Friday, June 17, 2005


Saw Batman Begins last night. I'm an avid media-head who reads a lot of spoilerish info and measure the buzz on upcoming movies in development. Batman was being well-received, rated highly, the buzz was 'excellent'. So I came into theatre with high expectations. I was not disappointed.

It's easier to note what wasn't good than what was since most of it was top-notch. The soundtrack was fairly poor which had been noted in early reviews. The movie was pretty long and did drag at a few moments especially during speechy/preachy scenes between Liam Neeson's character and Christian Bale's Batman/Bruce Wayne. And that was all. The rest was damn good.

The supporting cast was awesome. Cillian Murphy in particular stole every scene he was in. I heard that Murphy was up for the part of Batman and when he didn't get it they tagged him for the Scarecrow. It would've been fun to have seen Murphy's Batman - however, Bale was excellent. I can't say enough about the supporting cast, they all had one-liners, they delivered them perfectly. My wife thought that Liam Neeson was miscast and I see her point; but his role/performance didn't take me out of the movie.

The gadgetry was sweet. I don't want to ruin any scenes for you but I really liked the Batmobile. When I first saw the pics on the internet, I was really worried, but I get it now. I totally get it. The backdrop of Chicago + CGI as Gotham were beautiful, fantastic, not at all cheap or kitschy or fake. It made for an even more powerful experience than Buton's Gotham which I thought was an awesome artistic feat in itself.

So there you go. Batman is thumbs up all the way. Enjoy.