Kam
06-16-2005, 04:39 AM
They've finally got it right! Or, almost entirely right. This isn't your typical action movie, or a typical batman movie, but given the series history, from adam west to joel schumacker, there hasnt been much 'typical.' Easily the best of the batman franchise created to date for the same reason i thought spiderman was successfull. they didnt treat this as a comic book movie, they treated the material seriously. sure, the circumstances are all rather unbelievable, and no matter the trama to someone, its tough to imagine they'd resort to wearing a bat costume and running around, but here... you believe it entirely (or at least i did). they really focus on bruce wayne's journey from spoiled, scared lil kid to batman, what made him make those choices, how he travelled the path, his guilt, his fears, they really paid solid attention to the drama and psyche and thankfully, pulled it off.
Story pretty much follows the basics of Frank Miller's Year One (for those comic fans out there) with some story additions and changes, but the structure is that of year one, with a great ending!!! (for those who know Year One). Christian Bale is the easily the best batman (i thought michael keaton was the best batman before him, kilmer the worst). he brings a weight and darkness to the character that keaton had, but completely pulls off the 'mask' of being the playboy, billionaire bruce wayne far better than keaton. keaton i thought showed how weird a dude is that does this, even in social life, whereas bale shows how driven he is by 'performing' as bruce wayne and hiding that darkness.
supporting performances are all tremendous, but that's what happens when you toss a bunch of solid british actors in there. gary oldman, liam neeson, , michael caine (sir?), tom wilkinson and cillian murphy are all great, morgan freeman just lends such gravitasse to anything he does. with all the fanfare, not sure if i was prejudiced against her, but katie holmes was wholly unbelievably in her role. i didnt, for a second, believe her to be a assitant DA.
the batmobile - awesome. they better start production on these things, so damn cool. all the toys and gadgets were explained (which i love) and had a reason behind them, they even showed how he began to experiment with them and fine tuned and realized what he would need to fight crime, and (being a billionaire) get what he needed.
saw this on the imax screen and loved it. not quite as crisp as the spiderman2 print i saw at the same place, but still the best screen to watch a movie on. very intense. if you can check it out on one imax showings, highly reccomended.
definitely loved the movie, one of the best summer movies have seen in a looooong time and refreshing to watch a 'thinking mans action movie.'
ok, now for the typical kamrant nitpicky section (remember, loved the movie 5 out of 5, thumbs up, BUT this is the 'kamrant' section)....
Same "Braveheart" problem - two kids, approximately the same age, if not the exact same age in this case, grow up, apart, and age in vastly different ways. not quite as bad as the mel gibson/ catherin mccormack age jump, but still obvious. albeit bruce wayne tried to find hell, and so would age a lot from that, but he's still looking WAY older than katie holmes, who still looks like she's in her late teens. i think she was just miscast. she seemed a lil overshadowed by the other performances.
For an action movie, the fight scenes sucked. Well the last half sucked, early on, it made sense to have the in-close shots, quick edits, darkness everywhere, because the confusion added to the intensity of the scene, you (just like the thugs) had no idea what was going on or where batman would emerge from, very well done here.... but then it got old and at the end, i wanted to see batman kick ass in nice wide angle shots. didnt happen. never once do you really see everything go down with clarity. the rest of the action was very cool, and had some amazingly effective effects. would go back again JUST for the scarecrow effects sequences. probably the best use of effects to completely enhance a story, rather than draw away from it.
so... highly reccomended!! check it out, lots of great story development, character development and great entertainment. and funny too.
peace
k2
(ps Q for the batman afficionados: in arkham asylum, they make a point to show a dude with his neck sowed on, or at least with rope sewn into his neck. didnt show him after this and wasnt sure if this was just to show a freaky dude in the asylum, or if this was one of the batman villains setup for a future installment?)
Story pretty much follows the basics of Frank Miller's Year One (for those comic fans out there) with some story additions and changes, but the structure is that of year one, with a great ending!!! (for those who know Year One). Christian Bale is the easily the best batman (i thought michael keaton was the best batman before him, kilmer the worst). he brings a weight and darkness to the character that keaton had, but completely pulls off the 'mask' of being the playboy, billionaire bruce wayne far better than keaton. keaton i thought showed how weird a dude is that does this, even in social life, whereas bale shows how driven he is by 'performing' as bruce wayne and hiding that darkness.
supporting performances are all tremendous, but that's what happens when you toss a bunch of solid british actors in there. gary oldman, liam neeson, , michael caine (sir?), tom wilkinson and cillian murphy are all great, morgan freeman just lends such gravitasse to anything he does. with all the fanfare, not sure if i was prejudiced against her, but katie holmes was wholly unbelievably in her role. i didnt, for a second, believe her to be a assitant DA.
the batmobile - awesome. they better start production on these things, so damn cool. all the toys and gadgets were explained (which i love) and had a reason behind them, they even showed how he began to experiment with them and fine tuned and realized what he would need to fight crime, and (being a billionaire) get what he needed.
saw this on the imax screen and loved it. not quite as crisp as the spiderman2 print i saw at the same place, but still the best screen to watch a movie on. very intense. if you can check it out on one imax showings, highly reccomended.
definitely loved the movie, one of the best summer movies have seen in a looooong time and refreshing to watch a 'thinking mans action movie.'
ok, now for the typical kamrant nitpicky section (remember, loved the movie 5 out of 5, thumbs up, BUT this is the 'kamrant' section)....
Same "Braveheart" problem - two kids, approximately the same age, if not the exact same age in this case, grow up, apart, and age in vastly different ways. not quite as bad as the mel gibson/ catherin mccormack age jump, but still obvious. albeit bruce wayne tried to find hell, and so would age a lot from that, but he's still looking WAY older than katie holmes, who still looks like she's in her late teens. i think she was just miscast. she seemed a lil overshadowed by the other performances.
For an action movie, the fight scenes sucked. Well the last half sucked, early on, it made sense to have the in-close shots, quick edits, darkness everywhere, because the confusion added to the intensity of the scene, you (just like the thugs) had no idea what was going on or where batman would emerge from, very well done here.... but then it got old and at the end, i wanted to see batman kick ass in nice wide angle shots. didnt happen. never once do you really see everything go down with clarity. the rest of the action was very cool, and had some amazingly effective effects. would go back again JUST for the scarecrow effects sequences. probably the best use of effects to completely enhance a story, rather than draw away from it.
so... highly reccomended!! check it out, lots of great story development, character development and great entertainment. and funny too.
peace
k2
(ps Q for the batman afficionados: in arkham asylum, they make a point to show a dude with his neck sowed on, or at least with rope sewn into his neck. didnt show him after this and wasnt sure if this was just to show a freaky dude in the asylum, or if this was one of the batman villains setup for a future installment?)