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I caught a sneak preview last night of Batman Begins. Overall not a bad movie. Downers in my opinion were the plot was a little contribed at points and Katie Holmes sucks, but otherwise it was alot of fun. It was grittier than the other batman movies almost with a sense of realism to it. I dont think anyone will be dissapointed if they catch it on opening night.

After watching all the Internet trailers and TV spots, that's my only real reserve now about "Batman Returns": Katie Holmes. I'm hoping she doesn't muck up the film too much.

I'm looking forward to seeing a much darker and serious Batman on the big screen after he was thoroughly disgraced by Joel Schumacher.

Got my ticket online and will be going at noon tomorrow. I've been following this for the last year and it doesn't look like it's going to disappoint.

Anyone who puts nipples on the bat suit aught to have their ass kicked.

Isn't it ironic that when Burton did the ultra-sinister "Batman returns" he was nailed to the wall by the studio and now the studio themselves realise that they need a darker batman?

Batman Returns was ultra-sinister?  It was dark, sure, but personally I wouldn't go so far to say it was ultra-sinister! :-P

I wouldn't be surprised if they were just p**sed off at Burton for not filling it with pop songs, and had a proper film score instead.  From their perspective, money rules, and the first soundtrack did pretty well via the Prince connection, and I'm assuming the other singles on the rest of the Batman films did alright [they were pretty highly publicised] So when Burton told them that he didn't want a pop soundtrack, and therefore missing out on the easy pop-bucks, I can't imagine the studios being too chirpy.

Anyway, Batman Begins should be good.  That's all that needs to be said.

[and what's so wrong with nipples on the Batsuit?  It could be another psychological tool to help Bats get the upper hand over the bad guys: "Ew he has nipples, I'm not touching that, arrest me please!"]

You should re-watch it, some of its set-pieces are worthy of a horror film, like the prologue describing the childhood of the Penguin. I think what made Burton take a lot of flak for the movie was that the movie was considered too dark to be suitable for children, and therefore the studio lost several bargains to advertise it / exploit it through children merchandising, like food restaurants, toys, etc.

I think that now the studios wanting a return to a darker batman is very ironic. after all, the Schumacher movies were everything they had wished for when the gave Tim Burton the finger.

I honestly wasn't all that excited about this "Batman Begins" movie, but my girlfriend is, so we're seeing it Thursday night.  

What I wanna know is, where's my goddam Hawkman movie?!?

"What I wanna know is, where's my goddam Hawkman movie?!?"

Yeah! and where's my Aquaman movie?

Dr Kobb:
>>>>"What I wanna know is, where's my goddam Hawkman movie?!?"
odinn7:
>>>>Yeah! and where's my Aquaman movie?


You both should be shot for thinking that!

Thanks for sending chills down my spine! :-P


Though I personally wouldn't mind a Preacher movie.

I know...Aquaman is my favorite "punching bag" superhero because, as I stated in a thread months ago, he is one of the lamest superheros ever. I always use him for comedy relief.
Here's one to really get you: a Wonder Twins movie! (Thanks to AndyC for giving me yet another lame superhero team)

All in all, I am really looking forward to this new Batman movie as it seems they're going more for the Dark Knight side of Batman and he is my favorite superhero. The angry, bitter, and somewhat hateful Batman that is the true Dark Knight. Now, they may not take it that way completely but I do have a feeling that this is going to be a very close representation of that character and I will be seeing this movie on Friday night. This is one of the few movies coming out this year that I have been looking forward to seeing right away once I heard about them. The others would be Land of the Dead and Underworld 2 (yeah...I know...I can't help it...I blame that little vixen Kate).

I just saw it and I gotta say this was a hell of a movie. it got to the "core" of Batman. Also count another vote for Katie Holmes sucks but thats minor. Odinn7 don't feel bad about Underworld I own the special edtion dvd thats 2 discs and comes with a comic book. I too am looking foward to 2. Kate is ruining my life.

_____________________________
"We Greeks created democracy! You also created homos!"-Ghost World

OOOH an aquaman movie!  A floating idiot talks to fish all day!  (I'm thinking the 70's aquaman, not the modern Namor-esque one).  
I love this description of Aquaman:
http://www.seanbaby.com/super.htm
-Ed

Rich, I have the Underworld special edition set also...and I'll most likely get one for #2 if one becomes available.

This is not a good movie, it is a great movie. Bale does a great job playing all the different personalities of Bruce Wayne. Batman does strike fear into the bad guys.

I don't know why everyone is jumping all over Katie Holmes, she does a decent job and is really only in the movie for about a total of 15 minutes. (She does look too young though).

I want a tumbler (Batrmobile).

I'm very critical of films, but I walked away from Underworld with only one or two minor complaints. I'm not sure I know why I enjoyed it so much- but Kate's ultra sexy appearance was probably a huge part of it. Overall, I really liked the movie and couldn't wait to buy it on DVD. I'm also looking forward to the sequel.

I was really surprised to find out that being a fan of this film put me in a very small minority.

...Alright. Go ahead. Start making fun of me. :)

Ignore what Media blaster said about the film. I'm not sure how much attention he was paying to it but it was a wonderful movie. the natural bias towards Katie holmes should be a dead give away.

As a soon to be graduated film student I dont normally like to say my opinion has more merrit than others, but in this case it does.

9.5/10 people. This IS batman.

I just returned from watching "Batman Returns" and I was very pleased. Very! I'd be hard pressed to find a single complaint about the film at all.

In regards to my previous comment, Kate Holmes wasn't bad in her role. She didn't bother me once. I was really surprised.

It's hard to compare this movie to "Spiderman", since "Batman Begins" is so dark and serious and "Spiderman" is more of a light-hearted family affair, but if I had to pick only one comic book movie as my all time favorite, I'd have to go with this new Batman.

Without getting into spoilers, the final bit of dialog between Gordon and Batman was probably my favorite part of the film. I can't wait to own the DVD and watch it all over again.  

The evil that was Joel Schumacher's Batman is FOREVER dead! :)

Hey, I liked Underworld as well. Perhaps the minority is not that small after all!


"Ensalada Mista, baby"

Yeah I can't wait for DVD either this is up there with "Sin City" and" X2" as favortite comic movies. Also something I liked was some of the "horror" elements that are used. Like when Batman is at the the shipping yard and starts picking the bad guys  off without showing himself. I think the reason I didn't like Katie Holmes was well compared to rest of the cast she was pale in comparsion but like I stated before thats minor.

_____________________________
"We Greeks created democracy! You also created homos!"-Ghost World

I enjoyed Underworld, too..  I took it for what it was and had fun

I think one problem with movies like Underworld, Elektra, etc...is that they are really B movies with a bit of professional polish, but they come on following A level genre movies like Spiderman and Blade and maybe the score a known star or two, so they get hyped up and marketted like A movies.  That sets up the wrong expectation and the movies get trashed for it, when they are actually decent B movies

I think one of the biggest complaints you'll hear about Katie, aside from her young age, is that she's too wholesome and sweet to have survived in Gotham- a city so damn evil it makes "Dark City" look like a nice vacation spot. I can understand that bit of criticism, but again, I ended up eating my words... I didn't have any problems with her acting in the film.

Before I saw the movie I thought she was miscast by an ignorant Hollywood type who could care less about the script and whose only motivation was trying to sell tickets to the "Dawson's Creek" demographic.
...But "Batman Begins" was fantastic. The "Dawson's Creek" kids should pass this one up and wait for "The Fantastic Four."

I heard it put that Katie Holmes tried to sound like a dedicated district attourney but came off like the president of the student yearbook commitee. She just didnt fit in the movie for me. Almost all of her dialog was her annoyingly talking down to Wayne. I was thinking, "why doesnt he just battarang her ass?" Just my opinion though.

i never liked the batman movies. I only ever liked the batman show. Plus now i really don't like the idea of more batman movies if each movie you'r going to have a different batman. Btw what happens when toby maguire gets too fat to play spiderman? Will he be replaced by will ferrell?

umm...Susan?

Christain bale, Christopher Nolan and David Goyer All signed on for 3 batman films.

Just like Sam raimi, Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco all signed on for 3 films.

While I agree about the lack of continuighty and all, if you havent seen ths film then you dont get to complain about batman in the topic.

I just now made up that rule so everyone has to obey it or I'll fear gas all your asses :P

Personally I don't mind the different actors as long as the same style continues: which is why I think its perfectly acceptable to have 5 or 6 different James Bonds, but I think that the Batman franchise has to be careful about going back to the Joel Schumacer type movie.  Whilst I enjoyed them, they just weren't properly Batman-esque for me.

I'll be seeing Begins in an hour so I guess this counts...

btw regarding the bat-nipples: i guess to me it's no more perplexing than why men..in general...have them. ;-)

(http://www.soneraplaza.fi/GetImages/GetImages_GetImage_jpg/0,2600,59069,00.jpg)
be afraid

i guess to me it's no more perplexing than why men..in general...have them. ;-)

They share at least one common trait to women's...They feel good when  they are...stimulated

I don't see how anyone can care about this franchise. I saw the first 2  Burton Batman movies. I thought the 1989 one was pretty crummy with Nicholson "stealing" the show. Batman Returns was marginally better.

But seriously, with all the talent that allegedly  is in this movie, I don't give 2 rips anymore. Batman does NOTHING for me.

I'd watch this movie with an open mind had not the previous Batman s**t fests sullied things for me.

Sadly, looks like this movie will breathe life into this dead franchise to the point there will be more Batman movies.

I was hoping they'd let Batman rest in piece.

AICN has an interesting poll on their website right now. They want to know who would make the best joker in the next batman flick. Only the poll has some really, really, REALLY stupid options to vote for.

I voted for "Tim Roth", but only because he was the best option available. Overall, though, I'd be really disappointed if he got the role.

The current #1 pick, Crispen Glover, would be terrible ("Think, Mcfly! Think!"). He might look the part (if they want the Joker to look like a total freak) but he'd never be able to act the part seriously. He's the king of the overactors.

I'd like to see a no-name actor take the role. But if they absolutely had to pick someone famous, I'd like to see someone dark and seedy play the part- like Ralph Fiennes. Take his character's appearance from "Strange Days" and slap some joker make-up on his face and he'd make a really dingy, dirty Joker.  Plus he's a good actor to boot.

Who would you choose?

It is tough choosing the Joker, mainly because if they do things properly in the next movies, he won't be killed at the end, and therefore must be involved [to a degree at least] in future Batman franchises [possibly]: with the majority of major actors this makes things difficult since they tend to want to 'explore other avenues,' instead of reprising a past role too many times [at least most of the credible good ones do]

But I'd like to just see a good actor suited to the role: it would take careful casting, but it must be in order to get it right.

Personally I don't care if they are big names, or no-names, as long as they are good, really.  I don't have any suggestions however, because I think its a bit hard to get the role right [I thought Nicholson was pretty good btw]

Anywho, I enjoyed Batman Begins so I guess now the agonising wait begins for the next one [can't you tell I'm a Batman fan?]

What I want to know is if they are starting over and distancing themselves from the previous Batman movies? Because if they brought the Joker, Catwoman, (et. al) back- wouldn't that negate the older movies? Because this Batman looks awfully like the Burton Batman, suitwise. So it's not lke they are scrapping the previous Batman movies and starting fresh. Or are they?

I'm like you, Alan.  Not a diehard Batman fan or anything.
But, I caught it last night and thought it was terrific!  My favorite of all the Batman movies yet.  Near as I can tell, they're distancing/starting-from-scratch/reenvisioning the whole franchise with this one.
My gf has alotta trepidition about The Joker role.  She feels they shoulda picked another villain.  I feel that if they do as fine a job with the next as this one, they'll be able to pull it off properly.

I'm more concerned about the upcoming "Superman" movie.  THAT sounds like a truly bad idea to me.

Yeah, it should be called - Batman Do-Over, but they do pay hommage to the first 1989 flick here and there, and they didnt get rid of the black rubber suit. I've read though it's a complete new beginning with no relation plot wise to the other movies.

You can't argue that there is a LOT of talent involved with this movie. Michael Caine... Gary Oldman... Liam Neeson... etc.

But I somehow I can't find it in me to drag myself to the movie theatre to watch another Batman movie.

Yeah they are doing it over: otherwise the Joker wouldn't have been mentioned in that way [if they were going by the other movies then how would the Joker be involved yet?]

Also Batman Begins may have a Burton's Batman feel about it, but isn't that because Burton was also inspired by Frank Miller's Batman: Year One?

Begins was certainly inspired by Year One: its a story about how Wayne became Batman, and the scene where, runining from Gordon, he jumps from one roof to another [without the suit on] seems to be a reference to Year One I think, from what I remember...  But thats not really important.

Anyway, they are starting again, and just because they mentioned the Joker doesn't mean that he has to be in the next one [though it means he probably will be!]

Eventually however I would like to see the following Batman comics brought to the big screen in one form or another:

Hush
Long Halloween.

Those two were really good Batman comics that I have enjoyed thoroughly.  I have read a few more and although my favourites are the Miller 'Dark Knight Returns' and 'Strikes Back' they would be a bit too extreme to pull off!

Anyway, this was a very enjoyable Batman flick.  Didn't really have a problem with any of it [except every now and then the sound in the theater would drop in quality here and there, but that's not the movie's fault]

Superhero movies are getting a little old. There's no chance they'll let up anytime soon though. Fantastic 4, Superman, and Ghost Rider are all on the horizon. Eventually people will get sick of them and they'll start to bomb I imagine. Especially since alot of them are really terrible. Cult movie fodder for future generations I suppose. I still get a kick out of Dolph's Punisher.

Anyone interested in Batman as a comic character should check as well Alan Moore's "The killing Joke". Awesome.

Is'nt that the one where the Joker beats Robin to death with a crowbar? I think we've all wanted to do that at some point. : )

Haha, nope, but it shows the Joker doing some really sick things, so it's not for the squeamish.

There is an oversaturation of comic book movies, that's for sure. That's the way Hollywood works- the suits like to run good things into the ground.

"Spiderman" pulled in a lot of cash. Both "X-Men" flicks didn't do bad, either. Hollywood is trying to strike the same gold over and over again. But the big problem is, Hollywood isn't run by comic book fans. They don't realize that some superheroes deserve the big screen treatment, while others, like "Electra" and "The Fantastic Four" for example, shouldn't even be made into straight-to-video features.

For the casual movie goer who isn't a comic book fan, it might be difficult to know which superhero movies will be good and which ones will totally bomb. Having read comics through most of my childhood, though, it's hard for me to fall for the traps. I didn't bother to see "The Hulk" in theaters. I passed on "Electra" completely. I'm not even going to watch the trailer for "Ghost Rider" if I can help it.
I don't waste my time or money watching second-rate superhero movies... so ultimately, their oversaturation doesn't bother me.

I don't think superhero movies like "Spiderman", "X-Men" and "Batman Returns" will disappear... but we should start seeing an end to the lame superheroes soon, since they don't make enough money. Hollywood is running out of lame hero options, anyway.

Actually, I think they have a different agenda in mind.  Very, very soon, after we're all(not just comic book fans, but the general public) cozy with the Marvel universe(and perhaps D.C.'s to an extent, too) I believe they have every intention of pitting these superheroes against one another in movies(ya know, Spidey vs Hulk, Fantastic Four after both, and such).  I actually hope I'm wrong in this assumption, but my gut tells me I ain't.

It looks like Batman Begins might not be the blockbuster as some people have predicted. Granted it's been out for only a couple days, but from the numbers I've been seeing- it's not living up to all praise at the B.O.

And it's probably going to have to fight like hell to stay above water when War of the Worlds comes out. And let's not forget the Fantastic 4 and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

If Batman Begins doesn't rake in over $150 million domestically (which it probably could), there might not be any Batman sequels.

Apart from the loyal Batman fans, not many people are rushing out to see this movie. I'm sure it'll peak this weekend. But expect a considerable drop next weekend. You'd think with school being out, there'd be a larger turn-out for Batman Begins (despite a PG-13 rating).

I have a feeling Batman will be a slow builder.

People, such as Batman fans, will either see it straight away, or, after being burned by the last two, eventually come around via the praise it has been getting, therefore picking up in the Box Office.  But yes, it does have a struggle ahead of it in terms of competition.

I saw this movie last night and as a long time Batman/Dark Knight fan I can say it was a religious experience to me...ha-ha, not quite but damn close. This movie was absolutely everything that Batman should be. The underlying theme was fear, anger, and hatred and his need to overcome it all and balance it within himself. Batman was brutal when he needed to be but still stuck to his standards, just like the Dark Knight that I used to enjoy reading about so much. There was almost nothing I could've come up with to add to make it any better. My wife was annoyed that they spent so much time building him into the Batman character but that was one of the things I really liked. This movie, this Batman needed the character buildup. Some of the imagery was almost directly from a few of the books. One scene in particular was when he was sitting on top of one of the buildings overlooking Gotham with his cape hanging down around him. I've seen that basic image in so much Batman art and stories that I can't even count that high. This movie was nothing short of fantastic to me as a fan. One more thing, Christian Bale was an excellent Bruce Wayne/Batman. I have no regrets that they chose him to be the character like I did with Keaton, Clooney, and (vomit) Kilmer.

I also enjoyed the line: "I won't kill you, but that doesn't mean I have to save you."

The film has made 72 million total here in the US so thats roughly half of what they spent on it. good news.

The trilogy's villains have also been confirmed.

the next film will be about the joker, and the third will be about Two-face.

SPOILERS BELOW (as if reading this far hasn't spoiled it enough)

Okay, I just saw it this afternoon, and I have to say that I was absolutely blown away.  Fan-freaking-tastic.

I was never a real fan of the Batman movies.  The original Michael Keaton Batman movie was good but never the kind of thing that it 'should' have been.  They never paid real attention to the fact that Batman is a traumatised individual driven by anger and the desire for justice and revenge.  Later Batman movies that with Mr Freeze, Robin and Batgirl, were just stupid.  The lame attempts at comedy removed Batman from its true origins and feel.  For example, when Bane (from the 'Venom' Batman sequence) was introduced in this horribly comical manner, I was so disappointed.  The Venom graphic novel could be a superb movie in itself, and the studio  and writers totally dropped the ball.

As soon as I saw Daredevil, I thought that it was the kind of movie that Batman should have been to begin with, and I've said so here on a number of occasions.  Now my expectations and hopes have been completely outdone.  This movie is gritty, as realistic as you can get for a superhero movie, explores Bruce Wayne's true motivations and feelings, and simply does not stop with the action.

The gadgets are all 'possible'.  Throwing knives (not cheesy 'Batarangs'), monofilament grappling lines, ultrasonic bat-callers, the nomex/kevlar Batsuit, everything is within the realms of scientific possibility.  The Batmobile is a totally kickass piece of machinery.  And the Batsuit has NO NIPPLES, thank god!!!

There was so much potential for overacting in this movie, but everything was done very tastefully and 'realistically'.  Bale is superb at expressing the different emotions of Bruce Wayne and Batman, Caine is full of class and loyalty as Alfred, Liam Neeson is Qui-Gon-BAD in this movie, this time the *evil* master whos 'apprentice' turns out to be *good*, unlike Anakin.  Morgan Freeman had a nicely avuncular feel.  Even Katie Holmes, who has been getting a bit of schtick as the love interest, isn't as bad as people had been making out.

There is even some nice bantering humour, which lightened things enough to provide respite from the seriousness of other parts.

Something I found genuinely frightening was Cillian Murphy's Scarecrow, and the way the fear-inducing hallucinogen was introduced.  Kids should NOT see this movie, as they will definitely have nightmares.  Heck, *I* was frightened by that one.  Murphy's role as a twisted psychiatrist is interesting.  He is soft, almost effete, and menacing not from a physical point of view, but from what he can do to your *mind*.  And to me, that is even more frightening than some hulking behemoth who knows no pain.

The realism of this Batman is all throughout the movie.  Mention is made of tiredness, exhaustion, physical injury and damage.  The scene where Wayne saves Ducard from sliding off the cliff is teeth-clenchingly painful.  Batman is not a 'superhero', he is a highly driven human being doing the best with what he has.

Also realistic was the portrayal of Bruce Wayne's father as a wealthy doctor and philanthropist who was trying to make the city better.  Very caring and loving to his son and others, warm hearted and generous, Wayne Sr's murder is still a shock when it comes.  The scene where a young Gordon comforts Bruce immediately after is very touching.

The action scenes are superb.  The Batmobile, the train sequence, the grappling line flights, everything was handled excellently.

As much as I love martial arts movies and HK action movies in particular, I love the fact that the fight scenes in Batman Begins were far less slick and acrobatic than anything in recent superhero adaptations.  It's almost as if the director and writer said, 'we don't NEED some Hong Kong fight choreographer to make this movie great!'  And they did.  The fight scenes did seem a little choppy and quickly cut, but I believe this was to bring more brutal realism to the action.

And the soundtrack!  Hans Zimmer rules in this one.  I don't think I heard any stupid popular rap, techno or grunge tracks in this movie.  Everything was glorious orchestral scores that brought out the rich feeling of the movie.

This movie does not 'follow' any of the other Batman movies, and makes some departures from the comics.  This is a complete reinvention and updating of the franchise, and IF they stick with this direction, I will be first in line to see any sequel they may make.

I have not been this excited and impressed by a movie since the original Blade and the first Matrix, and I've seen a lot of movies since then.  I only saw it this afternoon, and I want this on DVD NOW!!!

Excellent.

~Archivist~

I vote for Crispen Glover! He'd be awesome.

As much as I like super-hero movies, I'm burned out on them now. And while I liked both Spiderman 1 & 2, 2 left me  more than a little cold. X-Men was so-so (even though I Love the X-men). Didn't see The Hulk,  because it looked lame, as does Fantastic Four (even though I loved the show as a kid, and that I'm also a long, long time fan of Ioan Gruffudd), and a number of other super-hero flicks. Also, I heard that if there is another Batman sequel, Katie Holmes will not be in it. The producers are sick of all the Cruise bs.



Post Edited (06-27-05 19:35)