Movie-A-Day #306: Batman Begins

[D-Dogg]

Boy oh boy, I wish I had seen this one in the theater. It was stunning, so dark and powerful. I loved it. I didn't think I would, but it was fantastic. Incredibly well done and acted. Christian Bale is a cool Bruce Wayne...fair batman. I love when he kicks the hangers on out of his house before it is destroyed; you know he just wanted to say that anyway, even if he was trying to save them all.

Two thumbs up for me.


Plot Summary

A new restart of the "Batman" franchise under the helm of "Memento" Director Chris Nolan and more in tone with the early "Batman: Year One" style comics. As a boy a young Bruce Wayne watched in horror as his millionaire parents were slain in front of his eyes, a trauma which led him to become obsessed with revenge but his chance is cruelly taken away from him by fate. After disappearing to the East where he seeks counsel with the dangerous but honorable ninja cult leader known as Ra's Al-Ghul, he returns to his now decaying Gotham City overrun by organised crime and dangerous individuals manipulating the system whilst the company he inherited is slowly being pulled out from under him. The discovery of a cave under his mansion, and a prototype armoured suit leads him to take on a new persona, one which will strike fear into the hearts of men who do wrong - he becomes, Batman. In the new guise, and with the help of rising cop Jim Gordon, Batman sets out to take down the various nefarious schemes in motion by individuals such as mafia don Falcone, the twisted doctor/drug dealer Jonathan 'The Scarecrow' Crane, and a mysterious third party that is quite familiar with Wayne and waiting to strike when the time is right.

Trivia

While shooting on the streets of Chicago, a person accidentally crashed into the Batmobile. The driver was apparently drunk, and said he hit the car in a state of panic, believing the Dark Knight's vehicle to be an invading alien spacecraft.

Before the shooting began, Christopher Nolan invited the whole film crew to a private screening of Blade Runner (1982). After the film he said to the whole crew, "This is how we're going to make Batman."

At the time of this film's release, Forbes Magazine did a breakdown of how much it would actually cost to become Batman. The magazine estimated that total expenses in US dollars would be around $3.5 million.

IMDB Link (Top 250 movie, 8.3 ranking)
http://imdb.com/title/tt0372784/

 

[Chaplin]

I believe this is 306.

 

[jenna2891]

i saw this one at the imax. pretty cool.

 

[nathan]

I saw this at Grauman's Chinese Theatre (first and only time I've been there). I was slightly disappointed. It was okay, but for me there is no comparison between it and the 1989 Batman.

 

[Bada0Bing]

I thought it was really good. Definitely my favorite Batman movie.

 

[Linderbee]

My husband is the BIGGEST Batman freak you will ever meet (I call him a "Bat-Geek")...anyway, at first I wasn't sure what to make of the movie--I loved how it tied up ALL loose ends; there really were no questions left unanswered by the end of the movie. I was also a little disappointed with Christian Bale as Batman--thought he was a great Bruce Wayne, however. I thought his acting was a little too "strong", especially his voice, when he was Batman. I kept thinking, "That's not how Batman sounds...it's too harsh." But then I realized, that in the story, he is at the very beginning of his journey as Batman, and if he was going to strike fear into the hearts and minds of criminals, blah, blah, he would need to be REALLY harsh to begin with, until his reputation was better established. So at that point, as much as I didn't care still for how he portrayed Batman, I decided it was a necessary evil to make the story more "believable". All in all, I really loved the movie, and I think I may have said all of this in some other post...

 

[Chaplin]

I loved this movie. I actually think I like it more than the first Batman because it concentrated a lot on Batman, rather than on the villain, which is really what the first movie is.

My order:
1) Batman Returns
2) Batman Begins
3) Batman

That trivia about Christopher Nolan showing them Blade Runner fits pretty well.

 

[D-Dogg]

IMO, Bale as Bruce Wayne was perfect. As I mentioned, he wasn't great as Batman, just fair, but his turn on Bruce Wayne was fantastic. I really loved his portrayal there, the drunken dip in the fountain with hot chicks on his arms, etc. "Living the life" while really living an alter ego life. He was acting inside the acting.

 

[Pariah]

i saw this one at the imax. pretty cool.

Me too.

Bale is a great Batman/Bruce Wayne...he's really nailed the split personality--Bruce Wayne, Playboy and Bruce Wayne, broken man.

 

[Chaplin]

Those of you that saw it at the Imax, have you seen it in the regular theater or on DVD? I'm wondering if it was edited for Imax or if it was the original cut... The first few Hollywood films that were formatted for Imax were edited (Apollo 13 and The Matrix).

 

[Pariah]

I saw in on DVD a few weeks ago. I didn't notice anything different...but I can't be certain.

Just saw Harry Potter on IMAX, too. IMO, it's not worth the extra $5. I'd rather just see it on a fairly large regular screen.

 

[Bada0Bing]

I rewatached this over the weekend in anticipation of rewatching The Dark Knight in the near future. Wow, what a fantastic movie from start to finish. I think I enjoyed it even more the second time.

Christopher Nolan is building quite an impressive resume. All six of his films have impressed me. Insomnia was probably the least interesting of the group, but still a good movie.