the origin



i was very weary when i first heard my beloved christopher nolan was going to do a comic book flick. not that i doubted nolan could pull it off(and who couldn't nowadays...) but i didn't want to see one of my favourite directors taking a route that many talented indie directors took and tied up making trilogies and trilogies of comic book adaptations. two best examples are sam raimi and bryan singer. sam raimi came from the evil dead fame, and went on to direct 2 spider-man flicks(and supposedly about 5 more coming too), while bryan singer made a huge splash several years ago with the usual suspect and went on to handle x-men and X2, and now upcoming superman. there was even talk of darren aronofsky(requiem for a dream) doing the watchmen(the holy grail of all things superhero comics) and an origin of batman flick(which nolan took over). i can understand the reasoning behind hollywood bribing these young underground directors to ressurect a tired and stale genre by infusing a new perspective but i want to see these directors doing what they do best; creating personal, challenging, low-budget and uncompromising films. but having a perfect track record, i knew nolan could come out and give the mainstream audience something they have never seen before from a comic adaptation film, with a franchise that has been on the tumbling decline ever since the devil himself(joel schumacher) took over. schumacher pretty much raped batman and his young protege from every angle and left for dead. no wonder warner needed a young blood to revive the franchise.

i went to see begins on tuesday before meeting ray and rich for a short boys' night out. i figure it being a tuesday and early afternoon i thought i would be seeing a matinee. but no... i had to pay 12 bucks and change for an imax screening. apparently it's a criminal for a movie ticket to go below 10 bucks in canada... no wonder i download movies instead of going to theatres more regularly. i think the last time i went to a theatre to watch a movie was the incredibles.. or was it a very long engagement? i dunno.

first off, i absolutely loved this film even though i'm not into comic books all that much. i prefer graphic novels that depict life AS IS but i do own the watchmen and batman: year one, which the film was loosely based on. going back to origin of a character that's so well known to the mainstream audience can be dangerous. i suppose spider-man's story from the beginning was inevitable for the modern audience but batman character was modernized in the 90s with 4 films. and only several years later they want to restart it again under a different director with completely new vision? dangerous indeed. but i'm totally happy to say that i should have never doubted nolan. although i'm head over heeels happy about him going back to his roots and making a small film called the exec(due in 2006) with his brother jonah writing the screenplay, after seeing begins i wouldn't mind seeing a sequel of begins by nolan. he should NOT be tied up for who knows how many more batman films but he should be given the freedom to create original films like memento.

now, begins is not a perfect film by any stretch of imagination but the positive FAAAARRRRR overweighs the bad. the best part of this film was nolan's depiction of batman as an ordinary human being without an ounce of superpower. he has the will, determination, training and financial backing but he can't fly on his own free will, shoot death rays from his ass and is completely immuned to krytonite. it's easy to show bruce wayne making series of good choices as he transform into the dark knight but noland chose to humanize him by letting him make mistakes and improve his tactics. whenever i watch a comic book flick, i always wonder how the superheroes made their own costumes so professionally, or how their base was constructed or how their gadgets were conceived and manufactured. most of these miniscule questions are of course almost never answered and are part of the superhero mystery. the incredibles did, however, showed that there was a designer behind supercostume who insists that no one should ever wear capes. another thing that begins did so well is not only showing the evolution of batman and his weapons and gears but how logical every single one of these wares are and how integral to batman's transformation. i loved the scenes where bruce wayne is slowly trying out various gears in real life condition and making modifications and adjustments to fit his needs. and for once the infamous cape is justified. edna will be proud.

also, the urgency portrayed in the latter half is quite thrilling. the scene where batman is stuck in a building(the arkham asylum) and brings the bats for his escape is taken straight out of batman year one. i was completely into the film at this point and the collective score by the superstars hans zimmer and james howard newton added so much to the scene. i can't quite describe the feeling of desperation and urgency but i got a similar vibe while watching first season of 24. there was a part where jack escaped from police custody and was being hunted down. he then got a call from his wife and daughter who were being captive. even though jack was in much worst scenario, he tried his best to calmed down his family while trying to get himself back in charge. nolan did similar thing here by giving batman a juggling lesson, by dangling a life in front of him.

some positives other than mentioned above
+the test of bruce wayne as a ninja before he confronts ken watanabe character was amazing. it was like something in the mirror land where you see your enemy and he quickly fades into the background. such a cool twist!
+batmobile.. wow. i was shocked to see picture of the batmobile long long time ago and didn't think it made any sense. having seen it in action, it makes perfect sense! someone who's battling the entire city need a hummer-like vehicle that can bulldoze over anything. a sportscar-like batmobile just didn't make sense after watching this. also the vehicle is a real thing, not a cgi. nolan actually got his ppl to build several of them for shooting.
+batman's voice. whenever i saw superman on telly, i always wondered if everyone in there were blind. there's no way kent clark could just change costume and remove the glasses and not have anyone recognize him. aside from batman's total transformation with costume, he also changed the voice... it was so obvious i can't believe burton didn't see this way. also utilizing the natural attributes of bats such as heighten sense of hearing incorporated into the costume was brilliant.
+nolan's ongoing exploration of that gray area between good and evil, and degrees and layers of good and justice.
+batman on fire! it was amazing to see batman being a novice despite all the training. he's still inexperienced as a crime fighter and require all the assistance from his surroundings and ppl he trusts.
+when this film is on, it's really on.
+again, the music, while not as iconic as original batman, does an amazing job.
+dark knight is finally seen as a dark figure. the film is much much more grim and darker than previous incarnations. it sucked out all comic book-ey feel out of it, making it feel like it can stand as a film with satisfying merits of its own rather than leaning on its comic origin for support.

some negative points
-all hand-to-hand fight sequences were so close to the camera that it was very difficult to comprehend exactly what was going on, who's kicking who, and so on.
-the training scene could have been longer, especially wayne training with other ninjas.
-minor gripe with the script. i really dislike repetition in scripts.
-the batmobile going 'stealth'? .........................
-katie holmes' nipples should have gotten a seperate credit....
-i absolutely HATE quick reactionary cuts of extras. i loathe it!!! the obligatory kid having a small part in there to show that batman isn't all killing and knock outs. fuck that, get that brat out of there! and these cops not knowing how to react to the batmobile when they first see it. i fucking hated their dumbfounded comments.. "what maker is the vehicle? oh. i see it."
-league of whatever.
-the glacier shots. they are breath takingly beautiful but nolan already used it in intro shots of insomnia. i really need to check out iceland...
-the first 5 minutes of the film were paced too fast. i felt as if there was no exposition whatsoever.
-too many characters to develop, not enough time. i thought scarecrow was neglected, i didn't quite understand where he was coming from and what his motives were.

there are alot more to go over but i'm tired....