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Jun. 25th, 2005 10:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatSaw Batman Begins with cjl tonight and really enjoyed it. Didn't go in expecting that much - so was pleasantly surprised. Turned to cjl during the credits and said - ah, an action movie that actually wants to say something.
Didn't hurt that it was something that I've been struggling with internally myself these past few months - so definitely in the right mindset. Mood is always important when seeing a movie - it affects our perception.
The movie is more of an exploration of what motivates the character of Batman than any of the other movies were. Tim Burton's first Batman movie, wasn't really about Batman at all - it was about the Joker. Batman was a supporting player. The villain was front and center. We got the villain's back story more than Batman's. And it wasn't all that interesting - not nearly as interesting as the one in Alan Moore's classic The Killing Joke. What Burton didn't understand about the mythology, Christopher Nolan picks up on right away - which is that the villains in the Batman universe are in effect reflections of Batman's own psychosis, his own fears. Dark reflections of who and what he might or could become.
In this movie the two villians, remain mysterious, with just enough told to terrify or tantalize. Ra Ah Gul (sp?) - the best of the villains, because he is what Batman could become. The ruthless vigilante with his ninja army, that moves inside the shadows. A man who kills anyone who is criminal and destroys decaying cities that breed such elements. Whose life is about vengeance and has no time for compassion. And believes himself completely justified in his extreme methods. Moral relativism taken to the extreme. The other villian, is the Scarecrow - the psychologist, Dr. Crane, who works for Ra. A man who uses fear to control others. Who plays on peoples fears.
Bruce Wayne has to overcome his need for vengeance, his anger at his father's death and quilt for it,as well as his fear of both bats and his fears about himself living up to his father's expectations not to mention his legacy. He has to fall to succeed. But he fears the fall. Yet ironically it is by falling that he learns, that he progresses forward. The film shows the complexity of Batman's fears, that they aren't easily resolved. No one's are. Just when we think we've gotten them beat, by in Bat's case becoming that which he feared, taking it on, making it his friend, we find out that wasn't what scared us - but something else, much deeper, and all we've done is taken care of the symptom, not the root cause.
The visuals remind me a bit of the films Dark City, Sin City or even the Untouchables. Chicago of the 1930s, art deco, and dark, gritty. Chicago in the world of Ridely Scott's Blade Runner - with rain pouring and elevated trains. Chicago as an island fortress, cut off from the world. Chicago blended with NY. The urban hell. It's not New York by the way - if you play close attention to the credits you'll note that. Filming was done in Chicago. I figured it out pretty quickly, because I live in NYC and the city on the screen looked nothing like it.
The acting was a notch above the other films in my opinion. But then I'm a fan of Christian Bale - have enjoyed him in everything he's been in. If you don't like Bale, I wouldn't suggest seeing the film. I happen to enjoy the actor and thought he was perfectly cast here. Liam Neeson's Ducard was a tad stiff at times, which may be due to the dialogue he was given which was admitedly and perhaps deliberately on the pretentious side. Overall? He worked for me. Cillian Murphy played the Scarecrow with just the right blend of creepiness. I was afraid of the man and felt a chill whenever he was on screen. Never taking it over the top - which could not have been easy - this is a role that is very tempting to overdo. Cillian instead chose to underplay it which worked to great effect. Katie Holmes? Didn't really notice her much. She's rarely onscreen and wasn't a major focus. She could have been stronger - but I felt she was meant as more a symbol or ideal in Wayne's mind than an actuality and Holmes conveyed that. The focus if more on Bruce's relationships with Fox (Morgan Freeman) and Alfred (Michael Cain). He doesn't have room for romance in his life. He can't go there. He cares for Rachel Dawes, she is in a way his inspiration, symbolic to him, but he can't be with her and be Batman. Women don't feature in his world - they live on the sidelines, outside it, simplified, idealized. Unlike Burton's version, there is no romance in the film, not really. Nolan isn't interested in that aspect. But then if you are going to a movie about Batman and expecting a romance? You clearly don't know much about the character or its history.
Afterwards, we tried to compare Batman to Spiderman 2, and I'm not sure you can compare the two. Batman takes place in a noir universe and is about a hero trying to save a doomed city that everyone else has given up on. He's created himself - from sheer will. No nice super-powers, no nuclear spider bite. He's the sucessful man who despises himself and the world he lives in, desires to correct it. The hero on the verge of becoming the vigilante. The line between Bats and the villains he fights is always a fine one and the world he inhabits is dark and gritty like the world of the noir films. Batman's world is one of shadows and Batman dresses completely in black. Spiderman takes place in a techno-color world of bright reds and yellows. His is a tale of a geeky boy who has no money and dreams of being a hero. A boy who becomes one through a scientific accident that graces him with superpowers. Unlike Batman, Spiderman doesn't want to be a hero, he resists it, his life would be easier without it, he would rather have normality. He is the boy science geek who becomes the hero. Batman is the playboy, the jock, the rich kid, who turns himself into a crime-fighting machine and must fight his own dark tendencies, his own desires to bend the world. The villians Batman fights are reflections of his own worste fears about himself. The villians Spiderman fights are reflections of science gone awry. Spiderman's own dreams gone awry. Comparing the two is a bit like comparing BladeRunner to Star Wars.
I must admit as much as I enjoyed Spiderman II, Batman Begins haunts me more and I'm more likely to re-watch it. Only felt the need to see Spidey once. But then, I also preferred BladeRunner to Star Wars. There's just something about the noir universe that plays with my brain.
Batman also had some of the best trailers. Finally saw the trailer to Serenity.
And it looks amazing. Looking forward to seeing this baby in theaters in the fall, still completely unspoiled thank god. Also saw the trailer to Charlie and the Chocolat Factory and A New World - both of which look intriguing.
After the film we had a delicious dinner at local restaurant. The dessert, for me, was the topper. Chocolat sushi. It was chocolate ganache, deep dark semi-sweet chocolate, melt in your mouth, with coconut lightly decorating the outside like rice. For soy sauce - we had chocolate liquour. For wasabi - a spiced homemade vanilla icecream. And for ginger - candied ginger. Best dessert, I've had in ages. Light. Decorative. Feast for eyes and mouth.
Didn't hurt that it was something that I've been struggling with internally myself these past few months - so definitely in the right mindset. Mood is always important when seeing a movie - it affects our perception.
The movie is more of an exploration of what motivates the character of Batman than any of the other movies were. Tim Burton's first Batman movie, wasn't really about Batman at all - it was about the Joker. Batman was a supporting player. The villain was front and center. We got the villain's back story more than Batman's. And it wasn't all that interesting - not nearly as interesting as the one in Alan Moore's classic The Killing Joke. What Burton didn't understand about the mythology, Christopher Nolan picks up on right away - which is that the villains in the Batman universe are in effect reflections of Batman's own psychosis, his own fears. Dark reflections of who and what he might or could become.
In this movie the two villians, remain mysterious, with just enough told to terrify or tantalize. Ra Ah Gul (sp?) - the best of the villains, because he is what Batman could become. The ruthless vigilante with his ninja army, that moves inside the shadows. A man who kills anyone who is criminal and destroys decaying cities that breed such elements. Whose life is about vengeance and has no time for compassion. And believes himself completely justified in his extreme methods. Moral relativism taken to the extreme. The other villian, is the Scarecrow - the psychologist, Dr. Crane, who works for Ra. A man who uses fear to control others. Who plays on peoples fears.
Bruce Wayne has to overcome his need for vengeance, his anger at his father's death and quilt for it,as well as his fear of both bats and his fears about himself living up to his father's expectations not to mention his legacy. He has to fall to succeed. But he fears the fall. Yet ironically it is by falling that he learns, that he progresses forward. The film shows the complexity of Batman's fears, that they aren't easily resolved. No one's are. Just when we think we've gotten them beat, by in Bat's case becoming that which he feared, taking it on, making it his friend, we find out that wasn't what scared us - but something else, much deeper, and all we've done is taken care of the symptom, not the root cause.
The visuals remind me a bit of the films Dark City, Sin City or even the Untouchables. Chicago of the 1930s, art deco, and dark, gritty. Chicago in the world of Ridely Scott's Blade Runner - with rain pouring and elevated trains. Chicago as an island fortress, cut off from the world. Chicago blended with NY. The urban hell. It's not New York by the way - if you play close attention to the credits you'll note that. Filming was done in Chicago. I figured it out pretty quickly, because I live in NYC and the city on the screen looked nothing like it.
The acting was a notch above the other films in my opinion. But then I'm a fan of Christian Bale - have enjoyed him in everything he's been in. If you don't like Bale, I wouldn't suggest seeing the film. I happen to enjoy the actor and thought he was perfectly cast here. Liam Neeson's Ducard was a tad stiff at times, which may be due to the dialogue he was given which was admitedly and perhaps deliberately on the pretentious side. Overall? He worked for me. Cillian Murphy played the Scarecrow with just the right blend of creepiness. I was afraid of the man and felt a chill whenever he was on screen. Never taking it over the top - which could not have been easy - this is a role that is very tempting to overdo. Cillian instead chose to underplay it which worked to great effect. Katie Holmes? Didn't really notice her much. She's rarely onscreen and wasn't a major focus. She could have been stronger - but I felt she was meant as more a symbol or ideal in Wayne's mind than an actuality and Holmes conveyed that. The focus if more on Bruce's relationships with Fox (Morgan Freeman) and Alfred (Michael Cain). He doesn't have room for romance in his life. He can't go there. He cares for Rachel Dawes, she is in a way his inspiration, symbolic to him, but he can't be with her and be Batman. Women don't feature in his world - they live on the sidelines, outside it, simplified, idealized. Unlike Burton's version, there is no romance in the film, not really. Nolan isn't interested in that aspect. But then if you are going to a movie about Batman and expecting a romance? You clearly don't know much about the character or its history.
Afterwards, we tried to compare Batman to Spiderman 2, and I'm not sure you can compare the two. Batman takes place in a noir universe and is about a hero trying to save a doomed city that everyone else has given up on. He's created himself - from sheer will. No nice super-powers, no nuclear spider bite. He's the sucessful man who despises himself and the world he lives in, desires to correct it. The hero on the verge of becoming the vigilante. The line between Bats and the villains he fights is always a fine one and the world he inhabits is dark and gritty like the world of the noir films. Batman's world is one of shadows and Batman dresses completely in black. Spiderman takes place in a techno-color world of bright reds and yellows. His is a tale of a geeky boy who has no money and dreams of being a hero. A boy who becomes one through a scientific accident that graces him with superpowers. Unlike Batman, Spiderman doesn't want to be a hero, he resists it, his life would be easier without it, he would rather have normality. He is the boy science geek who becomes the hero. Batman is the playboy, the jock, the rich kid, who turns himself into a crime-fighting machine and must fight his own dark tendencies, his own desires to bend the world. The villians Batman fights are reflections of his own worste fears about himself. The villians Spiderman fights are reflections of science gone awry. Spiderman's own dreams gone awry. Comparing the two is a bit like comparing BladeRunner to Star Wars.
I must admit as much as I enjoyed Spiderman II, Batman Begins haunts me more and I'm more likely to re-watch it. Only felt the need to see Spidey once. But then, I also preferred BladeRunner to Star Wars. There's just something about the noir universe that plays with my brain.
Batman also had some of the best trailers. Finally saw the trailer to Serenity.
And it looks amazing. Looking forward to seeing this baby in theaters in the fall, still completely unspoiled thank god. Also saw the trailer to Charlie and the Chocolat Factory and A New World - both of which look intriguing.
After the film we had a delicious dinner at local restaurant. The dessert, for me, was the topper. Chocolat sushi. It was chocolate ganache, deep dark semi-sweet chocolate, melt in your mouth, with coconut lightly decorating the outside like rice. For soy sauce - we had chocolate liquour. For wasabi - a spiced homemade vanilla icecream. And for ginger - candied ginger. Best dessert, I've had in ages. Light. Decorative. Feast for eyes and mouth.
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Date: 2005-06-26 02:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-07-01 05:29 am (UTC)I agree about Dr Crane! *shudders*