The Dark Knight A few ways to improve upon the excellent Batman Begins

[Gabroni]

I'm a big fan of Batman Begins. I think its the best comic-based movie yet. I'd give it a solid 'A' , and a 9/10. But as few things are perfect, I'd like to see the following for the sequel.

1. DEVOTE MORE ATTENTION TO BRUCE'S INTELLIGENCE/DETECTIVE SKILLS: I don't really fault BB for not having much of this, as there is only so much you can do in one film, but hopefully it will play a more prominent role in the sequel.

2. IMPROVE THE SUIT: Despite early claims to the contrary, the infamous Bat-turn was alive and well in BB, as Bale could not turn his head/neck w/o turning his entire upper body. And while the overall suit did seem to be an improvement over the others in terms of appearance and mobility, it still quite clearly restricted Bale's movement. I've already talked about the neck, but there as also the arms, as Bale himself said it was hard to lift his arms.

I can understand if they are afraid of a cartoonish spandex suit, but it seems a bit of a waste to not fully utilize Bale. With Bale they finally have an actor athletic enough to do justice to Batman's martial prowess, and buff/fit enough to fill out a more form-fitting suit. Why not take full advantage of that? There must be some middle-ground between the body armor and spandex, right?

3. MIX UP THE FILMING STYLE USED FOR FIGHT SCENES: Much was made of the close-in, quick-cut style Nolan used for the fight scenes in BB. On the whole, I thought it was effective and good, especially when Batman took out the thugs at the dock. But I think when Batman is fighting an opponent who is in his league in terms of skill (like Liam Neeson's character and to a lesser extent the ninjas), I think it would be nice to back the camera up a little and let us more clearly see what is going on. Let us admire the skill and choreography of it all. That doesn't mean he should abandon the BB style altogether, but rather that he should mix it up a little.

4. LOVE INTEREST: If Bruce has a new one, then don't have his identity be revealed yet again. I think it worked well with BB because of the characters' history together, but that need not be the case for a new love interest.

 

[Mee]

Sounds good to me.

 

[Black Panther]

Second that.

 

[El Payaso]

Delete Rachel and edit it like if it's going to be seen by human beings.

And the hell with unfunny one-liners or (pseudo) 'deep' lines.

 

[Keyser Sushi]

Sure is a good thing Nolan's gonna come here and take all your suggestions.

Oh, wait...

 

[Boom]

He's just stating his opinion. No need to be an ass.

 

[Cinemaman]

I would like more Batman scenes. In BB there were abot 9-10 scenes, and it was great, but I'd like Batman to have 12-13 scenes.

Also I want Batman to show his detective skill in sequel.

More fights and action.

 

[olsen103]

The only thing that bugged me was it kinda seemed fast paced.I know the movie is a little over 2 hours but some scenes like Bruce's training seemed a little rushed.

 

[SouLeSS]

Fix.
Christian.
Bales.
Top.
Lip.

 

[bdsproductions]

less action,more mystery.

 

[Ronny Shade]

Fix.
Christian.
Bales.
Top.
Lip.

 

[El Payaso]

Fix.
Christian.
Bales.
Top.
Lip.

HAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHHA.

Yeah, at once!!!

He's just stating his opinion. No need to be an ass.

No,no need. he does it for fun.



Nice to see someone other than me taking on Zooshi .

 

[iceberg325]

I think they should have more Batman scenes.

 

[Mee]

There'll be more Batman scenes because they've done all the origin stuff now. It's all about Bats in the sequel.

 

[frodawgg]

Fix.
Christian.
Bales.
Top.
Lip.

ha! i thought my wife and i were the only ones that noticed that (it bothers the hell outta her). and has anyone noticed that bale has fangs? and he's playing a guy in a bat costume? coincidence? i think not.

 

[Mee]

What's wrong with his lip? And I'd be worried about your wife looking so hard at other men's lips.

 

[Steelsheen]

improve on the editing.

and somehow..... work the classic Danny Elfman Batman theme into it. even if its just the few memorable notes. the Elfman Batman theme is part of the institution

 

[frodawgg]

What's wrong with his lip? And I'd be worried about your wife looking so hard at other men's lips.

i ain't worried, cuz his lip is hard to miss. it sticks out and it puckers up all the time, making his mouth form a weird shape when he speaks.

 

[Mee]

i ain't worried, cuz his lip is hard to miss. it sticks out and it puckers up all the time, making his mouth form a weird shape when he speaks.

I guess I did notice that, but I didn't mind.

 

[Gabroni]

I forgot one;

5. FORGO THE DOOMSDAY SCENARIO: The Batman universe lends itself to smaller stories, and while I think having Batman race to save Gotham from destruction worked well for BB, I don't think its necessary to do again. You can have just as much drama and excitement if the big plot involves Batman trying to thwart a smaller, though still sinister, crime or scheme. You could have, for example, Batman trying to save the mayor (or some more sympathetic character or group) from the Joker.....whatever...I'm sure Nolan and the writer can come up with something good.

 

[Iglius]

The camera was too close on the fighting. But as far as an improved suit and detective skills, I'm sure these will get better as the movie progress, logically. They'll probably show Bruce becoming a better detective and altering the suit. This is more than likely why Bruce isn't (and not that he's an idiot either) the greatest detective in BB. It's origin story.

 

[nolan's roll'n]

IgliusThe camera was too close on the fighting. But as far as an improved suit and detective skills, I'm sure these will get better as the movie progress, logically. They'll probably show Bruce becoming a better detective and altering the suit. This is more than likely why Bruce isn't (and not that he's an idiot either) the greatest detective in BB. It's origin story.

I want better fight scenes, they were blurry and I couldn't really see the fights. I agree the camera was too close in the fighting.

 

[Golgo-13]

Lets make Batman a real psycho nut-job. I mean really stepping on the good guy/bad guy line. I also want Bruce to be obsessed with being Batman. Like he doesn't eat, or sleep. He forgets to shave and/or bathe and Alfred has to keep him in touch with reality. His Batman persona becomes a 'double-edged' sword for him like a sickness....

 

[nolan's roll'n]

El Payas Delete Rachel and edit it like if it's going to be seen by human beings.

Rachel was necessary for BB because they wanted to show that she was a childhood friend of Bruce's but she may not be necessary for the future films. I think the best way to cut off the character of Rachel is to have Joker kill her in the sequel. We obviously don't need to see it, just make Gordan or someone tell Batman the news of the Joker killing her. The editing in BB was terrible, they need to hire a new editor or find a way to improve on the editing part of the movie.

 

[Gabroni]

The camera was too close on the fighting. But as far as an improved suit and detective skills, I'm sure these will get better as the movie progress, logically. They'll probably show Bruce becoming a better detective and altering the suit. This is more than likely why Bruce isn't (and not that he's an idiot either) the greatest detective in BB. It's origin story.

Just to be clear, the lack of focus on his detective skills in BB did not bother me, as there is only so much you can do in one film.

And the fact that Nolan got so much right in Begins does make me somewhat confident that the series will progress to include more of the things talked about here, like the detective skills.

However, from what I've heard Nolan say about the fight scenes, I get the impression that he's very content with the style he used in Begins, so I actually don't expect a change there.

And the same goes for the suit. I don't have a link, but I am positive that the costumer designers gave an interview at about the time filming began on Begins, and they said that Nolan instructed them to fix the neck/head issue that leads to the 'Bat-turn.' Yet despite this, it was not fixed, and I doubt that it will be. With the whole detective skills issue, I can believe that there was a plan all along to focus more on it in sequels, but I have a hard time believing that the restrictions of the suit were in any way intentional.


Nolan, et al, have deservedly received much praise for Begins. Its a great movie, and he got so many things right. But I think the kudos he has received will serve to drown out any noise about minor gripes, and that is why I expect no improvement in the suit or fight scenes.