No real spoilers here.

So I decided to use a break between work shifts today to catch Batman Begins. I can't say I loved it, but I'm not usually in love with the comic book films anyway. However, I definitely liked it. I was a bit afraid it would suck completely, or that stupid Katie H. would ruin it, but none of that was the case.

This Batman is, as I've read in some other reviews, a little more serious than the others. It reminded me of Spiderman in that you get to see Bruce Wayne battle his rage and desire to avenge evil in potentially evil ways until he finally learns how to take the moral tone that transforms him from your average do gooder into a full fledged superhero/savior of Gotham. Visually, it was dark and gritty and overall looked really good.

I felt that some of the fight scenes were too fast paced - hard to see who was fighting whom and what exactly they were doing. Narratively there was, in my opinion, a bit too much jumping around at the beginning. The acting was good. I like Christian Bale as batman, and Neeson, Freeman, and Caine were up to their usual par. (I especially liked Michael Caine as Alfred). Katie smiled lots of half smiles and looked pretty.

Anyway, I liked it okay. It didn't leaving me in awe like the last two Spiderman and X-men movies did, but I thought it definitely had a place in the Batman catalogue of films.

(Edited by Token at 5:28 pm on Jun. 16, 2005)

Cool, I'm going to see it on IMAX friday night and can't wait!

I may see it tomorrow, but Carmike on a Friday is best avoided like the plague. I may wait and see it during my New York trip next week, but I already plan on seeing two movies (Star Wars and Bewitched). A third might be too much.

This movie snuck up on me. And in a couple weeks I'll get to suffer through Fantastic Four.

I was floored by this movie but then again im a huge fan of the first two batman movies and i was really expecting a return to greatness. little did i expect the movie to far outshine burton's works. The theme of the movie is fear and fear definately takes the center stage here. I couldnt imagine bringing a kid younger than 9 or 10 to this one because it had me jumping left and right. Bale's Batman voice is enough to give anyone the willies i would suspect. Great performances all around save for Katie Homes, who i thought came across as pretty wooden (Kim got it perfect in the original).

I might get crucified by some of the other members by saying this but i thought it was immensely more watchable than Episode III and plan on seeing it again soon.

And in referance to the fight scenes I think this quote from AintItCool.com sums up Nolan's reasoning quite nicely:
"The way Nolan shoots Batman… he doesn’t pull back to show you how Batman does his tricks and torments. Instead he focuses on misdirection, quickness, ferocity and the end result. No longer will you see clumsy half-assed martial arts routines… and one point early in Wayne’s training Liam Neeson, before kicking Bruce’s ass says… “This isn’t a Dance,” when Wayne tries his learnt Kung Fu. Liam’s Ducard takes him down and begins to kick the shit out of him. It’s scary, fierce and unforgiving. And that’s exactly who and what Batman becomes. This isn’t fancy Fred Astaire neatly choreographed fights… This is brutal, tight and mean. Just incredible. "

Interesting. I guess I wasn't thinking of the possible directorial reasons behind the "messiness" of the fight scenes. I was just like, why can't I see what's going on, dammit? Maybe there is more to it though.

I thought it was a much more solid movie than Episode III as well.

But then again there is no burning stump-man, so I guess it's a toss up for me.

Just saw it. I was BLOWN AWAY. I've always liked Batman the best of all the superheroes, but after those last two Batman movies, my expectations were somewhat lessened for this film. Well, in my opinion this one was every bit as good as the first two, and I wouldn't laugh at arguments that it's even better. Absolutely brilliantly done.

And yes, I'm afraid I too liked it more than Revenge of the Sith.

(Edited by jamiecarroll at 10:53 pm on Jun. 18, 2005)

This was absolutely amazing.... everything I ever wanted in Batman... wow. Still speechless. I take my hat off to Chris Nolan

(Edited by Peace Frog at 10:44 am on Jun. 19, 2005)

Wonderful wonderful wonderful. I loved this movie. Hated the 40 minutes of commercials/previews which preceded the feature.

Holy Crap, that movie was amazing! Like you guys said, it was nice and dark like it should be.

I saw it on the IMAX, so not only was it big and loud, but I only had to sit through a comercial for IMAX and previews for some moon documentary and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory on IMAX. It was actually worth the $12.50 my girlfriend spent on me!

Don't even get me started on the Regal Mills IMAX screen. It's screwed up the past two times I've gone to see an IMAX movie there. This time I had purchased 10 tickets on my credit card and still had the total receipt, but they only refunded 8 of the tickets because two people lost their stubs. I guess I'll see it as soon as I get back in town.

I saw it today at 2:25PM, sacrificing sleep. I am sooo glad I did, too. I guess all I'll add to the many compliments is that I thought the casting was dead-on. From the young Bruce, to Father Wayne, to the Carmine\mob boss, to future commissioner Gordon... everyone was so great and a prefect fit.

I did notice the half smile and tried to explain the face to the girl I with whom I went to the movie afterward, but she didn't notice that Katie Holmes had made it.

Christian Bale continues to be one of my favorite actors. (ever since Empire of the Sun). He has the coolest jawline I've ever seen. I'm pretty excited to see The New World.

According to IMDB News, Katie won't be invited back to do the sequel. The producers were irritated by her Cruise antics. (Surprise, surprise)

Read more

(Edited by Token at 9:29 am on Jun. 21, 2005)

Ohhhhhhhhh SNAP!

I got to see this at the fabulous Loew's theater on 42nd street in ol' NYC. Huge screen (on the third floor). Portable concession stand right in the theater.

All that aside this was a highly enjoyable film. I absolutely have no interest in DC comics and their characters but Batman has always been the most tolerable and interesting. I'd say that this is definitely on par with the Burton/Keaton duo and, maybe, better. I need to rewatch the old'uns again before I make such an accusation.

I didn't like this more than "Revenge of the Sith" or any of the "X-Men" or "Spider-Man" films. "Batman Begins" just lacks a certain emotional investment that I thought the X and Spider-movies had. I really rooted for Spider-Man in "Spider-Man 2" and I just watched Batman in "Batman Begins." Only complaint. Of course I'm super biased since I happened to spend $200 on Marvel comics in the couple days preceeding my viewing of "Batman Begins."

That's pretty weird. I saw BB with a buddy from LA and he told me about such things. I had heard of VIP balconies with full bars in Toronto, but that was a new one to me. I'm sure the prices are extememly reasonable, huh?

Even more hilarious evidence of why I hate Tom Cruise (from imdb):

"Scarlett Johansson pulled out of appearing in the second Mission: Impossible sequel after Tom Cruise tried to convert her to scientology, according to reports. Cruise, who produces the action adventures, met with Johansson ahead of casting for the upcoming Mission: Impossible 3 and took her to one of the controversial religion's headquarters, claims Radarmagazine.Com. A source tells the website, 'After two hours of proselytizing, Cruise opened a door to reveal a second room full of upper-level Scientologists who had been waiting to dine with the pair, at which point the cool-headed ingénue politely excused herself.' "

And Batman was pretty good, way better than I expected. Not "awesome" like the boys I went with said, but definitely worth the time & money and very nice to look at.

Well put. I wasn't super hyped about the movie, but I was expecting it to be good. Instead I was surprised about halfway through to find that I was not into it at all. It was just there. I liked all of the performances just fine. The action sequences were OK, but not great. I just didn't get into it.

Then I saw Bewitched, as I am a sucker for a good romantic comedy. I was beginning to think that it would suck, but decided to let curiosity win out and saw it on Friday anyway. It sucked. Don't see it. If you're curious, just rent it. If you're seeing it because you think Nicole Kidman is hott, just watch the previews and then watch something where she shows her boobs instead of seeing Bewitched. It is neither romantic nor a comedy.

Interestingly enough, when I went through the theater to catch Bewitched, I saw a little boy standing outside the theater crying and too scared to go back in to see the 2nd half of Batman. I stayed with him while another lady went in and found his mother.

I completely and totally disagree with both of you. While I did enjoy the Spider-Man movies, they absolutely seem like child's play compared to the good Batman movies. And I would say that the X-Men movies are more on par with the bad Batman movies - just too cartoonish and cheesy. Oh, and I'm afraid the further away from Revenge of the Sith I get, the less I like it. I felt much, much more emotionally invested in Batman Begins than in Sith. Maybe that's because it didn't feel so rushed, with so many aspects of it just glossed over.

Oh, and one more thing: CGI sucks.

See, that's exactly what I'm talking about. Would that have happened if the kid were watching Spider-Man? It's that kind of intensity that made it so great.

An adult ticket was $10.75 and mi madre got "the deal" which was a large (and large up there seems to be 1.5 times bigger than a large at Carmike) popcorn, two medium/large drinks (I didn't know the size but they were pretty big) and a bag of M&Ms for $15. That's not so bad considering a combo at Carmike is to medium drinks and a large popcorn for $10ish.

I think a lot of my opinion comes from my love of Marvel and the fact that I don't really like "dark" heroes. Batman's okay, but I relate and enjoy Spider-Man more. I loathe "The Matrix," never cared for "Punisher," always thought Spawn was retarded, etc. But I also don't like "dark" heroes done light like the Shumacher movies. That's just wrong.

I did absolutely love the ending of "BB." It opens up a sequel without really opening up a sequel. I hope Nolan and company get a sequel made quickly, but I'd hold off on the hinted villain until the third movie.

I guess my beef with this film is that I wasn't pulled into it enough to feel any of the instensity from it. It was just another comic book movie--a genre that I'm sort of losing my taste for overall.

i just saw it last night. it's fucking amazing. i'll probably go see it again and again. it completely restored my faith in the whole batman movie series. christopher nolan should be commended for his wonderful job.

i think it may be the best batman movie ever.

and that's no lie.

Yuck. Does anyone think Nicole Kidman is hott? I would've gone just to see Will Farrell. But thanks for the warning. Now, I did go see Mr. and Mrs. Smith for the good looking people in it. I went with low low expectations and was minisculely surprised that it was a little deeper than I thought it would be. Yeah

If you want to see hot people, just pull up old Features show pictures and look for Sina.

so, if the microwave thing supposedly vaporizes all water, why wasnt the water in all of the people vaporized? wouldnt everyone have been killed instantly as their cells were dehydrated?

Yes. Most of us straight guys think Nicole Kidman is hott.

agreed. majorly hott.

I sometimes think she has a case of google-eyes, but she is indeed hottt.

yeah...good point. i was kind of thinking along the same lines during the movie but then i said to myself:
"repeat to yourself, 'it's just a show, i should really just relax'"

Nicole Kidman is definitely not hot.

Poll time.

batman begns was the best batman ever. and hott hott chritstian bale is the best batman since micheal keaton. i was very fucking impressed. it was totally scary.

having said that, i still love spider man. I think that batman begins was a great film. spider man was a great live action comic.

I finally saw it. I thought it was the best Batman movie ever.