Product: Batman Begins (Two-Disc Deluxe Edition) (2005)
Rating: 5.0
They FINALLY Got it Right!
I've always been a big fan of the first three live action bat films (I won't even mention the fourth one by name), and I've always loved BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES and the spin-off film BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM. In fact, BATMAN (1989) was probably the first really MOVIE (except maybe STAR WARS) that I ever saw, my first glimpse of something outside the world of THE JUNGLE BOOK or PETER PAN. To this day, I am still VERY defensive about my love of the original "dark" Batman film. But after seeing BATMAN BEGINS, I am slightly less fervent in my devotion.Let me put it this way; the great BATMAN film has finally been made. BATMAN, BATMAN RETURNS and BATMAN FOREVER were all enjoyable films, but they all also had major faults. (Joker overshadowing Batman? The seemingly ENDLESS multitude of villains in BATMAN RETURNS? Two-Face in BATMAN FOREVER?) B&R; was the worst movie ever made, and deserves to be wiped off the face of the Earth. But finally, WB, Chris Nolan, David Goyer and Christian Bale have given us THE great Batman movie. This is a cause for celebration.Does the movie have its faults? Yes; EVERY movie does. In the case of BEGINS, however, the faults are minor things. As with many reviewers, I thought that there was WAY too much shaky came used in the fight scenes; it worked in the scene where Bats confronts Falcone, but the train fight between Liam Neeson and Christian Bale was simply confusing. Katie Holmes wasn't AWFUL as Rachel Dawes, but I never really bought her as an assistant D.A. and her character sometimes seemed a little bit forced. And as great as BEGINS is, there is ONE area where the original film does hands down top it, and that is the score by Danny Elfman. Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard's score is not BAD by any means, but Elfman's BATMAN theme (and, in fact, his whole score) is probably MY favorite superhero score of ALL TIME, rivaled only by John Williams' superb work on SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE. The present score does perfectly well, but during a few scenes I couldn't help but hear Elfman's theme humming in my head.Still, these are minor quibbles about a film which I truly LOVED. This film would, I would THINK, appeal to people who AREN'T fans of the comics, because Nolan isn't pandering JUST to comic book fans; he wants to make an all around good film, not just a good "comic book" film. The one thing I think I should point out, and the thing that should be pointed out to most other people, is the fact that this is NOT -- repeat, NOT -- your typical "Hollywood summer blockbuster". BEGINS takes a full hour or so to develop the character of Bruce Wayne before Batman shows up, so if you're the impatient kind of person who doesn't give a crap about character development and just wants to see some "cool" action scenes, go rent BATMAN FOREVER.In addition, BEGINS is NOT for kids. Let me repeat that: it is NOT for kids. Anyone taking a kid who is 9 or below to this film needs to have their head examined. Batman is a DARK character, and while the film is not overly gory or filled with curse words, it too is dark in the way it treats the character. If you want a feel-good superhero movie the whole family can see, watch the SPIDER-MAN movies, NOT THIS. This movie is intended for mature audiences, not squealing toddlers (and by mature, I mean people interested in deep themes and character development, not just people old enough to see racy material.)