[scifinoir2] Early Batman Begins Reviews are great
There are NO spoilers here. Two reviews, both giving Batman Begins an A. I'm even more pumped now than I was before. Until Narnia gets her, I have sneaking suspicion this will be my favorite movie of the year!! 'Batman Begins': The franchise finally takes wing on the big screen By ERIC ROBINETTE The Middletown Journal Batman never had super powers, but the dark knight has pulled off a super feat. For the second summer in a row, a superhero movie ranks among the best films of the year. Last year, it was Spider-Man 2, the live action pinnacle of the genre. Batman Begins is virtually its equal. Warner Brothers Pictures 'Batman Begins' The verdict: The Batman movies have never achieved greatness - until now. When Batman first flew into comic racks in 1939, he was all about vengeance. But that was mostly missing from the Batman movies of the late '80s to the mid-'90s, replaced by sullen introspection in Tim Burton's films, then outright camp in Joel Schumacher's. As a result, the Batman movies have never achieved greatness - until now. Co-writer/director Christopher Nolan and writer David S. Goyer have wisely ignored the last four films and started from scratch. Batman Begins not only brings the hero back with a vengeance, it has vengeance coursing though almost every scene. What set Batman apart from most of his caped brethren was that he was as frightening as many of the criminals he hunted. That piercing intimidation is largely what makes Batman Begins so memorable. Nolan is the ideal director for Batman because he and the character share a knack for creating an unnerving sense of dread. Like Nolan's Insomnia and Memento, Batman Begins is an engrossing look at a dangerously fragmented mind. Years after the murder of his parents, a simmering Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) falls in with deadly fighters in the Orient under the exacting tutelage of Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson, who between The Phantom Menace, Gangs of New York and Kingdom of Heaven has cornered the market on mentor/father figures). When Wayne returns to the crime-ridden Gotham City, he must battle a plot by a villain called the Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy), who is the mirror image of Batman in that fear is also the Scarecrow's weapon. He develops a mind-altering drug to paralyze his victims with their most primal terrors, and threatens to spread it throughout the city. I'm making the movie sound awfully grim, and to be sure, this intense thriller is absolutely not for children or viewers looking only for breezy fun. Older kids, and some restless adults, will likely become antsy when Batman doesn't show up in costume for more than an hour into the film. I urge those viewers to be patient. The first half of the film cleverly sets up a slam-bang payoff with more than a few startling moments. Once Batman Begins gets going, it becomes impossible to shake. Even the Batmobile, with its silly monster truck-like wheels, works in this movie's hyper-real world. The film boasts the strongest cast of all the Batman movies. Bale, whose intense style has spawned a cult following, will inspire more than a cult after his formidable turn. Bale's Batman doesn't just sneer at criminals - he growls at them. Michael Caine, in a pitch-perfect performance, plays Alfred not just as a butler but as a devoted servant determined to uphold the Wayne family honor, which means he does not always approve of Bruce's methods. Morgan Freeman is great fun as Batman's gadget master with a twinkle in his eye, and Murphy is suitably maniacal without being over the top. If Batman Begins has a chink in its suit, it's that it lacks the emotional resonance of Spider-Man 2 or the first two Superman movies. This is not the fault of Katie Holmes, who has a rather limited role as Bruce Wayne's love interest. However, since Batman is inherently aloof, warmth is naturally in short supply. I chalk this one up to personal preference more than any actual faults, of which there are few. Batman begins, indeed. On the big screen, he finally begins to take wing. *** Nolan's 'Batman' gets it right By LESLIE GRAY STREETER Palm Beach Post He's been beat up, shot up, set up, camped up, dragged down and bombed out. But 66 years, hundreds of comics, a few television shows and five major motion pictures later, Batman, that angsty crime-fighting cave dweller, is alive and kicking with great aplomb and KABOOM! As the fabulously cool Batman Begins opens Wednesday, it might seem odd that Hollywood's willing to pump more megabucks into chronicling the saga of Bruce Wayne. Think about it - as popular as the character is in the comics (where he's appeared continuously since 1939 and continues to star in at least six serials a month), his last big-screen outing, Joel Schumacher's hacktastic Batman and Robin, was a big fat Batbomb. Critics hated it. Batfans (including yours truly) hated it.
[scifinoir2] Early Batman Begins Reviews are great
There are NO spoilers here. Two reviews, both giving Batman Begins an A. I'm even more pumped now than I was before. Until Narnia gets her, I have sneaking suspicion this will be my favorite movie of the year!! 'Batman Begins': The franchise finally takes wing on the big screen By ERIC ROBINETTE The Middletown Journal Batman never had super powers, but the dark knight has pulled off a super feat. For the second summer in a row, a superhero movie ranks among the best films of the year. Last year, it was Spider-Man 2, the live action pinnacle of the genre. Batman Begins is virtually its equal. Warner Brothers Pictures 'Batman Begins' The verdict: The Batman movies have never achieved greatness - until now. When Batman first flew into comic racks in 1939, he was all about vengeance. But that was mostly missing from the Batman movies of the late '80s to the mid-'90s, replaced by sullen introspection in Tim Burton's films, then outright camp in Joel Schumacher's. As a result, the Batman movies have never achieved greatness - until now. Co-writer/director Christopher Nolan and writer David S. Goyer have wisely ignored the last four films and started from scratch. Batman Begins not only brings the hero back with a vengeance, it has vengeance coursing though almost every scene. What set Batman apart from most of his caped brethren was that he was as frightening as many of the criminals he hunted. That piercing intimidation is largely what makes Batman Begins so memorable. Nolan is the ideal director for Batman because he and the character share a knack for creating an unnerving sense of dread. Like Nolan's Insomnia and Memento, Batman Begins is an engrossing look at a dangerously fragmented mind. Years after the murder of his parents, a simmering Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) falls in with deadly fighters in the Orient under the exacting tutelage of Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson, who between The Phantom Menace, Gangs of New York and Kingdom of Heaven has cornered the market on mentor/father figures). When Wayne returns to the crime-ridden Gotham City, he must battle a plot by a villain called the Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy), who is the mirror image of Batman in that fear is also the Scarecrow's weapon. He develops a mind-altering drug to paralyze his victims with their most primal terrors, and threatens to spread it throughout the city. I'm making the movie sound awfully grim, and to be sure, this intense thriller is absolutely not for children or viewers looking only for breezy fun. Older kids, and some restless adults, will likely become antsy when Batman doesn't show up in costume for more than an hour into the film. I urge those viewers to be patient. The first half of the film cleverly sets up a slam-bang payoff with more than a few startling moments. Once Batman Begins gets going, it becomes impossible to shake. Even the Batmobile, with its silly monster truck-like wheels, works in this movie's hyper-real world. The film boasts the strongest cast of all the Batman movies. Bale, whose intense style has spawned a cult following, will inspire more than a cult after his formidable turn. Bale's Batman doesn't just sneer at criminals - he growls at them. Michael Caine, in a pitch-perfect performance, plays Alfred not just as a butler but as a devoted servant determined to uphold the Wayne family honor, which means he does not always approve of Bruce's methods. Morgan Freeman is great fun as Batman's gadget master with a twinkle in his eye, and Murphy is suitably maniacal without being over the top. If Batman Begins has a chink in its suit, it's that it lacks the emotional resonance of Spider-Man 2 or the first two Superman movies. This is not the fault of Katie Holmes, who has a rather limited role as Bruce Wayne's love interest. However, since Batman is inherently aloof, warmth is naturally in short supply. I chalk this one up to personal preference more than any actual faults, of which there are few. Batman begins, indeed. On the big screen, he finally begins to take wing. *** Nolan's 'Batman' gets it right By LESLIE GRAY STREETER Palm Beach Post He's been beat up, shot up, set up, camped up, dragged down and bombed out. But 66 years, hundreds of comics, a few television shows and five major motion pictures later, Batman, that angsty crime-fighting cave dweller, is alive and kicking with great aplomb and KABOOM! As the fabulously cool Batman Begins opens Wednesday, it might seem odd that Hollywood's willing to pump more megabucks into chronicling the saga of Bruce Wayne. Think about it - as popular as the character is in the comics (where he's appeared continuously since 1939 and continues to star in at least six serials a month), his last big-screen outing, Joel Schumacher's hacktastic Batman and Robin, was a big fat Batbomb. Critics hated it. Batfans (including yours truly) hated it.
