Product: Batman Begins (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (2005)
Rating: 5.0
Yeah. Now we're talking.
Here's the style that irritates me to no end in books but more so in movies. Movies are really projects about making money. They are very short term investment opportunities. So unlike the legal FIFO rule, it's crap in; crap out, or garbage in; garbage out, as long as we make money. So the dark hero quipping jokes with his female/old/disabled/African American partner, sells to kids but makes your suspension of disbelief that much more difficult. Was the character supposed to be a hard guy? Then don't make him Henny Youngman or Chris Rock."Batman Begins" is true to those ideals. First of all Christian Bale looks like I imagined (before all the 'pretenders') Batman should look. The guy is built. Secondly, Batman's etiology does not include doing stand-up in LA. He's not funny. Michael Caine can be funny. I didn't know that. But you always suspected that Alfred was kind of wry, involved but seemingly above it all. Liam Neeson was a good choice, kind of like Costner, willing to take a second, supporting role. Sean Bean also would have been a good choice. Katie Holmes. Lollipop role.But all those characters avoid making it a parody. You take the movie seriously. And Bruce Wayne is a shallow playboy, and Batman is a cold hearted, driven, vigilante, super hero.Spiderman made millions but it was a comedy played for (often) 12-year old humor and a hot Dunst. Hard to take him seriously if you were over 20. Hulk was a joke. Avenger started out fairly tight and evolved into oddballs and flatulent humor. Early Batmans? You're kidding me, right? This movie, unpretentious, is fairly serious and hence you take it seriously. 5 stars. Larry Scantlebury