Yes! After all that talk since eons ago about how I'm intending to watch Batman Begins, I've finally gotten down to watching it over the weekend! And darn... I LOVE this movie!!!



I'm never a fan of the Batman franchise, as u may have heard before, but this was an awesome movie that stands on its own. Unlike previous Batman movies (yes, I've watched them before), this one was treated with an unconventional style that gives a whole new dimension to superhero movies - it had an excellent story-telling quality to it. I liked the way the story went, how Bruce Wayne developed his fear for bats, how he felt responsible for his parents' death, how he grew up bitter and went through many obstacles just so that he could do something for them, including living a life as a criminal just to understand them. But this is not Lee Ang's The Hulk, where he spends 42 sleep-inducing minutes dwelling on the beginnings of the protagonist's life and his emotional roller-coaster ride - in Batman Begins, the director handles the emotional growth of Bruce nicely without being overly sentimental yet still able to tug on the heart strings of those watching it. In fact, to be honest, I almost felt a tear when I saw how a young Bruce was torn by the death of his parents and the guilt that he may have caused their death.

And when it comes to the action, director Christopher Nolan doesn't disappoint either. The entire movie is well-paced and doesn't suspend belief like the other Batman movies do. It's intriguing to see how all the cool gadgets came about in the first place, and how Bruce is after all still an ordinary person who needed to buy parts of his costume thru regular suppliers and get goods which ended up with the wrong specifications - "In the meantime, may I recommend not landing on your head.... (Alfred)". Yup, I like the humor in the movie, very appropriately done.

The performances were wonderful as well, and Christian Bale has become my favourite Dark Knight who, finally, is of the right build and looks to pull off the character of Batman, IMO. Acting wise, he managed to bring out the bitterness, the playfulness and seriousness of the character. All in all, a very all-rounded performances by this actor. And Michael Caine has made Alfred the butler such a delight to watch! Another wonderful actor of his time. Even Mrs Tom Cruise-to-be Katie Holmes wasn't bad at all, though I felt that she had too much of a baby-face. Other cast members such as Gary Olman (Gordon) and Cillian Murphy (Dr Crane) also did a very good job. As for Liam Neeson, well, too Qui-Gon Jinn for me, thou it was refreshing to see him as the bad guy...

Strange, but after watching Batman Begins, I'm actually looking foward to Bryan Singer's interpretation of Superman in Superman Returns. I mean, if superhero stories such as Batman could be done this well, I guess Superman Returns does have the potential to achieve that too, doesn't it?


Trivia (taken from IMDB.com)

Before Christian Bale was cast as Batman, many other actors were considered for the role including Guy Pearce, Ashton Kutcher, David Boreanaz, John Cusack, David Duchovny and newcomer Hugh Dancy. Only days before the role of Batman was cast, eight actors were asked to audition for the part. The actors were Christian Bale, Joshua Jackson, Eion Bailey, Hugh Dancy, Billy Crudup, Cillian Murphy, Henry Cavill and Jake Gyllenhaal. While Bale won the part, Christopher Nolan liked Cillian Murphy's audition so much, he cast Murphy as Dr. Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow

Wait a minute... did I just see John Cusack???? Ok, as much as I like this guy, John Cusack CANNOT be Batman! Billy Crudup and Guy Pearce would make interesting choices, so would Jake Gyllenhaal, thou I find it hard to see them as superheroes. But hey, I never expected Tobey McGuire as Spiderman either!

While shooting on the streets of Chicago, a person accidentally crashed into the Batmobile. The driver was apparently drunk, and said he hit the car in a state of panic, believing the Dark Knight's vehicle to be an invading alien spacecraft.

Before the shooting began, Christopher Nolan invited the whole film crew to a private screening of Blade Runner (1982). After the film he said to the whole crew, "This is how we're going to make Batman."

A pair of Batman pajama bottoms can be seen hanging from the line in the scene where Batman talks to the little boy in the Narrows.

A full city block of Gotham - much of it based on the slums of Kowloon in Hong Kong which were torn down in 1994 - was built in a converted aircraft hangar.

Viggo Mortensen turned down Liam Neeson's role. Daniel Day-Lewis was also approached

Viggo Mortensen? Hmmm... interesting... And I wonder how Daniel Day-Lewis is gonna prepare for that role...

Update (28/11/05):

I've gotten the new Batman Begins Deluxe Edition DVD (code 1). Yay!! Here's a little review of the DVD.