Review: Batman Begins
Jun. 7th, 2005 12:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mishalakYou know I kept thinking that Batman Begins was just a temporary title that would eventually be replaced by something good by the time it came out. About three months ago I realized I was wrong and that was what they were sticking with. Likewise watching the movie the first third got my hopes up that they might tell an interesting tale full of subtlety and nuance that would be more than just a trailer on steroids. By the second round of overdone explosions I was getting bored and finally realized that this would not be the case. Batman Begins is just another summer blockbuster movie full of the required amounts of over the top explosions, corny dialogue, and guy doing anything to rescue the girl (even risk the lives of innocent bystanders in a way I thought most un-Batman like).
What was wrong with it was that there were no slow moments. This was one long popcorn moment to popcorn moment without a bit of rest for introspection or background along the way. I don't mind movies that don't explain and don't excuse what is going on, but this is something different. This is one long breathless action movie from start to finish without any of those little moments before the storm that make movies like The Professional or The Incredibles great. Either people will come back and wonder why they enjoyed it so much years ago and not now or else this is a sign that movies have been permanently kicked up another notch so that no one will want to bother with a single slow moment again and future generations will look back upon action movies like Die Hard and wonder why people of my generation like such slow movies. Also very bad in this movie was the complete lack of memorable lines or just plain good dialogue. It was all recycled Hollywood Zen Wisdom or else junk that makes sense in context but not alone. I can remember almost everything that was said in that movie, but I can't remember one good line. Merciful Zeus.
There were some good bits, of course. Even though I knew it was coming, being a Batman aficionado since I was about 14, I cried when Dr. Thomas Wayne and his wife, Martha, died. That I don't consider a spoiler as to not know that Bruce Wayne becomes Batman because his parents die one would have to be as unaware of common culture as the teens that don't know that the Titanic sank. More serious fans will immediately pick up on the big plot twist that is supposed to drive the latter part of the movie. Which I suppose could make one feel good and smugly in the know about what's going to happen next, but that didn't happen for me. It was an interesting origin story for the Batman yet it just was not working.
The computer-generated bits were well integrated, the whole movie was pretty (especially Mr. Bale's frequently bare abs), and I even liked the actual twist to the guy and girl thing that they did at the end. But I did not like this movie. I didn't even like it as well as the first Batman movie from way back in 1989. And that's saying something since as I've grown up I've grown to dislike it in a vague sort of way. No actual hate here, I'm just bored by the whole enterprise.
Of interest was the DC attempt to make a brand for itself like Marvel comics using a very similar opening credits motion trademark. Also interesting was the sort of origin story that was worked in as to where a number Gotham's colorful criminals could have come from, the evil experiments of Dr. Crane. And a nice little bit at the end alluding to the Batman's arch nemesis. And a kudos for having Batman fight terrorism without explicitly making it a movie with a message about terrorism.
Don't get me wrong. For what it is this is a good movie. I just didn't have fun at it.
What: Batman Begins
Available June 15th at your local Cineplex for around $10.
Who's if for: Summer blockbuster fans who like explosions and pretty much standard Hollywood movies with just a few twists to the standard plot, well within regulations on summer fare.
Who won't like it: Fans of Batman (except possibly the Frank Miller cultists), people who want more than superficial movies (snobs like me), and those who are annoyed by trite "deep meaningful lines".
Personally: Thumbs Down
What was wrong with it was that there were no slow moments. This was one long popcorn moment to popcorn moment without a bit of rest for introspection or background along the way. I don't mind movies that don't explain and don't excuse what is going on, but this is something different. This is one long breathless action movie from start to finish without any of those little moments before the storm that make movies like The Professional or The Incredibles great. Either people will come back and wonder why they enjoyed it so much years ago and not now or else this is a sign that movies have been permanently kicked up another notch so that no one will want to bother with a single slow moment again and future generations will look back upon action movies like Die Hard and wonder why people of my generation like such slow movies. Also very bad in this movie was the complete lack of memorable lines or just plain good dialogue. It was all recycled Hollywood Zen Wisdom or else junk that makes sense in context but not alone. I can remember almost everything that was said in that movie, but I can't remember one good line. Merciful Zeus.
There were some good bits, of course. Even though I knew it was coming, being a Batman aficionado since I was about 14, I cried when Dr. Thomas Wayne and his wife, Martha, died. That I don't consider a spoiler as to not know that Bruce Wayne becomes Batman because his parents die one would have to be as unaware of common culture as the teens that don't know that the Titanic sank. More serious fans will immediately pick up on the big plot twist that is supposed to drive the latter part of the movie. Which I suppose could make one feel good and smugly in the know about what's going to happen next, but that didn't happen for me. It was an interesting origin story for the Batman yet it just was not working.
The computer-generated bits were well integrated, the whole movie was pretty (especially Mr. Bale's frequently bare abs), and I even liked the actual twist to the guy and girl thing that they did at the end. But I did not like this movie. I didn't even like it as well as the first Batman movie from way back in 1989. And that's saying something since as I've grown up I've grown to dislike it in a vague sort of way. No actual hate here, I'm just bored by the whole enterprise.
Of interest was the DC attempt to make a brand for itself like Marvel comics using a very similar opening credits motion trademark. Also interesting was the sort of origin story that was worked in as to where a number Gotham's colorful criminals could have come from, the evil experiments of Dr. Crane. And a nice little bit at the end alluding to the Batman's arch nemesis. And a kudos for having Batman fight terrorism without explicitly making it a movie with a message about terrorism.
Don't get me wrong. For what it is this is a good movie. I just didn't have fun at it.
What: Batman Begins
Available June 15th at your local Cineplex for around $10.
Who's if for: Summer blockbuster fans who like explosions and pretty much standard Hollywood movies with just a few twists to the standard plot, well within regulations on summer fare.
Who won't like it: Fans of Batman (except possibly the Frank Miller cultists), people who want more than superficial movies (snobs like me), and those who are annoyed by trite "deep meaningful lines".
Personally: Thumbs Down