Thursday, June 16, 2005

I must be tired... Reactions to Batman Begins

I must be tired of comic book movies.

Anywhere between the ages of 8 and 20, I would leap out of my seat every time I heard an announcement that a new action-packed science fiction, fantasy, or superhero-type movie was in the makings. I was really excited about Keaton's Batman, strange and different as it was. Heck, I even felt a little tingle when I heard they were making the Punisher (at least until I heard Dolph Lundgren was going to be in it. Even at that age, I wasn't falling for it...)

Now, after dozens of terrible comic book movies (The Crow, Daredevil, Spawn, Elektra, The Shadow), several fair comic book movies (Blade, original Batman, Hulk, the new Punisher), and even some outstanding ones (Spiderman, X-Men, X2), I reacted with a sigh and detached disinterest when I heard they were making a new Batman movie. That's a sure sign that I must be just plain tired of comic book movies, since Batman has always been in the top five of coolest superheroes.

I just sat through an impressive one last night. This newest revision of the Batman story, Batman Begins, was rich and complex, had some excellent acting, and even some new twists on the Batman mysterie that were visionary and well-told. They chose new but still interesting (and downright frightening) super-villains, and generally did a great job putting a superhero with a difficult-to-tell-without-cheese story together.

Still, I could not find any trace of the excitement with which I saw X-Men or even the subdued appreciation I felt for the excellent Spiderman released recently. Is it because movies just don't hold much punch for me anymore? No, I came away from several movies this year having enjoyed them immensely. Is it that it wasn't "new"? No, I came away from the new Star Wars enjoying it considerably and it wasn't anything new. Was it because the filmmakers failed in some way? Probably not, since my favorite movie reviewer raved about this film. So what in the world was it?

I dunno, I guess I just must be tired.

9 comments:

Tim Lewis said...

I think I need to see this one. I wanted to destroy the Clooney/Arnold ridiculousness that was the last Batman movie.

I was telling Eric that I was up late watching the late night garbage that they have on opposite Mythbusters (I still think the A/C gas guzzling test they did was accurate enough) when I came across a PBS thing with Christian Bale and the director talking about the movie. They showed several clips and I was starting to become interested in it more than I have been, due to the seemingly more independent film feel to the clips they showed and the descriptions that they each gave to it.

No one tell me anything about it, unless you are warning me that it is going to really mess up my shoes if I step into it.

LALALALALA *runs away*

ted said...

I saw it last night and all I can say is go see it. I'll hold off on my comments here for a few days so as not to ruin any surprises for you (and just in case you've heard some spoilers, yes, Alfred does become the new Robin).

Big Mike Lewis said...

LOL...Alfred becomes Robin...

I liked the original Crow movie with Brandon Lee, the sequels were lame.

Maybe you just need to buy a Batman action figure to get you into this one.

Being a Batman fan, I liked all of them...yes, including the one with Mr. Freeze and goofy talk...hey, I am a true fan! It was like the old days with Adam West and Burt Ward.

I'll most likely see this one and love it!

Big Mike Lewis said...

Oh yeah, and I have the Punisher on DVD with Dolph Lungren...I got it in the Wal*Mart $5 bin.

Gunslinger said...

I came out of the theater last night pumped. I liked this movie a ton. Actually, I would put this above the X-men movies. It put all other Batman movies to shame. This is the only Batman movie as far as I am concerned. All the others (no offense Mike) Sucked Spokes.

I also got to watch Ted make fun of some kid (well young man, actually) playing Dance Dance Revolution. It was one of the funniest things I have seen in ages. Except for that video of the kid falling out of the car that I sent around this morning.

ted said...

That's right, folks. We came out of the movie and were standing by the bathrooms with a good view of the video games. There was a guy in his late teens or early twenties playing some DDR. I told Eric I was going to go stand behind him and dance and Eric didn't believe me. That hurt my feelings. So you know what I did? I went over behind the guy an threw down. I'm not sure if he knew I was there, but everyone at the concession stand had a nice, clear view of me doing my best to emulate both Napoleon Dynamite and Chunk from Goonies, with a little Michael Flatley flourish to start things off. I went home and told Trisha what I had done and she asked me if I had tried to get Tyler to offer me money to do it. I'm such and idiot!

Dwayne Hilty said...

So many good comments and so little space. First up, Batman Begins was so cool and I'm not sure what it was that didn't spark your interest. Maybe it was your seat (after all, I was more towards the center of the theatre than you). But I do have to say, I am not known for my love of comic book movies and I went into Batman Begins with a very low expectation (I thought matinee price might have been too much), HOWEVER, this movie rocked. I immediately started digging a bat cave under our apartments when I got home.

About the guy jumping out of the car...as I emailed some of you, I'm now thinking that the blow to Jordan's male parts was not near as bad as I thought originally. True, it must have been painful, but I'm twitching after watching the video Eric sent around.

Casino Weekly said...

You never know man. It could be the hype, or lack thereof. After a relatively "blah" Episodes I and II, Revenge of the Sith came back and surprised a lot of people, including myself.

After we saw what happened to the last Batman series, and the abyss that fell into, I'm thinking I'll actuallybe pleasantly surprised with this one. I am however, trying to let these actual "good reviews" get in the way of my thinking.

rebecca marie said...

batman begins was in my top three movie theatre experiences of ever. i mean, nothing can compete with the first time we saw nightcrawler in action at the whitehouse, let alone his basically awesome airplane rescue. but seriously, batman begins will be tough to beat.

by the way, yes, i'm sure i'm a girl.