Product: Batman Begins (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (2005)
Rating: 4.0
Batman Begins, Good But Not Great
I saw this film on Sunday, and I left the theater feeling mostly pleased with what I had witnessed. The movie is a bit of a mixed blessing though, because despite the direction in which the writer and director decided to steer this series in, which was a very promising and likeable concept, it still fell short of expections and didn't quite live up to the hype for a number of reasons.The acting was good, and the cast was perfect, I mean it has the cream of the crop of actors so that couldn't have been better. Honestly, who can complain with the likes of Rutger Hauer, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, Christian Bale and Michael Caine? It just doesn't get much better than that, folks. Unfortunately, the primary problem with the film was that it felt rushed and I didn't really notice a great deal of character development, nor was the plot itself all that fleshed out. For example, as many may have seen in the trailers of Bruce Wayne's training, that was more or less the extent of his training in the film. I was under the impression that the director would expound upon those principles to a greater degree in the film, but rather I was treated to a mere glimpse, much like the trailer, into Wayne's actual transformation from the billionaire playboy to the dark and brooding, masked crusader of justice. Where was the in depth martial arts training, the focus on ninjitsu, the impartment of Asian wisdom, the meditation and devotion to the cause of fighting evil and upholding the balance of good and evil? I felt robbed of what was promised to be an unparalled, unique and enriching experience of the real Batman.Having said that, what I did like was the more realistic and plausible approach towards his gear and high tech gadgets, as well as his training obviously, however limited in scope that it was.The villains were a little disappointing this time around, which is another major distraction from the overall enjoyment of this film. Was the Scarecrow well made? Yes, I like the effects, not too over the top, and he seemed a little scary but he wasn't quite as effective and disturbing as let's say Nicholson's Joker or pathetic and loathsome as Devito's Penguin. He didn't have enough screen time to make a big impression, nor did his evildoer counterparts, like the mob boss or the main antagonist.As for the special effects in general, I thought it was competent, since the producers did not get carried away with CGI and superfluous aesthetics which is far too common these days, which is evident with such films as 'Van Helsing', '13 Ghosts' and so on.I was fond of the romance between Wayne and the assistant D.A. played by Katie Holmes. Their chemistry was not off the charts and in your face, but it worked, and it seemed believable unlike certain unmentionable on-screen romances that have plagued prequels in recent years.All things considered, I think the story was a little above average with awesome concepts but flawed execution, as in too brief and rushed. I'm thinking that they cut out many crucial scenes much like Jackson did with the LOTR trilogy, just for the reason of being able to sell millions more DVDs than the regular theatrical version would. I'm positive that there will be an uncut, unrated director's cut with extras up the wazoo, but quite frankly I find this trend inexusable, since the theater version should be the ultimate and final version of the film, because first impressions count the most, and it's the version that the majority of viewers will be familiar with from the start.It's kind of sad to see such wasted potential though, since many of these legendary actors did not really get the chance to show off their acting skills to a great extent.As a whole, I recommend the film for trying something original and taking the road less traveled, but I cannot accept all the missed opportunities for greatness that were there for the taking. That I blame on the writer(s) as well as the director, perhaps some of the producers as well. Nonetheless, it is worth seeing, and I'm glad to say that it is way better than the last two Batman incarnations, but not any greater than Tim Burton's first two films.Final grade is 4/5 stars, since it is above average but nothing memorable or classic. Hollywood, good try but you can do better.