Topic: Holy Batshat Batman! (Begins)

[Artimus]

So, who's seen Batman Begins?

I personally LOVED the movie and highly reccomend everyone to go see it. It beats the pants off of the originals (and I love the first two of those as well). Bale is just amazing as Batman/Wayne, the best fit in history. The supporting cast are all great (Michael Caine's Alfred is very endearing, as well as Gary Oldman's fantastic detective Gordon). The story is really well thought out and the characters deep. The film is both fascinating and exciting. The action can be muddled but it works in a very fast-paced dark sort of way.

Highly reccomended!  

[Nile Boogie]

Best Super Hero Movie Evar!

[TMW]

So what...my thread isn't good enough for you?  Is that what you're saying?

The movie is effing great, however.  I concur wholeheartedly.  

[Artimus]

OMG sorry! I didn't see it down there

Everyone go see this!

[ruby_onix]

I saw it. Loved it.

Take everything you know about those utterly-horrible Batman movies which Hollywood has been making for years now, and just hit "delete". Virtually nothing from those crap-fests was carried over (except that like, the Bat-suit is armor as opposed to Spandex, and a few good things like that).

This movie is better than the first Tim Burton Batman. It's easily a contender for the title of "Best Comic-Book Movie Evar". I'd say it beats out stuff like Spiderman 1&2 and X-Men 1&2, but that sort of comes down to preferences.

[Ian Sane]

"except that like, the Bat-suit is armor as opposed to Spandex, and a few good things like that"

Well logically spandex makes no sense at all for a superhero that has no powers.  That's one thing I liked about this movie.  Everything looks more like what a real-life superhero would have.  They have scientific explanations for his suit.  One of my favourite scenes is when he's making a battarang.  Damn straight.  He should have to make those himself.  Most of the time Batman's gadets look like they were ordered from Batgear 'R Us.  The bat themed stuff should look more homemade because he's supposed to keep it secret.  I originally didn't like the Batmobile that much when I saw the trailer because it didn't look like the traditional Batmobile.  But that makes sense.  The real Batmobile is idiotic.  In this case it's like a damn tank painted black.  No silly batwing fins or anything like that which would require too much customization.

I also like how Gotham looks like a city instead of whatever the hell it was in the other Batman films.  In Tim Burton's films everything looked like some surreal goth painting.  In Joel Schumacher's everything was neon and guns were made out of shiny plastic.  This the first Batman film takes place in real life so automatically it's the best one.

From a storyline perspective it was total superhero fluff of course but that's all I except from these types of films.  When done right you get a damn entertaining film and this was.  It wouldn't say it's the best (I think the original Superman is) but it's on par with the Spider-man and X-Men films.  I still think Hellboy is the best of the modern comic book films though.

[Hostile Creation]

Best superhero movie I've ever seen.  It managed to be exciting, clever, interesting, wonderfully realistic (as Ian said; great transition into film), and very well thought out in terms of plot, characters, etc.  I never read the comics, so I'm wondering how heavily the movie was based on events in the comics.
Scarecrow was an awesome villain.  I like the actor who did him.  Great idea for the scheme, too, and how that tied in to what happened earlier in the film (a very cool idea, the League of Shadows).  I figured it out beforehand, and there were a few logical fallacies I was wondering about, but still cool.  The scheme, that is.  The other part caught me off-guard.
Definitely prefer this to Tim Burton's film (a director I'm starting to like less and less; Willy Wonka isn't looking to live up to the potential of the predecessor by a longshot).  I'm going to have to buy this sucka, which is saying a lot because I'm quite picky about the movies I buy.

[nemo_83]

I predict he will be more like a vampire in the next movie or there will at least be alternative looks for the suit to create fear.  I really liked all the silouete shots with Batman on buildings and stuff.  The suit really looked like the comic sometimes.

My big complaint was I couldn't see what was happening when the action got going and Scarecrow went out like a punk.

I can't wait to see what kind of psychodelic visions Batman will get when he sees Joker on Scarecrow's drugs.

I hope that they pick someone with a great laugh for the Joker.  Right now they're considering an unknown Australian.  That worked well for the casting of Wolverine... though maybe a better known Aussie like Russel Crow or Mel Gibson could have lended more to the role.  The only other person I could see playing the Joker other than the present front runner is someone who's name has not even been brought up.  Tom Cruise could play an awesome Joker.

After the Joker is caught though he will stand trial in part 3.  During which he throws acid on Harvey Dent (Jude Law) who becomes Two Face.  Maybe they'll even bring in the Bane/Azreal storyline to round off the whole Dark Knight thing.  Or they could do the Robin storyline in part three with Two Face's murder of Robin's family as well as the Joker killing Robin in the end of the movie like in the comics.

[TMW]

Quote
Originally posted by: nemo_83
Tom Cruise could play an awesome Joker.

Um...you're joking, right?

Besides, there is only one person who can do the Joker justice.

My main man, Mark Hamill.  

[Ian Sane]

Mark Hamill clearly has the voice but I don't know if he would look the part.  Crispin Glover from Back to the Future would probably play a great Joker as he's tall and lanky and can do good facial expressions.  Imagine George McFly as a psycho killer in clown makeup.

Aside from the fact that I don't think he could pull it off, Tom Cruise would be a poor choice because he's too much of a movie star.  You would always notice he was Tom Cruise.  You need someone to be The Joker, like you never recognize the character on screen as anything but.  That was the problem with Joker is the first Batman movie.  It was so obviously Jack Nicholson the whole time.  He was basically playing himself.  The Schumacher films also had the problem that they had too many stars and it seemed more like a bunch of hollywood stars hamming it up.

"Or they could do the Robin storyline in part three with Two Face's murder of Robin's family as well as the Joker killing Robin in the end of the movie like in the comics."

Did Two Face kill Robin's parents in the comic or was it just in Batman Forever?  On the animated series it was some guy named Tony Zucco (or something like that).  I think that's just too much for one movie.  You could get at least two films out of that and likely more.  Personally I think Robin would clutter things up too much.  To do it right you would need a whole origin movie for Robin alone and that wouldn't fit with the Joker/Two Face idea.  So Robin would have to wait until at least the fourth film and then you want a fifth film that uses him.  There are a LOT of good Batman storylines they could use but they each deserve their own film so unless they start cranking these things out like James Bond a lot of stuff just can't be used.

[TMW]

I dunno...after watching Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, I think that Mark Hamill could pull it off.  

For one, they can do amazing things with makeup nowadays.

But!  Crispin Glover would make an awesome Joker, now that you mention it.  

He and Mark should have a lightsaber duel for who gets the part.  

[UncleBob]

In the comics, it was Two Face who killed Robin II (Jason Todd)'s parents... I think... it's been sooooo long...

[mantidor]

Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
Mark Hamill clearly has the voice but I don't know if he would look the part.  Crispin Glover from Back to the Future would probably play a great Joker as he's tall and lanky and can do good facial expressions.  Imagine George McFly as a psycho killer in clown makeup.

no need to imagine

Seriously, he is the Joker.

So, awesome movie, I really loved it, and it was really shocking to see Gary Oldman playing the good guy after all these years, I really couldnt believe it! at first I thoguht he was going to end up bieng the bad guy LOL. and the scarecrow was really scary >_<.

this Joker could be actually cool (and creepy as hell), but too far away from the original design, so I have my reservations.

[ruby_onix]

Quote
Did Two Face kill Robin's parents in the comic or was it just in Batman Forever? On the animated series it was some guy named Tony Zucco (or something like that).

Wikipedia

Robin #1 - Dick Grayson: Was an acrobat, and his parents (the Flying Graysons) were killed by "Boss Zucco" because they refused to pay protection money. He grew up and became Nightwing.

Robin #2 - Jason Todd: His parents were killed by Killer Croc in the pre-Crisis version, and post-Crisis he was a "street orphan" who impressed Batman by daring to try and steal the tires off the Batmobile. He got killed off by the Joker because the fans demanded it.

Robin #3 - Tim Drake: The natural-detective son of Bruce Wayne's rich neighbor. He was fascinated by stories of Batman, found the caves which weren't exclusive to Bruce's property line, and understood Bruce's comings-and-goings enough to put two and two together and figure out Batman's secret identity. AFAIK, Tim Drake stole Jason Todd's Robin costume from the Batcave in order to save Batman, after he learned that Two Face had caught him in some some sort of elaborate deathtrap, sparking a longstanding Two Face/Robin #3 rivalry. Tim Drake was* the most "normal" Robin.


The animated version of Dick Grayson is pretty much the same as the comics version. They wisely skipped Jason Todd, but then they stupidly turned Tim Drake into a Jason Todd wannabe. He's the son of some small-time criminal. The "Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker" movie reveals that the animated Tim Drake eventually gets captured and tortured by the Joker, but rather than dying like Jason Todd did, he kills the Joker. BTW, the Batman Beyond movie is quite dark, and was heavily censored.


* Tim Drake had a girfriend, a very-promising and popular small-time unpowered superhero called "the Spoiler", the daughter of a small-time unpowered supervillan. But in their efforts to be "cutting edge", DC had her become an unwed teenage mother (and not with Tim), they had her join the Birds of Prey (because they had a TV show which sucked and was bombing), and then they had Tim's father discover Tim's secret identity, which forced Tim to retire, at which point the Spoiler became Robin #4, the (gasp!) first "female Robin". Then she became a stupid moron, and within a few weeks she triggered a gang war which killed her off, along with Tim's father, allowing Tim Drake to return to being Robin, as an angst-ridden hero who now hates his mentor.

[Nile Boogie]

I always thought Jonny Depp would make a good Joker.

[ThePerm]

i  did the same  thing with the pictures and photoshopped  them...mark hamill in no way  looks like the joker...the  ironic thing is...the joker created for the animated series is what we most identify as joker..and that  looks like crispin glover

http://theperm.tetrametrics.com/Images/crispin.jpg

[nemo_83]

It would be a huge come back for Glover to get this role but he is also competing with Lachy Hume (spelling?), Jude Law (will probably be cast as Harvey Dent), Robin Willams, Steve Buscini, and Guy Pearce.  

The original Batman movie will always be looked at as a once in a life time movie.  The chemistry between Jack and Michael in the movie is outstanding.  I look to their scenes together as a shining example for any movie, comic book related or not.  There is so much to live up to acting wise for this role.  That is why it is so important they pick the right person.  The new movie definately has cooler more believable technology.  Did anyone else check out those gloves he was making?  God knows what kinds of modifications he will make to the suit by the next movie.  But it seems they will focus more on origins more than relating the characters of Batman and Joker via the personalities and attitude.  No matter what, I want this to be a different Joker from Nicholson's Joker.  The actor needs to capture the spirit of the character, but he needs to make it his own.

I'm not saying Bale played a bad Batman or that Keaton played a better Batman.  Its just that there was magic between Keaton and Nicholson that is rarely found in any film.

[Nile Boogie]

Quote
Originally posted by: ThePerm
...mark hamill in no way looks like the joker...

I don't think Jack looks like The Joker but damn if he didn't play that part well. Mark Hamill as "The Joker" would be perfect to me. It's not that physical of a roll plus the things they can do nowadays with Make up and CG would more than account for not having the "quintessential joker" look.  Either Mark Hamill or Johny Depp.

[ThePerm]

the other thing is i saw mark hamill as that character on jay and silent bob....while he had the voice...he proved to me he couldnt pull off the joker in live action

[Dirk Temporo]

WTF?!?!?!?!

There was a Batman Beyond movie?!?!?! WHY WASN'T I NOTIFIED?

On topic though, this movie RULED. I loved the fear effects. I loved the final fight on the train, but in the rest of the fights, the camera was too shaky, and you couldn't see what was going on. It was kind of annoying. I think they may have done it to represent the confusion that his enemies were feeling. But really, I have no idea.

[mantidor]

I think fights were like that because all that acrobatics stuff we have been getting used to since the Matrix are really hard to pull off with the stiff Batman suit, seriously just watch previous Batmans and their fights, Batman moved like a clunky robot.

[ThePerm]

http://theperm.tetrametrics.com/Images/judejoker.jpg jude law  as joker
http://theperm.tetrametrics.com/Images/paulbettany.jpg paul  bettany as joker

[nitsu niflheim]

Batman Begins is my favorite Batman movie, right behind Batman Returns.  Also Batman is my favorite comic book series right behind The X-Men.  

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH

[nitsu niflheim]

GRRRRRRRRRRAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW,