Batman Begins Review

Saw Batman Begins last night, and this morning the first Batman movie was on TV. IMHO, clearly the third and fourth movies were the worst of the five. I do think that Michael Keaton did a good job with the character. He played this character darkly, while Kilmer and Clooney were merely pretty boys. (Don’t get me wrong; pretty boys are nice, too, but not in Batman.)

SciFi Daily correctly plays homage to Adam West. I think the man was pretty brave to even put on the costume! And like William Shatner who is linked to Captain Kirk, West has clearly been forever linked to Batman. He has embraced the character and doesn't seem to be bitter about it, as some others might have been. (For example, for many years Leonard Nimoy hated Spock, but did finally come 'round and accept that Nimoy IS Spock, dispute his book titled I am Not Spock.)

I had forgotten until I saw Batman this morning that there elements of campiness in the movie that are reminiscent of the TV series. I had also forgotten that Keaton's Batmobile is more like West's than the new one could ever be. Tho' I have to ask ~ where can I get one of those?! it is SO kewl!! Seeing pictures of it don’t do it justice - ya just have to see it in action!

Michael Caine's Alfred is very good. The previous four movies' butlers were fairly forgettable. Alfred is such an important part of Bruce/Batman's life that he must be represented in a strong manner. The TV Alfred, Alan Napier, was a good one. I wonder: was Batman's Joker's "real" name, Jack Napier (Jack Nicholson), done on purpose to play some homage to Alan?

Gordon, the police commissioner in the TV series, appears as a sargeant in this movie. Pat Hingle, who played Commissioner Gordon in the previous four movies, is okay, but is not the ally that the character was in the TV series. But I like seeing the evolution of the relationship between Gordon and Batman, as this movie shows.

WARNING, SPOILER ~~ Liam Neeson's character Ducard (a villain) had an interesting final moment on screen. He sees his ending coming. He closes his eyes and seems to become calm. No panic, no scream or yell. Of course, I'm not sure that I can see Neeson doing that (I haven't seen all his work by a long shot). I think that another villian in this movie, Scarecrow, could have been developed more and had more screen time. (Scarecrow is one of the comic book villians.)

Summary: I enjoyed this movie. Batman Begins ended with a clear reference to a sequel involving the Joker. Our local paper yesterday had an article that included a quote that this movie is not a prequel, but a new beginning. I'll be looking forward to seeing what the future holds for this new franchise in the Batman saga.

The above image is from here.