Hmm, exciting, eh, a great Hollywood movie, but not exactly "A Christopher Nolan Film" i was desperately waiting for!!

Rating: 7/10 (9 July 2005)

OK, bad news first. It has dialogs that are, I don't know, scripted? Filmsy? Hollywood-ish crap? It has fast editing, NOT the action scenes (actually, I LOVE the action scenes, read below), it's just too fast, too forced, I just can't feel it, for a character-driven and a Chris Nolan film, it doesn't have the moody, noir-ish feel that Memento, Following, and even Insomnia has. It's just, well, too Hollywood! Run Chris Run! Get out of there quick! Anyway, I'm not Anti-Hollywood, but I've been watching their movies for life! A matter of boredom, a thirst for new excitement! (Ah, go, go, Indonesian films!) Hollywood movies' got a pattern, and that's what's so bad about it. OK, finding them in Batman Begins (genre: Summer Blockbuster Movie): Cheesy, soulless, emotionally-irrelevant dialogs; check. Unnecessary jokes (they ARE funny, but come on!). At the end, the good guy fights the bad guy, stopping him from destroying the city, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM! Hahahahaha.. he..hmm. Yeah. Anyway, check.
I've never read any of Batman comics or graphic novels, but I think Christian Bale is just Bruce Wayne and Batman. The made-up voice, for example, is just brilliant. Michael Caine, perfect. OK, the thing is there are MANY characters, and there is also MUCH potential. It should have been 3 hours long. More opportunity for characters like Gordon, Rachel, Ra's Al Ghul, Dr. Crane/The Scarecrow to be explored. Not to mention the very interesting theme of FEAR and TERRORISM. With fear, "Begins" is far above "The Village", but far from what it could have been, also. And, sorry, but the real terrorists in the real world make the James-Bond-ish terrorist in the film looks like a joke. The idealism is very interesting, butthis is the problem with the filmI just can't feel it. That's it, I just can't feel it. Ducard say this and that, lecturing Bruce Wayne, but I just can't feel it. It's very disappointing considering Christopher Nolan's dialogs in previous films (well, especially Following and Memento) are, IMO, very effective in constructing plots, emotions, and characters, and in exploring the films' theme ( theme of memory in Memento is very well-explored) Well, I really don't want to blame anyone, Mr. Goyer, but I think I just did. Please, prove me if I'm wrong. For the next film, I suggest the job-description to be Goyer on Batman facts and Nolan on everything else.
The fight scenes. MANY people don't like it, but I just love The Bourne Supremacy. The fight scenes in both films are brutal, fast, unpredictable, and therefore, realistic.
The music. It really should have been David Julyan or James Newton Howard alone. It's like the score is always there. And there's a good point from Howard Shore about not only being able to put a great music, but also WHEN to and not to.
To be honest, I'm not being fair. There are a lot of great things in this film, and it's actually very exciting that I want to see it again and again. But right now, I just feel like writing an anger-driven review dedicated to a film I've been waiting for since it was just a friggin' rumor.
Overall, it's that tricky psychological thing with my satisfaction. It's not an "A" I've been waiting for, but for being in a usually "C" category, thank God it's "B". Wwhat?! Anyway, it's a GREAT Hollywood movie, but NOT exactly "A Christopher Nolan Film" I was desperately waiting for.