of sleeping together by the tabloids when that was filming, what with all the violence and chemistry flying around between them in the flick. From my standpoint, it was a perfectly brainless, high-octane, happily-ending two hours of entertainment. Ended too abruptly, but otherwise one I wouldn't hate to see again.
Although, I almost choked when John Smith said of Jane early in the movie that she's "the Batman of computers". Heh. Reminded me of the day I saw Star Trek: First Contact in theater and came out only to find Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride" (featured in that movie) playing on the radio in my car. Sometimes it seems like my life is full of strange coincidences like that.
Anyway, as for Batman Begins ...
First, a bit of history regarding me and the Batman saga. I've only ever seen bits and pieces of the original one, the Adam West Batman. He was the Bang! Pow! Batman, right? Fun, but not something I could ever take seriously. I watched both Michael Keaton ones when they first came out, but never since; while I remember him making a decent Dark Knight, I also remember being unimpressed with him as Bruce Wayne, which unbalanced the role for me. Val Kilmer came closer to the mark, but the main reason I loved his Batman movie wasn't so much for him, it was for Chris O'Donnel as Dick Grayson; Batman Forever came out only a year or so after he played D'Artagnan in The Three Musketeers and I was high school age and very *guh* over him at the time.
Batman & Robin I didn't watch at all. George Clooney behind the mask? Puh-lease. Besides all of which, after getting my hopes up when I heard they were considering Patrick Stewart for Mr. Freeze, it was an extreme letdown to learn they opted for Ah-nold after he turned them down. A worse miscasting I couldn't imagine, not to mention the overcrowding of the cast in general, and if they were willing to do that, how worse would it likely get? It put me off the saga entirely.
So, I wasn't expecting much out of Batman Begins. I knew I liked Christian Bale, especially after watching him in Equilibrium, and I liked the fact that Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, and Liam Neeson were also all on board, as I respect them all as actors. (Katie Holmes I could take or leave). But a good cast does not always a good movie make.
In this case, though? *wibble*
The beginning felt a little rushed, but once they got to the actual training scenes, I was deep into delight and the feeling stuck with me through the entire thing, all two plus hours of it. Christian Bale vanished into the role -- I could believe him as Batman, and that's a difficult trick for an actor to pull off. I loved getting to see the origins of his dual role, of his Bat tools, of the Batcave, and of his later relationship with the police ...
How much did I love Lieutenant Gordon? I do not have the words. I laughed at the first, improvised Batsignal, but it was a perfect set-up for Gordon's constructed one later. No mob bosses handy, *snerk*. And he got to drive the Batmobile! And his gentle warning at the end about escalation ... a caped crusader is very well indeed, but it gives the criminals ideas ... wonderful in-universe explanation for why so many freakazoids show up to fight the Bat later on.
Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine were a delight, as usual. And Liam Neeson! I disliked him in Rob Roy, as the whole movie felt like a poor Braveheart knock-off to me, and he was just painful to watch in Darkman, but I adored him as Qui-Gon Jinn and as Godfrey of Ibelin. His character in this one struck me as incorporating the best parts of the latter two with a few unique twists; I felt almost as betrayed as Bruce did when he showed up at Wayne manor on the wrong side of the fight.
As a matter of fact ... taking the entire movie in? Henri Ducard -- or Ra's Al Ghul, I couldn't figure out which was his real name after he revealed he'd been using Ken Watanabe's character as cover -- strikes me as remarkably like what we would get if Qui-Gon Jinn had turned Sith.
Think about it a minute. If Qui-Gon had survived TPM, and his old Master Dooku had come to him whispering persuasive things in his ear about the corruption and inevitable collapse of the Republic, and he'd followed the man to the Separatists thinking he was doing the right thing? "If a man stands in the way of true justice, step up behind him and stab him through the heart." I can so very easily see a slightly askew version of the headstrong Jedi Master saying the very same thing. *shudder*
Speaking of which. The mentor/mentee relationship between him and Bruce Wayne in this movie? Made me weep for what Palpatine-Anakin should have been. The teaching relationship, the depth of their interactions overall, and the eventual revelation of darkness were so much better done. Not to mention the fact that Bruce, despite the very dark place he was still in emotionally when the offer was made him to join the "neutral" league of shadows, still chose the path he knew was right with conviction and never looked back. It makes me wonder how anyone can respect Anakin Skywalker as Lucas wrote him, despite his hard-luck early life and eventual redemption; he made the wrong choices at every turn and failed to take responsibility for them once made.
Anyway. All in all, I was highly impressed with Batman Begins, more than I thought possible. I will definitely go to see it again before it leaves theaters.
*yawn* It's getting pretty late -- early -- whatever, I'd better log off before I ramble my way through my sleep cycle altogether, and I easily could on the topic of this movie. *grinning* Later.
Although, I almost choked when John Smith said of Jane early in the movie that she's "the Batman of computers". Heh. Reminded me of the day I saw Star Trek: First Contact in theater and came out only to find Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride" (featured in that movie) playing on the radio in my car. Sometimes it seems like my life is full of strange coincidences like that.
Anyway, as for Batman Begins ...
First, a bit of history regarding me and the Batman saga. I've only ever seen bits and pieces of the original one, the Adam West Batman. He was the Bang! Pow! Batman, right? Fun, but not something I could ever take seriously. I watched both Michael Keaton ones when they first came out, but never since; while I remember him making a decent Dark Knight, I also remember being unimpressed with him as Bruce Wayne, which unbalanced the role for me. Val Kilmer came closer to the mark, but the main reason I loved his Batman movie wasn't so much for him, it was for Chris O'Donnel as Dick Grayson; Batman Forever came out only a year or so after he played D'Artagnan in The Three Musketeers and I was high school age and very *guh* over him at the time.
Batman & Robin I didn't watch at all. George Clooney behind the mask? Puh-lease. Besides all of which, after getting my hopes up when I heard they were considering Patrick Stewart for Mr. Freeze, it was an extreme letdown to learn they opted for Ah-nold after he turned them down. A worse miscasting I couldn't imagine, not to mention the overcrowding of the cast in general, and if they were willing to do that, how worse would it likely get? It put me off the saga entirely.
So, I wasn't expecting much out of Batman Begins. I knew I liked Christian Bale, especially after watching him in Equilibrium, and I liked the fact that Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, and Liam Neeson were also all on board, as I respect them all as actors. (Katie Holmes I could take or leave). But a good cast does not always a good movie make.
In this case, though? *wibble*
The beginning felt a little rushed, but once they got to the actual training scenes, I was deep into delight and the feeling stuck with me through the entire thing, all two plus hours of it. Christian Bale vanished into the role -- I could believe him as Batman, and that's a difficult trick for an actor to pull off. I loved getting to see the origins of his dual role, of his Bat tools, of the Batcave, and of his later relationship with the police ...
How much did I love Lieutenant Gordon? I do not have the words. I laughed at the first, improvised Batsignal, but it was a perfect set-up for Gordon's constructed one later. No mob bosses handy, *snerk*. And he got to drive the Batmobile! And his gentle warning at the end about escalation ... a caped crusader is very well indeed, but it gives the criminals ideas ... wonderful in-universe explanation for why so many freakazoids show up to fight the Bat later on.
Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine were a delight, as usual. And Liam Neeson! I disliked him in Rob Roy, as the whole movie felt like a poor Braveheart knock-off to me, and he was just painful to watch in Darkman, but I adored him as Qui-Gon Jinn and as Godfrey of Ibelin. His character in this one struck me as incorporating the best parts of the latter two with a few unique twists; I felt almost as betrayed as Bruce did when he showed up at Wayne manor on the wrong side of the fight.
As a matter of fact ... taking the entire movie in? Henri Ducard -- or Ra's Al Ghul, I couldn't figure out which was his real name after he revealed he'd been using Ken Watanabe's character as cover -- strikes me as remarkably like what we would get if Qui-Gon Jinn had turned Sith.
Think about it a minute. If Qui-Gon had survived TPM, and his old Master Dooku had come to him whispering persuasive things in his ear about the corruption and inevitable collapse of the Republic, and he'd followed the man to the Separatists thinking he was doing the right thing? "If a man stands in the way of true justice, step up behind him and stab him through the heart." I can so very easily see a slightly askew version of the headstrong Jedi Master saying the very same thing. *shudder*
Speaking of which. The mentor/mentee relationship between him and Bruce Wayne in this movie? Made me weep for what Palpatine-Anakin should have been. The teaching relationship, the depth of their interactions overall, and the eventual revelation of darkness were so much better done. Not to mention the fact that Bruce, despite the very dark place he was still in emotionally when the offer was made him to join the "neutral" league of shadows, still chose the path he knew was right with conviction and never looked back. It makes me wonder how anyone can respect Anakin Skywalker as Lucas wrote him, despite his hard-luck early life and eventual redemption; he made the wrong choices at every turn and failed to take responsibility for them once made.
Anyway. All in all, I was highly impressed with Batman Begins, more than I thought possible. I will definitely go to see it again before it leaves theaters.
*yawn* It's getting pretty late -- early -- whatever, I'd better log off before I ramble my way through my sleep cycle altogether, and I easily could on the topic of this movie. *grinning* Later.