Dec 21, 2006 01:16 PM
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Batman Begins was probably one of the most awaited movies in my life in recent times, and the huge BATMAN BEGINS Poster on my work desk is a standing testimony to my obsession with the caped crusader. I am in simply AWE of Batman and when I saw TIM Burton’s BATMAN and BATMAN RETURNS, it was a befitting Homage to the character of Dark Knight.
Though I still hold strong that the best villain portrayal was that of Jack Nicholson's JOKER in BATMAN, the franchise seemed to have gone horribly haywire from the subsequent after Danny De Vito played OSWALD COBBLEPOT (a.k.a PENGUIN) in BATMAN Returns. VAL KILMER was a good Bruce Wayne and though BATMAN FOREVER was good, JIM CARREY (Riddler) stole the show along with Nicole Kidman as Dr. Christmas.
GEORGE CLOONEY, ARNOLD, ALICIA SILVERSTONE, UMA THURMAN, CHRIS o Donnell, TOMMY LEE JONES..Couldn’t stop the franchisee to disastrous down spiral it was commencing to with stupid cars, cheesy dialogues, BAT SUITS with NIPPLES and dead pan expressions. SEAL AND U2 did give memorable soundtracks in "Kiss from a Rose" and” Hold me Thrill me, Kiss me, Kill Me “but the characteristic BATMAN theme was so surrealistically missing from the later films.
I almost stopped watching due to the over the top fantasy that was being dished out with colorful lights in bat cars, laser lights and nipples on BAT SUITS .BATMAN was a man of few words and he used fear of the night, and yes darts and ropes and stuff. Not fanciful cars which emitted multi hues lights. That’s not what batman was.
When CHRISTIAN BALE took over the Kevlar cape and cowl, BATMAN suddenly took a newer, fresher and realistic perspective. BATMAN was realistic and Bob KANE (the creator) made him a man with a good intellect and keen acumen .BATMAN BEGINS was realistic to a Fault. The Car, well my personal favorite after the first BATCAR which took MICHEAL KEATON and KIM BASINGAR against the JOKER.
Though Liam Neeson was not that much an effective baddie and the Scarecrow was sort of wasted in its character, CHRISTIAN BALE and MICHAEL KANE was impressive, taking over where MICHAEL KEATON and "Alfred" of the first movie had left off.
The gadgets, the story (which was never told about how Bruce Wayne became a Batman), the training and the loneliness…..beautiful stark, dark portrayal of how Batman came to be.
It also takes the story further from the comic books, managing to create a different entity from the comic books itself. The presence of Samuel L Jackson as the gadget guy Lucious Fox is something which was never there in the original comic story.
The Suit , the Car ( especially the car - ITS THE PERFECT bat mobile), the weapons ( especially the batarangs) , The Logo ( its the old black and grey logo which in this case was fully black) away from the characteristic Yellow and Black logo though, the reserved Bruce Wayne with sharp eyes ..BATMAN BEGINS seems to have it all , and the end where Joker leaves his calling card, seems to be starting off a new thread , while refering to the first movie which had joker in it.ALso these do not explicitely kill the characters ( read Villains) leaving a chance fro them to return in the future sequels , which damn sure , its going to be ..
BATMAN is silent and BATMAN is the NIght again in BATMAN BEGINS , and fortunately not a colourful charade that ADAM WEST had managed to do to the character with ROBIN ( which George Clooney and Chis O Donnell seemed to have acheived to perfection as the caped duo) .
DARK , RESERVED and FRIGHTENING - BATMAN once again lives upro my favorite dialogue.BATMANis not a creature of the night ...HE IS THE NIGHT !!!
( fade away to the all time favorite BATMAN Theme)
