i watched Begins again this week, not a TERRIBLE film, but i did have some issues with it.
- first, gotham city wasnt cool, it looked like just any normal city and had none of the amazing design or archetecture(sp?) of the past films, notably the burton films.
- the Realism. it was too realistic for its own good. it overdid it with how he made/got everything, how he trained for this and that, and his batman didnt do anything super fantastic. it was rather dull because of it. seemed like everytime batman was about to do something super, nolan kept stepping on batmans cape. not only that, but it really does limit the kind of stories you can tell. and this is supposed to be a medium that transends logic, not embracing it. im not saying to go schumacher crazy, but damn, entertain me! dont put me to sleep!
- falcone. he was hysterical, and not like what i was expecting. in the comics (yes, i have read some), he is this very rough, classy gangster who is very deadly and demanding, even to batman. but in the movie he was a complete joke of a mobster, talking like a common hood from brooklyn. his character would have fit better in a movie like "analyse this" or any other mob spoof movie. and he made me laugh, especially his "yeah, bagged.....lika TOG!", LOL. but this was not the falcone i was expecting.
- Flass. he got turned into a fat hobo lookin loser. in year 1, which this movie looks to base itself off of greatly, flass is a very big, well built green beret who actually beats up gordon at one point. here, hes a joke. one of the reasons it was so cool when flass was taken down in the comic is becayse he totally deserved it, but in this movie hes simply a fat slob who eats falafels and is no threat to anyone whatsoever. pretty poor characterization if you ask me, it could have worked out soo much better if flass was a threat instead of just another lame thug.
- the batmobile. that thing is the ugliest turd ever to be labeled as a batmobile. the new batpod looks cooler, but the batmobile, i'll be happy to see that POS go in the next non-nolan films. i want them to bring back the BAT mobile, fins and all. realistic or not, thats not a batmobile, thats a friggin lame SUV tank more suitable for a GI Joe toy then batman.
- that little kid, who some dumbass fans think is robin, LOL. hes not, and he annoyed me, like many kids in movies do. "dont worry, batman will save us!!" OMGZZ i wish that mr. zazz killed youuu!! but he didnt and im pissed!!
- scarecrow. i dont think there is much more to say, he didnt look like the comics character at all and he looked like a little pretty boy kid instead of a creepy older arkham dweller mad scientist type from the comics or BTAS. yet another pathetic characterization, but its more his looks that were the problem, and yes, in movies looks and easthetic do matter because, uh, its a movie. a visual medium. this was one of those big major "missed oppurtunites" in films that im already dieing to see redone, because i believe scarecrow could be done sooooo well but in this film he was the equivlant of watching my dog crap, boring!!
- the batsuit. it was 'teh puffy'. it also had that giganto forehead with the tiny ears and made batman look more like rat-man then batman. and the cape was a big blanket. i know in the comics he has a cloth cape but in a movie, it just doesnt work. as heavy as the rubber ones were, they really looked so much cooler and sleeker.
- Luscious Fox is just playing Q to bales Bond. his character was such a ripoff of Q it was almost laughable. i was half expecting fox to go "now listen up 007, bring this grapple back in pristine condition!". he probably should have, since that all he was playing.
- Poor Villian(s). Ras seemed like a promising villian, but then......hes ditched. in the begining of the movie. then all of a sudden her turns up at the VERY end and starts the total destruction of the city. its like, where were you the whole time? i actually thought liam neeson was terrific, but he ws hardly in the movie! i liked the way Ras was done in BTAS better, and they totally left out the lazerus pits! thats what made ras cooler to begin with! all for the sake of realism. yawn!
-Weak Score. yep, danny elfman has not been beaten as far as batman scores are considered. and with a film that is trying to be as low key as possible, i wasnt expoecting anything truly great. no main theme, no rcognizable heroic theme, no nothing. just typical action movie music with no heart or soul to it. ive even heard some begins music used as "trailer" music for other cliche action films. thats because the music WAS cliche film trailer music. sad. again, so much potential, wasted.
-Bale. whats my problem with bale? he was wooden. he didnt emote at all. he just had that stony face half the time with that superficial "playboy" act that personally annoyed the piss outta me. didnt make me laugh, and his intense scenes were laughable. i loved bale in american psycho, but here he was just plain as anything, and i never felt for his character or cared for him at all. keaton may not have been a muscleman, but his bruce/batman felt more real to me. as far as faithfullness, i can see where bale would win. but as far as just haveing genuinly good acting as this character, keaton wins hands down. his down to earth charm, perfect humouress timeing and offbeat loner attitude was engrossing, but bale had no charm, no charisma, no nothing. just a bunch of ninja fighting moves that i could hardly make out.
i know these are issues that most fans may not like to hear or agree with, but they are important factors that for me led to my dislike of the film in general. heres to hopeing TDK will take a step up.
) Lost college-age Bruce was not as convincing for me, and some of the lines that mentioned "fear" could have been cut without a huge effect on the film, especially since I didn't quite follow their reasoning either. It seemed that fear was related to everything in that film, and I didn't agree exactly.
Those kinds of things bring it down into "brainless summer blockbuster" genre, IMO. It could have been a lot smarter while keeping the explodey. The good bits are so good though, that they outweigh any of the eh moments.
All of the Arkham inmates are still loose running around, and Falcone is gone, leaving a power vacuum, which is something TDK's ARG is definitely alluding to. For me, BB didn't exactly end at all, but the film did a wonderful job in having a conclusion while leaving so many possibilities open.
