{"id":12367,"date":"2008-05-19T07:51:37","date_gmt":"2008-05-19T14:51:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2008\/05\/19\/movie-review-batman-begins.html"},"modified":"2015-05-08T12:47:52","modified_gmt":"2015-05-08T18:47:52","slug":"movie_review_batman_begin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/05\/19\/movie_review_batman_begin.html","title":{"rendered":"Movie review: Batman Begins<\/i>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yes, I am, in fact, the last person to have seen this movie. Well, the last person amongst the circle of folks I know who would be interested in seeing it. But when I saw the DVD marked down to $7.50 yesterday at Target, I couldn’t resist.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/div>\n

Batman Begins<\/a><\/em> (2008)<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Overall<\/strong><\/td>\n <\/td>\n Story<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Production<\/td>\n <\/td>\n Acting<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

Story<\/strong>: Okay, for starters, this isn’t as much fun of a movie as Iron Man <\/em>(the new touchstone for super-hero movies). That’s okay, because Batman — and his origin — shouldn’t be fun. This movie also takes canon, give it a few good shakes, then puts the results out on display. This is the sort of thing — Ra’s al Ghul being involved in Batman’s original training, for example — that drives some fanboys nuts, and all too often with justification. If you’re going to screw around with continuity, you better be replacing it with something at least as good.<\/p>\n

In this case, they have. There aren’t necessarily compelling reasons for the changes, large and small, the insertion of new characters, the shuffling about of others, etc. — but they do work well, stripping much of the “comic book” from the mix without leaving Batman looking too ridiculous as a costumed crusader.<\/p>\n

Finally, regarding continuity, let’s face it — over the last seventy years, Batman’s origin has been reshown, rewritten, rejiggered, so many times that, so long as it remains true to the original, no continuity fan is going to complain too loudly. Heck, the changes here are smaller than in the previous Batman franchise starter (where it turns out that the Joker was the one who killed the Waynes).<\/p>\n

That all said — the story, which focuses on Batman’s origins, starting in media res <\/em>of Bruce Wayne’s wanderjahr<\/em>, is highly satisfying. If it gets a scosh too complex later on — plots within wheels within motivations within secrets within schemes, with various villainous parties working together and separately to make life difficult for Gotham — it still pretty much holds together, and then some.<\/p>\n

Production<\/strong>: Unlike previous incarnations, this Batman is more high adventure than operatic SFX. Gothan here is a pretty ordinary (if grungy and decaying) city, not Burton’s stylize vision. That doesn’t make either the scenery or the action pedestrian, but does make it feel more real than what we’ve seen in the past. Well done.<\/p>\n

Acting<\/strong>: The acting is surprisingly strong. Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne treads old ground but does so well and believably. Gary Oldman makes for a splendid Jim Gordon. Rutger Hauer, former action hero, now plays a nicely evil executive. Liam Neeson’s “Ducard” is quite nice, too. There aren’t any weak spots amongst the supporting cast, either, both in the canonical characters (nice Scarecrow) to the new ones (Rachel) — though there’s something just a bit off in Michael Caine’s Alfred that I can’t quite put my finger on.<\/p>\n

Overall<\/strong>: Iron Man<\/em>‘s getting all the hot press right now, and rightly so. But for a more subtle, less flashy, and equally worthy entry into the “comic book movie” genre, Batman Begins<\/em> does just as well. <\/p>\n

This particular DVD is utterly lacking in any special features — except for one well-done movie.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yes, I am, in fact, the last person to have seen this movie. Well, the last person amongst the circle of folks I know who would be interested in seeing…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11,852,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-comics","category-dc-cinematic-univese","category-media-movies"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":155563,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2021\/11\/07\/trailers-before-eternals.html","url_meta":{"origin":12367,"position":0},"title":"Trailers before “Eternals”","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 7-Nov-21 1:06am","format":false,"excerpt":"A couple of things I'm interested in, plus an annoying non-movie advert.","rel":"","context":"In "Animation \/ Cartoons"","block_context":{"text":"Animation \/ Cartoons","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-cartoons"},"img":{"alt_text":"Coming Soon","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Boghosian_08movietrailers1_LIFE5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Boghosian_08movietrailers1_LIFE5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Boghosian_08movietrailers1_LIFE5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":27853,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/05\/09\/movie-mini-review-the-dark-knight-2008.html","url_meta":{"origin":12367,"position":1},"title":"Movie Mini-Review: "The Dark Knight" (2008)","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 9-May-12 11:10pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, I broke down and, through the graces of Amazon streaming video, watch The Dark Night last night. Some very few points:1. I can see why some folks see this as The Most Awesome Comic Book Movie Ever. I didn't care for it that much, but I can appreciate it.2.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":129807,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/11\/hey-have-you-see-the-latest-batman-movie-trailer.html","url_meta":{"origin":12367,"position":2},"title":"Hey, have you see the latest Batman movie trailer?","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 11-Feb-16 10:46am","format":false,"excerpt":"This really is remarkable. What was originally supposed to be a Superman sequel has completely morphed into a Batman movie (guest starring Wonder Woman). This \"final\" trailer is almost entirely Bat-focused, and the Man of Steel gets zero lines.Something is very wrong here. View on Google+","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":129547,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/23\/movie-review-batman-assault-on-arkham-2014-2.html","url_meta":{"origin":12367,"position":3},"title":"Movie Review: "Batman: Assault on Arkham" (2014)*","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 23-Jan-16 2:54pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Rewatched this with the upcoming live-action Suicide Squad film in mind, and, yeah, this hits the tone and characterization that movie really needs to nail. It does solid job of having you rooting for the bag-of-snakes \"bad guys\" even as you really want to see them locked up securely again\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/1ArkhamBanner5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/1ArkhamBanner5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/1ArkhamBanner5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":129676,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/08\/now-this-batman-v-superman-movie-trailer-excites-me.html","url_meta":{"origin":12367,"position":4},"title":"Now THIS "Batman v Superman" movie trailer excites me!","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 8-Feb-16 2:04pm","format":false,"excerpt":"And the casting is pretty remarkable, though there's kind of a big spoiler at the end.(via J. MIchael Straczynski) View on Google+","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":131788,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/10\/13\/movie-review-batman-v-superman-dawn-of-justice.html","url_meta":{"origin":12367,"position":5},"title":"Movie Review: "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice"","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 13-Oct-16 11:41pm","format":false,"excerpt":"And as Father\/Daughter Movie Week draws to a close, we end up with a movie that so many people told me was (a) cool to see, but (b) kind of a disaster, plot-wise. And so many people were right.Full review: http:\/\/letterboxd.com\/three_star_dave\/film\/batman-v-superman-dawn-of-justice\/2.5 stars out of 5.And, now, my live-note-taking:--Bat-origin again! So\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/3WIlf0Jndgz7YPmGrPCpHzMpfaW5B15D.jpgimgmax%3D660.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12367"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12367\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50671,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12367\/revisions\/50671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}