Batman Begins What was the reaction in your theater to the ending?

[VenomVsSpidey]

Oh where I live they thought it was the perfect ending since this was the prequel to Batman 89.

that is so my new sig t:

 

[El Payaso]

that is so my new sig t:

True story man.

 

[GothamAlleys]

The card itself didnt really do anything for the Jersey audience I saw the movie with. Pretty much the universal reaction was "oh, theres gonna be a sequel". However, I had 2 thoughts when the credits started to roll

1. That it was amazing. First of all, I hate, hate, HATE remakes/reboots. Remake bad movies or bad sequels, make them right. Why would someone redo everything is beyond me. So when I heard theres a new Batman movie coming up (not many people cared at the time) and that its a reboot, I was frustrated. I thought they shouldve make a great sequel that would set things right and erase Schumacher's mistakes, not redo what wasnt broken, which were the first two Gothic movies. One day my friends wanted to all go to the movies but they wanted me to go with them. There was nothing worth seeing aside from Batman Begins and I didnt want to go for s**t. I hated the idea of a reboot and thought the costume looked hideous with its gigantic neck, small ears and the old bat logo that I never liked (I still dont like BB costume). So my friends said they would pay for me if Ill go with them. I still didnt wanna see it. Finally they talked me into it and I sat down with a "ok, wow me" attitude. And when those credits started to roll, first thing I thought was 'Wow' indeed. While lacked the Gothic feel and visuals of the Burton's Batmans, it was just as engaging and fantastic in many different ways.

2. I was surprised they were planning to put Joker in it because I knew it was a realistic take on the Bat world and Joker really wasn't. I couldnt imagine how would they make Joker realistic at the time

 

[Doc Samson]

Standing ovation!!! Partially because I went to the midnight showing, and naturally, there's more of our ilk at those screenings than just general audience members. I'm sure more than a few knew about the parallels between the ending and Year one, not to mention the whole movie.

But also because, apparently, the movie was pretty damn good. I was pleasantly surprised, they actually did it! Definitely a different vibe from TDK ending, where I felt I had just watched the most epic superhero flick ever, but was thoroughly drained and stunned. After BB, I couldn't stop smiling the whole way home

 

[TruerToTheCore]

No reaction at all, there were only 4 people. Me, a friend and two strangers

But don't worry, it was the 4th week the movie was out.

 

[I Am The Knight]

Whispers, mostly. I think some people didn't "get" it. But I saw the movie several times, different crowds, different reactions that I don't recall very well. God, this was 5 years ago, wasn't it?

 

[spidermanJLA!~]

Somebody said "The Riddler!"

 

[Spideyfan93]

I was 11 at the time. From what I could remember, chills were sent through my body as I got goosebumps and I said to myself sitting with my dad,"Holy ****! Joker in the sequel!"

And for the rest of the day I imagined the Joker on screen as I would envision it. Great times.

 

[RustyCage]

Somebody said "The Riddler!"

 

[CrimsonDeath]

First time I saw it with my brothers and we were all pleasantly surprised. I was more in awe of the movie than anything, such a great Batman story I had just seen. The people in the theater whispering excitedly.

Second time I was with my ex and she gasped in surprise, happily turning to look at me and what my reaction would be. I think I just smiled at her. See, I did not tell her I had already seen it earlier without her...

 

[knowsbleed]

I was affected by TDK ending much more than BB.

 

[El Payaso]

I was affected by TDK ending much more than BB.

Same here, but by every piece of the TDK, not just the ending.

 

[The Joker]

Same here, but by every piece of the TDK, not just the ending.

Ditto

 

[GothamAlleys]

Gotta go against you on this issue guys, I thought BB was much more engaging emotionally and much more personal. It certainly affected me much more, not to take anything away from TDK of course

 

[Brother Jack]

Gotta go against you on this issue guys, I thought BB was much more engaging emotionally and much more personal. It certainly affected me much more, not to take anything away from TDK of course

I loved Bruce's introspective exploration in Begins, and it affected me on an emotional level the way few Batman movies had. That said, the most emotional scene in both films is the entire ending to TDK.

 

[GothamAlleys]

I think both movies affect us emotionally but on different levels. BB is more personal, more sad. Bruce's flashbacks including his father and the whole "why do we fall" theme touches upon our grief, and the scenes with Bruce training, facing Falcone for the first time and then going back and getting them fills us with the the need for revenge, justice and then satisfaction. TDK is a different beast. It toys with the audience more. You see the monster the Joker is but Batman is completely helpless and he just keeps losing. Then theres the rage when we feel for Dent in the hospital. I didnt feel much for Rachel because I got used to Holmes' version and Maggie felt like a new and unknown character to me. The ending itself didnt really do anything for me because I thought the choice of blaming Batman was very unnecessary and confusing.

 

[Brother Jack]

I think both movies affect us emotionally but on different levels. BB is more personal, more sad. Bruce's flashbacks including his father and the whole "why do we fall" theme touches upon our grief, and the scenes with Bruce training, facing Falcone for the first time and then going back and getting them fills us with the the need for revenge, justice and then satisfaction. TDK is a different beast. It toys with the audience more. You see the monster the Joker is but Batman is completely helpless and he just keeps losing. Then theres the rage when we feel for Dent in the hospital. I didnt feel much for Rachel because I got used to Holmes' version and Maggie felt like a new and unknown character to me. The ending itself didnt really do anything for me because I thought the choice of blaming Batman was very unnecessary and confusing.

What didn't you understand about it?

 

[GothamAlleys]

I didnt know why did they chose this path. Batman was as big of a symbol as Dent. People knew Batman for longer and thought of him as an incorruptible symbol of justice and their protector who changed things. Turning their hero and the role model for kids into a stone cold killer of innocent is as bad if not worse than blaming Dent who couldve been excused by post accident trauma or brain damage. And neither had to be blamed. Lets say one of Joker's thugs did it. Lets say some guy dressed as Batman did it(after all, there were plenty around)

 

[I Am The Knight]

I, too, don't get exactly why Batman had to be framed...I mean, if I remember correctly, they say it's because Gotham wouldn't be able to take another hit by revealing Dent as a fraud. But that seems to be Batman treating the citizens of Gotham as children. I think the whole thing was more thematic than logical, and it sure makes for a nice ending and setup for a third film, but I'm not sure that they had to frame the bat.

Could someone enlighten me on this.....

Ah, I see James Cameron just replied with some of my own concerns regarding this.

 

[Brother Jack]

I didnt know why did they chose this path. Batman was as big of a symbol as Dent. People knew Batman for longer and thought of him as an incorruptible symbol of justice and their protector who changed things. Turning their hero and the role model for kids into a stone cold killer of innocent is as bad if not worse than blaming Dent who couldve been excused by post accident trauma or brain damage. And neither had to be blamed. Lets say one of Joker's thugs did it. Lets say some guy dressed as Batman did it(after all, there were plenty around)

Batman was always a controversial figure, there were people who thought he was a menace even before the Joker came around, which is somewhat understandable given that Batman technically breaks the law. Dent on the other hand was immediately embraced by the public as a virtuous man of the law, so much so that Gotham looked to him for inspiration instead of Batman. Batman is a symbol, and as a symbol he exists in some ways above the parameters of good and evil, which is what being something more than a hero was about. I suppose it's possible that Harvey's murders (which, by the way, were not exactly innocent people) could have been pinned on someone else, but at the very least Batman would have had to own up to killing Dent. And I'm not even getting into the psychological and emotional reasons why Batman felt he was responsible.

 

[GothamAlleys]

Well but like I said, Batman was also the hero and symbol for this city, and Dent at this time was known to be in great pain, refusing to take medications and with severe damage that he never even had time or a chance to recover from. If it was so important for the city to have a role model, they both should last as heroes then. Same thing applies to Batman, and again, anyone in Bat suit could do this and the city had seen at least one guy in a bat suit days prior. I assume Bruce just wanted to retire, but then again, by proclaiming himself as someone who started cleaning up the city and became a role model and suddenly switch to cold murderer, he destroys everything he would if Dent would take the blame. Joker's people could be easily blamed if not the Bat decoys. Say that Dent was there with the gun to save the Gordon family, and thats how he dies as an even bigger hero. It also helped that Batman chose to run, made it look like he may be an impostor

 

[The Joker]

"The first legitimate ray of light in Gotham in decades" turns out to be a murderer, and you wonder why Batman and Gordon covered that up?

Pretty straight forward.

 

[GothamAlleys]

"The first legitimate ray of light in Gotham in decades" turns out to be a murderer, and you wonder why Batman and Gordon covered that up?

Pretty straight forward.

I understand why it was covered up, I just dont understand why Batman had to have been turned into a sudden murderer and not blame it on Joker's people or just about anybody dressed as Batman

 

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

The Joker's phone records would place him at the Prewitt building and no Batman impostor has a home made Bat-pod. Maybe TDKR will shed a little more light on the situation, since the final shot of TDK is just minutes after Two-Face dies, so we don't know how the public reacted, other than wanting the Bat-Signal destroyed.

 

[Brother Jack]

I understand why it was covered up, I just dont understand why Batman had to have been turned into a sudden murderer and not blame it on Joker's people or just about anybody dressed as Batman

Because Batman felt responsible, and in a way he was. He was the one who acted impulsively and chose to try and save Rachel instead of Dent, leading to the former's death, he was the one who decided to turn himself in and let Harvey take the fall for him, he was the one who abducted Lau from overseas prompting to mob to hire the Joker, he was the one threw the fundraiser to get Harvey into serious power, and he was the one who crossed the line first by putting on a mask and jumping off rooftops.

He was naive, he tried to do the right thing, he tried to inspire good and he failed at almost every turn. His ultimatum at the end was his way of taking responsibility for his mistakes and the consequences of them, to put behind the failed attempt at being a symbol of hope and become something else, something more.