Batman Begins *SPOILERS*

[skull_bearer]

I admit I'm a newbie to the Batman films. I've read a few of the comic books and seen more than a few of the cartoons, but I haven't actually watched any of the movies until today.

What can I say, if they're as good as what I just saw they might be more than worth my time.

Just as long as they've got the same director. I have to look up who it was who did Batman Begins, but he knows his stuff. I don't think he butchered the original nearly as much as other directors do and his ironic sense of humor is just fantastic, my favourite: Alfred to Bruce Wayne- "Batman took the front page, you were put on page eight." Title of page eight? 'Drunk Millionaire Burns Down Home'. Priceless.

Now, before I start announcing all the things I liked about this film, I have to say that not everything was to my taste.

The first is entirely due to me, no fault of the director's at all, I just can't seen Liam Neeson as anything but a good guy. It comes from watching 'Phantom Menace' too many times, I guess.

The second was just nauseating and could have been cut with nothing but a sigh of relief, it was that bad.

The romance.

But by all the Stars could you sceam 'compulsory romantic interest' any louder please? With knobs on? Gods, it was so obvious it was painful to watch. She was just so... Vapid. They had done a half-arsed job of giving her a personality and it ended up being worse than if they had just left her as a doe-eyed bimbo. She should have been killed off, not just due to the satisfaction it would give the audience, but also because this way she would actually give something to the plot. Even worse, she discovered Batman's secret identity. Hello? The point of a secret identity is that it's secret. In truth, it would have been great if she girl had discovered Batman's identity and then died. That way it would strengthen Bruce's resolve both to his cause and to make sure no-one else discovered who he really was. Plus, the audience would have been spared one of the cheesiest scenes in modern film history, and yes, I am including 'Attack of the Clones'.

On the good side though, I liked Batman's background, it was believable in it's own right and the special effects were cleverly understated so as to look more real than the effects in, say, Spiderman. The Hallucinogenic sequence was sheer brilliance and had me cringing in my seat.

On that topic, the bad guy was great, I was hoping for the Joker but the Scarecrow is another one of my favourites.

And the last scene. That last scene made the film. That moment when the cop comes up to Batman telling him of this new criminal, robbery, double homicide, a flair for the dramatic... and a calling card.

You know what it is before he turns it over. You guessed right... A Joker.

The cinema went wild, what a kick arse ending!

My advice: go and see it, you'd be missing out.

Plus, Liam Neeson is hot.

 

Skull Bearer.