What I loved/Hated about Batman Begins

Rating: 9/10 (16 June 2005)

First let me start off by saying the few things I didn't like about the movie, over all I did love it but one, and this was a love/hate thing for me. The Joker didn't kill Bruce Waynes parents like he did in the 1984 Batman movie. I was sitting there for the first half hour of the movie waiting to hear "Do you ever dance with the Devil in the pail moon light?" I was a little bummed that wasn't there and it contradicts the original movie. But at the same time I loved that the film makers dared to be original and re-invent a Batman that after the last movie drastically needed a complete make over.
Also, Christian was a decent Bruce Wayne, Michael Keaton I think was the best but Christian was a good Bruce Wayne, his voice as Batman sounded a little too much like Aunt Selma from The Simpsons for my tastes. His Bruse was absolutely dead on though, the voice, the swagger, the giddyness when he sees Rachel, his love and respect for Alfred. Everything shined through for him as Wayne. He also looked the most realistic in the Bat Suit. He wasn't too buff, but at the same time built enough to be respectable as a guy who can kick ass.
I read a post before this one about the shots being too tight and edits cut too quickly during the fight scenes with Batman. I agree with that completely! During all of the fight scenes I was looking at the screen too closely during the fights trying to see what was going on which took me out of the film a little bit. I hope for the next one the fight scenes are done a little better. I don't mind the quick cuts as much as the tightness of the shots, the quick cuts work if the shots are right but in this case they weren't.
Here is what I loved about it. Even though the relationship between Gordon in Begins and the original is totally different, I like the partnership of Gordon and Batman, especially when Gordon says "I think you're just trying to help...But I've been fooled before" It keeps the trust/anti-trust relationship together until the end when Gordon wants to say thanks but Batman says he doesn't have to. I like that he uses Batmans help because nobody else will help him, the character of Tom Gordon plays a huge part in the film even though the part itself was fairly small until the end when Batman lets him drive the tumbler.
Which brings me to my next love, The Tumbler rocked. I absolutely loved the Tumbler. It's a mix between a Lamborgini, a hummer, and a tank. With all that said, it is still more believable than the Bat mobile! The "Does it come in black" line is priceless.
There is so much more that I loved about that movie, the fact that Batman stalks his victims, he terrorizes them, and strikes fear into their hearts like dangling them from buildings and what not.
I also like the Joker plug at the end. There was a lot I wanted to talk about with this movie but the same day I saw Batman Begins I also saw (and yes paid for), Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and Cinderella Man which I thought both were really good and now today I'm really tired and I want to go to bed. if you haven't seen these movies yet, go see all three, go spend all your money and save the box office which is in serious trouble right now. Laters