my take on Batman Begins

with my expectations on the non-existent side, i went and saw Batman Begins.
let me just say first off that i’m a huuuge batman fan – of the comics, anyway.
the preceding movies, while vaguely entertaining, did nothing to satisfy my desire
for a true to (written) character batman. dark, brooding, emotionally conflicted –
all of those things, yes, but without being campy or over the top about it. written like he is in Dark Knight, or Year One. so i’ve always been disappointed with the efforts of the ones that came before. even tim burton’s version. so when i heard about this one, i was admittedly, skeptical. and then i found out that one of my LEAST favorite actors, Christian Bale, was to play the lead – i was undeniably under whelmed. Michael Caine, Liam Neeson – both good - Katie Holmes i didn’t even know until Tom Cruise jumped off of Oprah’s couch declaring his love for her and it made the news – (having never seen one complete oprah hour) christopher nolan sounded OK to me – i liked both Memento and Insomnia, so alright there.

the theater was packed, the energy was good and then the curtain opened.
from the get go i was impressed – with the cinematography, the mood, and yes, even Christian Bale. and as rich said, he was born to play Batman.
the first hour was just great cinema. after bruce became batman i had a few issues.
the biggest of course were the unnecessary romance scenes. i hate that directors, producers and screenwriters feel it necessary to add these scenes to insure female
movie attendance. most of the females i know would prefer them to be if not completely, than most significantly, eliminated. Gotham was gorgeous in both its
heyday and its decrepitude. very creepy. oh, and speaking of creepy –
the Scarecrow. need i say more?!


there were a couple of scenes i didn’t understand. the chase that led batman to the roof of the parking garage for instance. why? if the batmobile was so agile and quick, why couldn’t he ever lose those pesky (un-supercharged) cops?? and why did katie holmes, AFTER getting the antidote see the scarecrow on horseback? and the appearance and re-appearance of that same little boy made me wonder if the powers that be weren’t thinking of a potential Robin...


well, enough from me - just go see it, because it was ever so worth it.