Thank God for Chris Nolan.

At last, here is someone with the vision, the cojones and the determination to rescue the moribund Batman franchise after it was butchered and left for dead by that pony-tailed twat Joel Schumacher.

Respect was long overdue. Batman was my childhood hero.


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[Edited 6/10/05 14:12pm]

Does this mean you've seen it already?

I wouldn't jump to conclusions just yet, but the inclusion of Scarecrow (how could it take them four movies to get to the best villain!?), the filmmakers' reluctance to rely on CGI and Christian Bale in the main role sure make me a bit curious.

Not too sure at all about Christopher Nolan though. People loved Memento to no end, but I found it too gimmicky and not a fair proof of directorial talent. Besides, his debut Following was quite weak (and relied just as much on a gimmick).

We'll see. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that BB will be an improvement.

retina said:

There was an advance screening here in London last week but, no, I wasn't there.

At the moment I'm relying on extremely good word-of-mouth from all quarters so the signs are pretty good we'll be getting an interesting take on the Batman legend this time around. God knows it needs a good kick up the backside after the travesty of the last two films.

Costume quibbles: the utility belt looks way too chunky and cumbersome. I guess the aim is to make everything look not just cool but also functional.

But thank the Lord for small mercies, at least there are no nipples on the suit this time around


.

I agree, all the signs are good for this one.



(and sorry, but the black rubber costume pisses all over the black & grey one)

TheBatman said:

ARGHHHHH!

Stop it with the costume already!

Looks like shit. DC has so few characters that anyone cares about, they make endless sequels and prequels to Batman and Superman.

doctamario said:

I'd pay to see a decent Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Green Arrow, or Flash movie.

doctamario said:

Superman movies are garbage compared to the batman movies (minus batman and robin)

First one is fantastic, if only for jack
second one is great, though not as good basically
"forever" is only above average for careys riddler. Tommy lee jones is miscast though, and casting is essestial for batman. Kilmer is fine.
"b and robin" was just shocking. "ice to meet u"
[Edited 6/10/05 15:36pm]

thesexofit said:

Superman I and II were better than any of the Batman movies, IMO. They screwed up the Superman franchise after those two, though.

TMPletz said:

First one is good. But I prefer batmans dark atmosphere to supermans films. Jack as the joker is one of the best performances in film history "all hail the new king in town".

TMPletz said:

Actually...Wonder Woman has been discussed alot lately as possibly being made into a movie...and I heard a rumor that the Flash is also a strong possibility.

As for Batman Begins...it looks interesting. I like the concept and the actors involved. I DON'T like the new Batmobile. Some things are sacred...and the sleek, torpedo-like styling of the original Batmobile is one of them. The new one looks like a Hummer on steroids.

PurpleJedi said:

I was thinking the same thing about the Batmobile. The only excuse is that it is the early verison of what will become the real Batmobile. If not, I don't even know if I want to see this movie. It looks a little bit too different. Even if this movie isn't as good as it's hype (and frankly, considering Ebert didn't like ANY of the "atman"movies, I put little stock in his comments) at the very least we can hope they will release the long overdue special editions for the first four movies. If not, Warners sucks it hard! It already looks like they aren't doing a great job of promoting this movie. Do they want to show the villian (or even tell us who he is) or not? We see glimpses of him and it's pretty well known who it is but not many people are talking about it. If it bombs, they asked for it!

TMPletz said:

I was never much into GL, but I agree with you about your other three choices


Heck, maybe they should just make a Justice League movie?

VinnyM27 said:

I read they tried to be as realistic as possible with the movie, so I guess this Batmobile makes sense. The other one doesn't really. Might look cooler though.
But I'm really curious to see this one!
BTW, how should the costume look if not like this? Grey and blue? Sorry, but that so wouldn't work on the silver screen.

I can't wait. From all the trailers I've seen, this will be THE definitive Batman movie. Batman '89(the best out of the four) was good for its time, but it had lots of flaws. Batman Begins uses many elements from DC's Batman:Year One. It'll make us forget the Ass Known as Joel Schumacher. I knew the series was in trouble when JS said, "It's time for Bruce Wayne to get over the death of his parents." What a tool. He has no respect for comics or comic book writers(unlike Sam Raimi).


I have high hopes for Superman & Wonder Woman too. The latest issue of Wizard magazine has an interview with the guy writing the WW movie. I liked what I read. She's going to have a whole new look.

uPtoWnNY said:

NOOOOO!

Can't they just stay true to the way they've been drawn for YEARS??? Batman's costume I can see changing because it just doesn't look right on screen, but there is nothing wrong with Wonder Woman's look. Linda Carter proved that 25 years ago.

I already see too many people jumping on "the costume sucks" bandwagon.

From a visual standpoint I wish they had made more of an effort to stylise the chunky utility belt a little bit more, but I guess it would then have turned into an issue of style over content.

I believe the producers wanted to place far more enphasis on gritty realism this time around. The utility belt, as well as the Batmobile, are now designed to appear fully functional, which is a complete departure from what has gone before - and that includes the design values as seen in Tim Burton's two films.

Let's not forget that "Batman Begins" concentrates on Year One so try not to expect the Batmobile to be the sleek mean-machine we are so used to associating with the Batman movies. It's easy to forget how totally preposterous and ridiculous the Batmobile looked in the last Schumacher film.

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Nikster said:

I agree!
And who do you think could play the Wonder Twins?

PurpleJedi said:

For some reason, they always reminded me of Donny and Marie Osmond.

TheBatman said:

Heeeeyyyy-Heyyyyy.....

The last two were crappy. Leave Batman and Batman Returns alone.

Seriously, the only ones worth watchin are the Tim Burton masterpieces.....and the costumes WERE kinda decent, thankyouverymuch.

But this new one with Christian Bale is gonna be crap, I just know it!

Batman Begins has reveived great word of mouth down here in Aus from people who have seen advance screenings.

BTW, have you heard about the rumour that Mark Hamill is considered for the role of The Joker in a Batman Begins sequel?

kiss85 said:

UGH! I'm sorry, I know you were joking, but the word "masterpiece" in the same sentence as Burton's name???

I hated those first two movies with Burton and Keaton. I can't even bring myself to watch them.

TheBatman said:

I thought they were both great for many reasons. Most critics are praising this movie as the real "Batman" movie although I don't think the media in general is feeling "Batman" fever, which doesn't say much. It seems to serious (the AP review I read on it says that as well) and has no sense of fun. And Katie Holmes in role that requires a much seixer woman? I'll see this but am not expecting anything great.

...saw it last nite, thought it was pretty damn decent...

giotto!

Good movie, but it pained me to see a great actor like Gary Oldman deliver the line "I have got to get me one of those."

Also, no statues were accused of being "King of the Wicker People" by Robert Whul. The next movie should have Robert Whul as Batman fighting a whole damn tribe of Wicker People. That movie would really pump me up.

calldapplwondery83 said:

I like this idea. He already has the character nailed.

HobbesLeCute said:

I agree. From a fan's standpoint, that would be great (in case people have no idea what we are talking about, he was the voice of the Joker in the excellent "Batman the Animated Series"). However, his boxoffice star is nonexistant. It seems like they will go for a lesser known star (in this case, the star is not a household name like Keaton was) or a respected older actor (this movie is full of them!). I would love to see Mark Hamill in there. Considering this one is hyped becuase of star power and the fact that the villin is really not shown in the commericals and doesn't appear to be a big focus like he was in the prior four, there is a good chance it could happen. The only thing is, after seeing him make a total ass of himself in "Jay and Silent Bob" as the villian, I'm not sure if I could suspend disbelief.