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BATMAN FILM REVIEWS Part 1: Batman (1989)
I have decided to finish up my blog with six movie reviews. One of my nerdy aspects is that I am a big Batman fan. I was obsessed with the comics and animated series growing up as a kid, and I thought I would write about my own thoughts on the six feature films.
Before I begin with the 1989 Batman directed by Tim Burton, I want to briefly go back to the 1960s television series starring Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin. This was the series that really introduced Batman to a lot of the public. The tone of the series was about as far away from the Batman we know today as it can possibly get. It was a campy version that strayed away from the dark appeal of most of the comics. It was supposed to be fun, silly, and entertaining. However, for fans of the comics, the camp appeal of the TV series grew tiring, and it was time for Batman to take on a more serious tone to show to audiences. In 1989, they would get their wish.
Burton’s Batman was the first feature film based off the comic book series. It had a dark and serious tone and was a box office success, grossing $43.6 million. Cast as Batman was Michael Keaton, who gave a surprisingly outstanding performance portraying the mysterious Caped Crusader and his alter ego, Bruce Wayne. You can identify Bruce Wayne’s feelings rather nicely with Keaton’s facial expressions and dialogue. You can tell he’s hiding something from unsuspecting characters. There’s a scene where Bruce is trying to confess to his love interest, Vicki Vale, that he is Batman, but he has trouble getting his words out, and when she walks away, he’s whispering to himself “I’m Batman. I’m Batman.” This scene is an example of Keaton’s performance as Bruce Wayne.
The villain in the film is the Joker, played by Jack Nicholson. After falling into a vat of chemicals, criminal Jack Napier’s face becomes disfigured, appearing as so he has a permanent smile, and thus becoming the Joker. The Joker’s plot is to add chemicals to every hygiene products and causing people to “laugh to death.” The Joker then holds a parade through the streets of Gotham City, where he exudes lethal gases intended to kill all citizens nearby. Batman, however, crashes the Joker’s party, but the Joker then kidnaps Vicki Vale, taking her to the top of a tall cathedral church. Batman follows and fights the Joker, who falls to his death while attempting to be saved by his henchman in a helicopter.
The main plot is a simple and typical plot of a superhero story. However, the film also gives us the back-story of Bruce Wayne, which ends up connecting him to the Joker, making the confrontation of Batman and the Joker more meaningful. When Bruce was a kid, his parents were murdered by a criminal. As the film goes on, Bruce discovers that the criminal who murdered his parents was Jack Napier, who is now the Joker. This connection makes this hero-villain relationship more than just the hero trying to stop a random person from evil deeds.
Nicholson was an excellent choice to play the Joker. Nicholson has been known to play many psychotic characters in his films, notably in his role as Jack Torrence in the Shining. Nicholson does not disappoint as the Joker, for he is crazy and demented consistently throughout the film. The scene where the Joker is fighting Batman at the top of the cathedral demonstrates Nicholson’s performance very well.
Tim Burton’s Batman gave me all I could ask for in a film based of the comics. It delivered the serious tone perfectly, the acting by the main characters was great, the music was outstanding, and I really liked the development of the hero-villain relationship. It was satisfying and entertaining from start to finish.
Monday, December 14, 2009
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BATMAN FILM REVIEWS Part 2: Batman Returns (1992)
After the success of the first film, director Tim Burton was urged by Warner Bros to film a sequel. For the sequel, titled Batman Returns, Burton was given more creative control. As a result, Batman Returns was even darker than the previous film and was often depressing.
Michael Keaton returns as Bruce Wayne/Batman and delivers another satisfying performance. However, the central focus of the film is no longer on Bruce Wayne/Batman. Instead, the film focuses on the villains. Unlike the first film, where there was only one villain, Batman Returns has three villains.
The main villain is the Penguin, played by Danny DeVito. The Penguin is a deformed man who was abandoned by his parents as an infant and dispatched into the sewers beneath the Gotham City Zoo. The Penguin teams up with Max Shreck, a business tycoon who intends to build a power plant for Gotham City in order to drain the power of the city and make a huge profit. The Penguin, who later learns his true name: Oswald Cobblepot, plots to become Mayor of Gotham in order to help Shreck build his power plant.
The third villain of the film emerges when Shreck’s secretary, Selina Kyle, discovers Shrecks intentions with his power plant proposal. Shreck attempts to kill Kyle, played by Michelle Pfieffer, by pusher her out of the window of their office. Kyle survives the fall, but then a strange scene occurs where she is on the ground and a bunch of cats are biting at her. She goes insane upon returning to her home, and her aggression leads to her taking the persona of Catwoman. Catwoman joins forces with the Penguin and offers to keep Batman out of his plot. At the same time, however, Selina Kyle develops a romantic relationship with Bruce Wayne (not knowing that he is Batman). This connection between alter egos is a nice touch because both characters interact with eachother in both of their personas: Catwoman with Batman and Selina Kyle with Bruce Wayne. This is done without either character knowing about each other’s alternate identity.
In the end, Batman ruins the Penguin’s plot by playing a recording of the Penguin saying harmful things about Gotham during his campaign speech. This enrages the citizens, who chase the Penguin back to the city Zoo, where he is attacked by a swarm of bats and falls down to the sewers below. Then a confrontation between Batman, Catwoman and Max Shreck follows where batman takes off his mask, revealing his identity to Kyle, who had removed her mask as well. Kyle kills Shreck by envoking an explosion and is suddenly nowhere to be found.
The story ends leaving the audience with an empty feeling rather than the triumphant feeling the first film had. Batman Returns was an effectively dark and depressing film that some people like and some didn’t like. It focused on the villains and made them seem more tragic. I enjoyed the performances from DeVito and Pfeiffer as their respective villains. It wasn’t nearly as great of a film as the first one, and I think it depends on how dark you want a Batman film to be in order for you to enjoy it. This is by far the darkest of all of the Batman films.
BATMAN FILM REVIEWS Part 2: Batman Returns (1992)
After the success of the first film, director Tim Burton was urged by Warner Bros to film a sequel. For the sequel, titled Batman Returns, Burton was given more creative control. As a result, Batman Returns was even darker than the previous film and was often depressing.
Michael Keaton returns as Bruce Wayne/Batman and delivers another satisfying performance. However, the central focus of the film is no longer on Bruce Wayne/Batman. Instead, the film focuses on the villains. Unlike the first film, where there was only one villain, Batman Returns has three villains.
The main villain is the Penguin, played by Danny DeVito. The Penguin is a deformed man who was abandoned by his parents as an infant and dispatched into the sewers beneath the Gotham City Zoo. The Penguin teams up with Max Shreck, a business tycoon who intends to build a power plant for Gotham City in order to drain the power of the city and make a huge profit. The Penguin, who later learns his true name: Oswald Cobblepot, plots to become Mayor of Gotham in order to help Shreck build his power plant.
The third villain of the film emerges when Shreck’s secretary, Selina Kyle, discovers Shrecks intentions with his power plant proposal. Shreck attempts to kill Kyle, played by Michelle Pfieffer, by pusher her out of the window of their office. Kyle survives the fall, but then a strange scene occurs where she is on the ground and a bunch of cats are biting at her. She goes insane upon returning to her home, and her aggression leads to her taking the persona of Catwoman. Catwoman joins forces with the Penguin and offers to keep Batman out of his plot. At the same time, however, Selina Kyle develops a romantic relationship with Bruce Wayne (not knowing that he is Batman). This connection between alter egos is a nice touch because both characters interact with eachother in both of their personas: Catwoman with Batman and Selina Kyle with Bruce Wayne. This is done without either character knowing about each other’s alternate identity.
In the end, Batman ruins the Penguin’s plot by playing a recording of the Penguin saying harmful things about Gotham during his campaign speech. This enrages the citizens, who chase the Penguin back to the city Zoo, where he is attacked by a swarm of bats and falls down to the sewers below. Then a confrontation between Batman, Catwoman and Max Shreck follows where batman takes off his mask, revealing his identity to Kyle, who had removed her mask as well. Kyle kills Shreck by envoking an explosion and is suddenly nowhere to be found.
The story ends leaving the audience with an empty feeling rather than the triumphant feeling the first film had. Batman Returns was an effectively dark and depressing film that some people like and some didn’t like. It focused on the villains and made them seem more tragic. I enjoyed the performances from DeVito and Pfeiffer as their respective villains. It wasn’t nearly as great of a film as the first one, and I think it depends on how dark you want a Batman film to be in order for you to enjoy it. This is by far the darkest of all of the Batman films.
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BATMAN FILM REVIEWS Part 3: Batman Forever (1995)
Though Batman Returns was a box office success, Warner Bros wanted the films to attract a wider audience. Tim Burton, who directed the first two films, was asked to step down to producer for the next film, Batman Forever. Burton agreed, and his replacement as director was Joel Schumacher. Schumacher intended for Batman Forever to be brighter and family-friendly.
Michael Keaton decided not to return as Batman because he did not approve of the new direction the film series was going. Instead, Val Kilmer was cast as Batman. Kilmer delivers a decent performance overall, but I felt his portrayal as Batman while in his suit was lacking compared to Keaton. When in the bat-suit, Kilmer comes off as rather boring. However, I do think he was solid when portraying the persona of Bruce Wayne.
The villains for this installment are Two-Face, played by Tommy Lee Jones, and the Riddler, played by Jim Carrey. Basically, the two team up to use a mind-zapping machine invented by the Riddler and steal people’s intelligence. With this machine, they also discover that Bruce Wayne is Batman.
I wasn’t a big fan of how these villains were portrayed in this film. There is hardly any explanation of Two-face’s backstory, and Jones completely failed at acting with the split personality the character is supposed to have. Jones really just acts like a lunatic who laughs a lot. He might as well just been the Joker.
Carrey, on the other hand, completely highjacks the film. I have nothing again Jim Carrey; in fact, I’m a fan of his. But I couldn’t separate the character from the actor. It’s just Jim Carrey doing his normal routine, displaying the same antics we’ve seen in a lot of his films like The Mask and Ace Ventura, only dressed as the Riddler this time. When the Riddler comes into the picture, Batman Forever suddenly becomes another Jim Carrey film.
Joining Batman in his efforts to stop the Riddler’s plot is Robin, played by Chris O’Donnell, making Batman Forever the first film of the series to include Batman’s young ward. Before becoming Robin, Dick Grayson was a young acrobat performing with his family in the circus. When Two-Face causes the deaths of Dick’s mother, father and brother, he is offered by Bruce Wayne to stay in his mansion. Dick’s curiosity leads him to discover that Bruce is Batman, and he is motivated to work by Bruce’s side so he can get the chance to kill Two-Face and avenge his family’s deaths. Bruce refuses to allow Dick join him at first but later accepts Robin as his sidekick as they spoil the plans of Two-Face and the Riddler.
Batman Forever is clearly a step down from the first two films directed by Burton. It leans towards the campiness of the 1960s TV series. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but for some fans, it was a disappointment. It was mildly entertaining for me, and I didn’t mind the lighter tone. However, I didn’t think the main characters were developed enough by their actors. Kilmer is boring as Batman, Jones fails as Two-Face, and Carrey just portrayed himself.
Batman Forever doesn’t appeal to me as much as the first two films did, but it isn’t a bad film. Wait until you see the next film!
BATMAN FILM REVIEWS Part 3: Batman Forever (1995)
Though Batman Returns was a box office success, Warner Bros wanted the films to attract a wider audience. Tim Burton, who directed the first two films, was asked to step down to producer for the next film, Batman Forever. Burton agreed, and his replacement as director was Joel Schumacher. Schumacher intended for Batman Forever to be brighter and family-friendly.
Michael Keaton decided not to return as Batman because he did not approve of the new direction the film series was going. Instead, Val Kilmer was cast as Batman. Kilmer delivers a decent performance overall, but I felt his portrayal as Batman while in his suit was lacking compared to Keaton. When in the bat-suit, Kilmer comes off as rather boring. However, I do think he was solid when portraying the persona of Bruce Wayne.
The villains for this installment are Two-Face, played by Tommy Lee Jones, and the Riddler, played by Jim Carrey. Basically, the two team up to use a mind-zapping machine invented by the Riddler and steal people’s intelligence. With this machine, they also discover that Bruce Wayne is Batman.
I wasn’t a big fan of how these villains were portrayed in this film. There is hardly any explanation of Two-face’s backstory, and Jones completely failed at acting with the split personality the character is supposed to have. Jones really just acts like a lunatic who laughs a lot. He might as well just been the Joker.
Carrey, on the other hand, completely highjacks the film. I have nothing again Jim Carrey; in fact, I’m a fan of his. But I couldn’t separate the character from the actor. It’s just Jim Carrey doing his normal routine, displaying the same antics we’ve seen in a lot of his films like The Mask and Ace Ventura, only dressed as the Riddler this time. When the Riddler comes into the picture, Batman Forever suddenly becomes another Jim Carrey film.
Joining Batman in his efforts to stop the Riddler’s plot is Robin, played by Chris O’Donnell, making Batman Forever the first film of the series to include Batman’s young ward. Before becoming Robin, Dick Grayson was a young acrobat performing with his family in the circus. When Two-Face causes the deaths of Dick’s mother, father and brother, he is offered by Bruce Wayne to stay in his mansion. Dick’s curiosity leads him to discover that Bruce is Batman, and he is motivated to work by Bruce’s side so he can get the chance to kill Two-Face and avenge his family’s deaths. Bruce refuses to allow Dick join him at first but later accepts Robin as his sidekick as they spoil the plans of Two-Face and the Riddler.
Batman Forever is clearly a step down from the first two films directed by Burton. It leans towards the campiness of the 1960s TV series. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but for some fans, it was a disappointment. It was mildly entertaining for me, and I didn’t mind the lighter tone. However, I didn’t think the main characters were developed enough by their actors. Kilmer is boring as Batman, Jones fails as Two-Face, and Carrey just portrayed himself.
Batman Forever doesn’t appeal to me as much as the first two films did, but it isn’t a bad film. Wait until you see the next film!
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BATMAN FILM REVIEWS: Part 4: Batman & Robin (1997)
With the success of Batman Forever, director Joel Schumacher was asked by Warner Bros to direct a sequel. The sequel was titled Batman & Robin, and the camp dial was turned up considerably, resulting in a film that pays more of an homage to the 1960s TV series. Oh, the irony. A series that was originally supposed to move away from the campiness of the ’60 series has now nearly matched the ‘60s series. Batman & Robin is full of quirkiness and puns in nearly every line spoken. Let’s get this over with.
This time, George Clooney is in the bat-suit. After Schumacher experienced difficulties dealing with Val Kilmer (the previous Batman) while filming Batman Forever, Kilmer was not invited back to reprise the role as the Caped Crusader. Clooney was a good choice, especially considering this film is more reminiscent of the ‘60s TV series, and I think Clooney works well in a campier Batman film. It’s unfortunate that he had to deliver such poorly written dialogue and actually have to present a bat-credit-card. I’m not kidding. Batman has a bat-credit-card. We’re already in Hell, and we might as well keep going.
Chris O’Donnell returns as Robin, and though I’m fine with O’Donnell in the role, I’m not a fan of the character himself in this film. All Robin is whine about how he always lives in Batman’s shadow. Though I think this is fine to have because it is true that in the comics, Robin eventually parts way with Batman and goes solo to become Nightwing, I thought this conflict was taken too far in the film. I can see how Schumacher wanted to have a conflict between the Dynamic Duo for extra story fluff, but this conflict just makes Robin sound childish. For example, Robin prefers to replace the bat-signal with a Robin-signal. It’s as if that Robin isn’t just asking to be treated equally as Batman, but he wants to be ahead of Batman. Robin was just a pest in this film.
The cast of villains begins with Mr. Freeze, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. I feel the same way about Schwarzenegger in this role as I do about Jim Carrey as the Riddler in Batman Forever. I’m a fan of Schwarzenegger, but I can’t separate the actor from the character. In Schwarzenegger’s other action films, he’s known for delivering memorable lines, most notably in the Terminator films. In Batman & Robin, almost every single line for Mr. Freeze is a pun about ice or cold. It never ends.
The next villain is Poison Ivy, played by Uma Thurman. Poison Ivy is an attractive and seductive damsel whose poisonous kisses literally knocks ‘em dead. (Hey, at least my puns aren’t as bad as the puns in Batman & Robin.) Ivy’s seductive ability has Batman and Robin arguing over her. This is where Robin begins to turn against Batman and where the film goes further south. Thurman’s performance as Ivy is just terrible, and, as I mentioned before, Robin’s bickering at Batman is annoying.
Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze team up when Ivy, with the help of her hulky sidekick Bane, help Freeze escape from prison. Ivy informs Freeze that Batman has killed Freeze’s cryogenically frozen wife. This provokes Freeze to use Bruce Wayne’s giant telescope as a giant freeze gun and freeze Gotham City.
Meanwhile, Robin pays Ivy a visit to find out what Mr. Freeze plans to do so he can be the hero and stop him himself. Ivy tries to seduce Robin but fails. Ivy manages to capture Robin when Batman arrives to save him. However, Batman is captured too. Can our heroes somehow escape from this bat-disaster? Or will Gotham City turn into a giant ice skating rink? Tune in next time, same bat-time, same bat-channel!
Thankfully for the Dynamic Duo, there is one more action figure promotion in this film, and it’s for the good guys! Young Barbara Wilson, who is also living at Bruce Wayne’s mansion visiting her uncle Alfred, discovers the truth about Bruce and Dick and decides to help them. Wilson, played by Alicia Silverstone, becomes Batgirl and breaks into Ivy’s hideout to save the day. Batgirl kicks Ivy into a giant plant that somehow eats her while Ivy shouts a cliché “curses!”
Batman, Robin, and Batgirl set out to stop Freeze, who has already frozen Gotham. They take Freeze out, alter the telescope so that it can thaw out the city, and Gotham is saved from evildoings once again. Batman then finds Mr. Freeze in pain, reveals that it was Ivy who pulled the plug on his wife but, however, did not kill her. Batman informs Freeze that he, too, wants to save a dying loved one, his longtime butler Alfred. Freeze agrees to give Batman an antidote for the disease Alfred has because, I guess, Alfred conveniently happens to have the exact same disease as Freeze’s wife. The trio returns to Bruce’s mansion and are able to cure Alfred, and finally, the film ends.
Batman & Robin is clearly the black sheep of the film series. Its purpose was to simply be a marketing whore by setting up a line of action figures and other toys for children. It goes beyond the camp appeal of the ‘60’s TV series, which is the exact opposite of what most fans wanted with the feature films. The acting was awful, the plot was weak, the puns and clichés were annoying, and the added story elements were poorly executed. Director Schumacher was apologetic about the film. George Clooney said he was “embarrassed” by the film. “I think we might have killed the franchise,” Clooney said.
It very nearly did kill the franchise. It was planned that Schumacher’s crew would film another Batman film called Batman Triumphant, but that project was quickly cancelled due to the poor reception of Batman & Robin. Thankfully, though, the film series would be rebooted eight years later by Christopher Nolan.
BATMAN FILM REVIEWS: Part 4: Batman & Robin (1997)
With the success of Batman Forever, director Joel Schumacher was asked by Warner Bros to direct a sequel. The sequel was titled Batman & Robin, and the camp dial was turned up considerably, resulting in a film that pays more of an homage to the 1960s TV series. Oh, the irony. A series that was originally supposed to move away from the campiness of the ’60 series has now nearly matched the ‘60s series. Batman & Robin is full of quirkiness and puns in nearly every line spoken. Let’s get this over with.
This time, George Clooney is in the bat-suit. After Schumacher experienced difficulties dealing with Val Kilmer (the previous Batman) while filming Batman Forever, Kilmer was not invited back to reprise the role as the Caped Crusader. Clooney was a good choice, especially considering this film is more reminiscent of the ‘60s TV series, and I think Clooney works well in a campier Batman film. It’s unfortunate that he had to deliver such poorly written dialogue and actually have to present a bat-credit-card. I’m not kidding. Batman has a bat-credit-card. We’re already in Hell, and we might as well keep going.
Chris O’Donnell returns as Robin, and though I’m fine with O’Donnell in the role, I’m not a fan of the character himself in this film. All Robin is whine about how he always lives in Batman’s shadow. Though I think this is fine to have because it is true that in the comics, Robin eventually parts way with Batman and goes solo to become Nightwing, I thought this conflict was taken too far in the film. I can see how Schumacher wanted to have a conflict between the Dynamic Duo for extra story fluff, but this conflict just makes Robin sound childish. For example, Robin prefers to replace the bat-signal with a Robin-signal. It’s as if that Robin isn’t just asking to be treated equally as Batman, but he wants to be ahead of Batman. Robin was just a pest in this film.
The cast of villains begins with Mr. Freeze, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. I feel the same way about Schwarzenegger in this role as I do about Jim Carrey as the Riddler in Batman Forever. I’m a fan of Schwarzenegger, but I can’t separate the actor from the character. In Schwarzenegger’s other action films, he’s known for delivering memorable lines, most notably in the Terminator films. In Batman & Robin, almost every single line for Mr. Freeze is a pun about ice or cold. It never ends.
The next villain is Poison Ivy, played by Uma Thurman. Poison Ivy is an attractive and seductive damsel whose poisonous kisses literally knocks ‘em dead. (Hey, at least my puns aren’t as bad as the puns in Batman & Robin.) Ivy’s seductive ability has Batman and Robin arguing over her. This is where Robin begins to turn against Batman and where the film goes further south. Thurman’s performance as Ivy is just terrible, and, as I mentioned before, Robin’s bickering at Batman is annoying.
Poison Ivy and Mr. Freeze team up when Ivy, with the help of her hulky sidekick Bane, help Freeze escape from prison. Ivy informs Freeze that Batman has killed Freeze’s cryogenically frozen wife. This provokes Freeze to use Bruce Wayne’s giant telescope as a giant freeze gun and freeze Gotham City.
Meanwhile, Robin pays Ivy a visit to find out what Mr. Freeze plans to do so he can be the hero and stop him himself. Ivy tries to seduce Robin but fails. Ivy manages to capture Robin when Batman arrives to save him. However, Batman is captured too. Can our heroes somehow escape from this bat-disaster? Or will Gotham City turn into a giant ice skating rink? Tune in next time, same bat-time, same bat-channel!
Thankfully for the Dynamic Duo, there is one more action figure promotion in this film, and it’s for the good guys! Young Barbara Wilson, who is also living at Bruce Wayne’s mansion visiting her uncle Alfred, discovers the truth about Bruce and Dick and decides to help them. Wilson, played by Alicia Silverstone, becomes Batgirl and breaks into Ivy’s hideout to save the day. Batgirl kicks Ivy into a giant plant that somehow eats her while Ivy shouts a cliché “curses!”
Batman, Robin, and Batgirl set out to stop Freeze, who has already frozen Gotham. They take Freeze out, alter the telescope so that it can thaw out the city, and Gotham is saved from evildoings once again. Batman then finds Mr. Freeze in pain, reveals that it was Ivy who pulled the plug on his wife but, however, did not kill her. Batman informs Freeze that he, too, wants to save a dying loved one, his longtime butler Alfred. Freeze agrees to give Batman an antidote for the disease Alfred has because, I guess, Alfred conveniently happens to have the exact same disease as Freeze’s wife. The trio returns to Bruce’s mansion and are able to cure Alfred, and finally, the film ends.
Batman & Robin is clearly the black sheep of the film series. Its purpose was to simply be a marketing whore by setting up a line of action figures and other toys for children. It goes beyond the camp appeal of the ‘60’s TV series, which is the exact opposite of what most fans wanted with the feature films. The acting was awful, the plot was weak, the puns and clichés were annoying, and the added story elements were poorly executed. Director Schumacher was apologetic about the film. George Clooney said he was “embarrassed” by the film. “I think we might have killed the franchise,” Clooney said.
It very nearly did kill the franchise. It was planned that Schumacher’s crew would film another Batman film called Batman Triumphant, but that project was quickly cancelled due to the poor reception of Batman & Robin. Thankfully, though, the film series would be rebooted eight years later by Christopher Nolan.
FIG
BATMAN FILM REVIEWS Part 5: Batman Begins (2005)
With the poor reception of Batman & Robin, the thought of another Batman film being made seemed unlikely. When Batman Begins was announced, it sparked curiosity from fans, especially since it was supposed to explain how Bruce Wayne became Batman in detail.
I was skeptical of this idea, considering that we’ve already learned all we need to know about the origins of Batman from previous films. We learned in the first film, Batman, that Bruce Wayne’s development of taking on the role of Batman was sparked by the murder of his parents. In Batman Forever, we learn more about this event and more about how Bruce was influenced to become Batman. I didn’t think it was necessary to base an entire film on it. This concept causes an odd plot shift where the film basically has two main plots, making the second plot seem out of place.
The director of Batman Begins is Christopher Nolan, who wanted the film to have a close connection to reality. This is easily recognizable in the film, as there is an explanation for every minor detail of Batman’s development. There’s an explanation for his mask, his cape, his gloves, etc. There’s even an explanation for how the bat-signal came about. Some guy was being tortured by being strapped to a searchlight, and the shadows casted by the searchlight appeared like a bat symbol, influencing the idea of the bat-signal. Do we really need this much detail for everything?
The first part of the film shows Bruce Wayne training in martial arts and learning more about the murder of his parents. He travels to Gotham City with his butler Alfred. From Wayne Enterprises, Bruce acquires a prototype armored rubber suit and car. The plot shift occurs when Bruce investigates a drug shipment in his new suit. After experiencing complications with his suit, Bruce makes adjustments that eventually complete the final product of the Batman suit. Batman later discovers that a toxin is being distributed to Gotham’s water supply. The man behind this plan is Ra’s al Ghul, the main villain of the film.
Christian Bale plays the part of Bruce Wayne/Batman. I wasn’t a fan his performance as Bruce Wayne and, later, Batman. Bale seems to force Bruce’s emotions too much, and his devotion to pursuing the persona of Batman feels fake. Once he becomes Batman, there’s the obvious forceful acting with that infamous gruff voice Bale uses when in the Batman costume. This voice is meant to make Batman sound intimidating, but it just sounds unnatural and forced. When Michael Keaton was playing the part in the Burton films, the intimidation came naturally.
Liam Neeson plays Ra’s al Ghul, which was an odd choice for the main villain. I bet a lot of viewers were thinking, “Who the hell is Ra’s al Ghul?” He appears mostly in the comics and makes occasional appearances in a couple of the animated Batman series. He’s definitely not as popular or exciting as the Joker or the Riddler or the Penguin. Neeson didn’t help by portraying Ra’s al Ghul with a boring monotone voice and expressionless face, making the character incredibly boring and forgettable.
Scarecrow, a more recognizable villain, appears in the film too, but is unfortunately downplayed and clearly overshadowed by Ra’d al Ghul. Scarecrow, played by Cillian Murphy, is a psychiatrist who possesses a power gas that, when he sprays it on people, causes them to see hallucinations of their greatest fears. For example, there’s a scene where Batman is sprayed with this gas, and his hallucination is bats coming out of Scarecrow’s mouth.
I have mixed feelings about Batman Begins. It was refreshing to have the dark, serious tone return to the film series. However, sometimes I thought the film took the concept of Batman too seriously with details that I didn’t care for. It was also plagued by dragging dialogue scenes and an awful extreme close up camera perspective during action scenes. I liked some of the actors cast in supporting roles, such as Michael Caine as Alfred, Gary Oldman as Sgt. James Gordan, and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox.
Though I didn’t care for the in depth explanation of the background of Batman, I can see why people generally enjoyed this film. The Batman films typically have a reputation of diverting most of the focus of the films away from Batman and more towards the villains. Batman Begins was certainly a refreshing film but some of it felt unnecessary to me. The next film, however, will be very redeeming.
BATMAN FILM REVIEWS Part 5: Batman Begins (2005)
With the poor reception of Batman & Robin, the thought of another Batman film being made seemed unlikely. When Batman Begins was announced, it sparked curiosity from fans, especially since it was supposed to explain how Bruce Wayne became Batman in detail.
I was skeptical of this idea, considering that we’ve already learned all we need to know about the origins of Batman from previous films. We learned in the first film, Batman, that Bruce Wayne’s development of taking on the role of Batman was sparked by the murder of his parents. In Batman Forever, we learn more about this event and more about how Bruce was influenced to become Batman. I didn’t think it was necessary to base an entire film on it. This concept causes an odd plot shift where the film basically has two main plots, making the second plot seem out of place.
The director of Batman Begins is Christopher Nolan, who wanted the film to have a close connection to reality. This is easily recognizable in the film, as there is an explanation for every minor detail of Batman’s development. There’s an explanation for his mask, his cape, his gloves, etc. There’s even an explanation for how the bat-signal came about. Some guy was being tortured by being strapped to a searchlight, and the shadows casted by the searchlight appeared like a bat symbol, influencing the idea of the bat-signal. Do we really need this much detail for everything?
The first part of the film shows Bruce Wayne training in martial arts and learning more about the murder of his parents. He travels to Gotham City with his butler Alfred. From Wayne Enterprises, Bruce acquires a prototype armored rubber suit and car. The plot shift occurs when Bruce investigates a drug shipment in his new suit. After experiencing complications with his suit, Bruce makes adjustments that eventually complete the final product of the Batman suit. Batman later discovers that a toxin is being distributed to Gotham’s water supply. The man behind this plan is Ra’s al Ghul, the main villain of the film.
Christian Bale plays the part of Bruce Wayne/Batman. I wasn’t a fan his performance as Bruce Wayne and, later, Batman. Bale seems to force Bruce’s emotions too much, and his devotion to pursuing the persona of Batman feels fake. Once he becomes Batman, there’s the obvious forceful acting with that infamous gruff voice Bale uses when in the Batman costume. This voice is meant to make Batman sound intimidating, but it just sounds unnatural and forced. When Michael Keaton was playing the part in the Burton films, the intimidation came naturally.
Liam Neeson plays Ra’s al Ghul, which was an odd choice for the main villain. I bet a lot of viewers were thinking, “Who the hell is Ra’s al Ghul?” He appears mostly in the comics and makes occasional appearances in a couple of the animated Batman series. He’s definitely not as popular or exciting as the Joker or the Riddler or the Penguin. Neeson didn’t help by portraying Ra’s al Ghul with a boring monotone voice and expressionless face, making the character incredibly boring and forgettable.
Scarecrow, a more recognizable villain, appears in the film too, but is unfortunately downplayed and clearly overshadowed by Ra’d al Ghul. Scarecrow, played by Cillian Murphy, is a psychiatrist who possesses a power gas that, when he sprays it on people, causes them to see hallucinations of their greatest fears. For example, there’s a scene where Batman is sprayed with this gas, and his hallucination is bats coming out of Scarecrow’s mouth.
I have mixed feelings about Batman Begins. It was refreshing to have the dark, serious tone return to the film series. However, sometimes I thought the film took the concept of Batman too seriously with details that I didn’t care for. It was also plagued by dragging dialogue scenes and an awful extreme close up camera perspective during action scenes. I liked some of the actors cast in supporting roles, such as Michael Caine as Alfred, Gary Oldman as Sgt. James Gordan, and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox.
Though I didn’t care for the in depth explanation of the background of Batman, I can see why people generally enjoyed this film. The Batman films typically have a reputation of diverting most of the focus of the films away from Batman and more towards the villains. Batman Begins was certainly a refreshing film but some of it felt unnecessary to me. The next film, however, will be very redeeming.
FIG
BATMAN FILM REVIEWS Part 6: The Dark Knight (2008)
Out of all of the Batman feature films, the one that has received the most attention is the latest film, The Dark Knight. Batman Begins was only a set up for one of the greatest comic book movies ever made. Is it the greatest? That’s up for debate, and I won’t get into that. However, The Dark Knight may soon be the most widely regarded best of all comic book films. Only time will tell.
The hype for The Dark Knight was unbelievable. From the generally high praise of Batman Begins to the first ever trailer for the sequel to the unfortunate passing of actor Heath Ledger, who portrayed the Joker in the film, everybody was anticipating The Dark Knight’s release.
Ledger’s shocking death undoubtfully garnered a lot of the attention for the film. I’m sure seeing him in his final acting role was bittersweet for fans. His portrayal of the Joker was the most anticipated part of The Dark Knight, and his performance was the highlight of the film for most moviegoers. There really isn’t much for me to say that hasn’t been said before a million times. I just want to say that everything you hear about Ledger’s performance in The Dark Knight is true. He was phenomenal. Ledger paid several tributes to past portrayals of the Joker. If you’ve seen Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman and the 1960’s TV series, you may likely notice some tributes to Jack Nicholson and Cesar Romero respectively. Not only does Ledger accommodate past renditions of the Joker, he also gives his own rendition as well. He’s both traditional and original at the same time. Ledger is not only crazy as the Joker, he’s frightening. His messy makeup design, creepy voice, and menacing laughter would give young children nightmares. Deservingly so, the late Ledger won many awards for his outstanding performance as the Joker, including an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Director Christopher Nolan dedicated the film in Ledger’s memory.
Moving on, the film retains the “gritty realism” Nolan introduced in Batman Begins. Unlike Batman Begins, I felt the realism in this film was very appropriate and satisfying.
Christian Bale returns as Batman, and my thoughts about him remain unchanged from Batman Begins. His acting still seems too forceful for my taste, and that infamous gruff Batman voice is back in all of its glory. With Ledger’s overwhelming performance as the Joker and the film series’ notoriety of having Batman take a back seat to the villains, this film was highly vulnerable to its title character losing his central focus. However, I felt The Dark Knight did the best it could to keep Batman the central focus, for there are plenty of hints about Batman’s motives.
The word of Batman is spreading more and more among Gotham’s criminals. Its most feared criminal, the Joker, is determined to rid Gotham of Batman. The Joker releases a threat to Gotham that every day Batman refuses to reveal himself, more people will die. District attorney Harvey Dent, played by Aaron Eckhart decides to make a sacrifice for the good of the city and announces he is Batman, resulting in Dent’s arrest. The Joker attempts to ambush the police convoy carrying Dent, but is captured by Batman and Sgt. Gordon (who then becomes Commissioner Gordon).
Upon interrogation the Joker, Batman learns that Dent and his love interest Rachel Dawes are being kept in separate warehouses full of explosives. Batman leaves to save Rachel while the police look for Dent. Batman ends up finding Dent instead and is able to rescue him as the warehouse explodes. The explosion, however, ends up disfiguring half of Dent’s face, and he is sent to the hospital. Rachel ends up dying when her warehouse explodes. Meanwhile, the Joker has escaped from prison, and his next threat is to blow up a hospital. The hospital the Joker threatens to blow up evacuates, and when the Joker arrives at the hospital, he finds Dent and frees him from the hospital.
With his disfigured face, Dent can be recognized as Two-Face, the second villain of the film. Angry at Batman for causing the death of Rachel, Dent agrees to join the Joker on his rein of destruction. The Joker happens to have explosives aboard two ferries that are carrying evacuates from the hospitals. Batman intervenes with the Joker and subdues him, preventing him from detonating the explosives aboard both ferries. Meanwhile, Dent is found holding Commissioner Gordon’s family gunpoint on top of a building. Batman arrives, tackles Dent and causes him to fall to his death off of the building.
To me, the film seems to be about motives. It conveys what motivates Batman to do what he does, Harvey Dent to do what he does, and the Joker to do what he does. Needless to say, it is a very enjoyable film to sit through. It’s hard for me to describe how I feel about The Dark Knight. I truthfully can’t say whether or not it is my favorite of the series. It was clearly the most impacting film of the series. Its presentation blew me away and left me speechless. I think I still am speechless. It has been more than a year, and I am still at a lost for words to describe this film.
The Dark Knight simply took my breath away.
BATMAN FILM REVIEWS Part 6: The Dark Knight (2008)
Out of all of the Batman feature films, the one that has received the most attention is the latest film, The Dark Knight. Batman Begins was only a set up for one of the greatest comic book movies ever made. Is it the greatest? That’s up for debate, and I won’t get into that. However, The Dark Knight may soon be the most widely regarded best of all comic book films. Only time will tell.
The hype for The Dark Knight was unbelievable. From the generally high praise of Batman Begins to the first ever trailer for the sequel to the unfortunate passing of actor Heath Ledger, who portrayed the Joker in the film, everybody was anticipating The Dark Knight’s release.
Ledger’s shocking death undoubtfully garnered a lot of the attention for the film. I’m sure seeing him in his final acting role was bittersweet for fans. His portrayal of the Joker was the most anticipated part of The Dark Knight, and his performance was the highlight of the film for most moviegoers. There really isn’t much for me to say that hasn’t been said before a million times. I just want to say that everything you hear about Ledger’s performance in The Dark Knight is true. He was phenomenal. Ledger paid several tributes to past portrayals of the Joker. If you’ve seen Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman and the 1960’s TV series, you may likely notice some tributes to Jack Nicholson and Cesar Romero respectively. Not only does Ledger accommodate past renditions of the Joker, he also gives his own rendition as well. He’s both traditional and original at the same time. Ledger is not only crazy as the Joker, he’s frightening. His messy makeup design, creepy voice, and menacing laughter would give young children nightmares. Deservingly so, the late Ledger won many awards for his outstanding performance as the Joker, including an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Director Christopher Nolan dedicated the film in Ledger’s memory.
Moving on, the film retains the “gritty realism” Nolan introduced in Batman Begins. Unlike Batman Begins, I felt the realism in this film was very appropriate and satisfying.
Christian Bale returns as Batman, and my thoughts about him remain unchanged from Batman Begins. His acting still seems too forceful for my taste, and that infamous gruff Batman voice is back in all of its glory. With Ledger’s overwhelming performance as the Joker and the film series’ notoriety of having Batman take a back seat to the villains, this film was highly vulnerable to its title character losing his central focus. However, I felt The Dark Knight did the best it could to keep Batman the central focus, for there are plenty of hints about Batman’s motives.
The word of Batman is spreading more and more among Gotham’s criminals. Its most feared criminal, the Joker, is determined to rid Gotham of Batman. The Joker releases a threat to Gotham that every day Batman refuses to reveal himself, more people will die. District attorney Harvey Dent, played by Aaron Eckhart decides to make a sacrifice for the good of the city and announces he is Batman, resulting in Dent’s arrest. The Joker attempts to ambush the police convoy carrying Dent, but is captured by Batman and Sgt. Gordon (who then becomes Commissioner Gordon).
Upon interrogation the Joker, Batman learns that Dent and his love interest Rachel Dawes are being kept in separate warehouses full of explosives. Batman leaves to save Rachel while the police look for Dent. Batman ends up finding Dent instead and is able to rescue him as the warehouse explodes. The explosion, however, ends up disfiguring half of Dent’s face, and he is sent to the hospital. Rachel ends up dying when her warehouse explodes. Meanwhile, the Joker has escaped from prison, and his next threat is to blow up a hospital. The hospital the Joker threatens to blow up evacuates, and when the Joker arrives at the hospital, he finds Dent and frees him from the hospital.
With his disfigured face, Dent can be recognized as Two-Face, the second villain of the film. Angry at Batman for causing the death of Rachel, Dent agrees to join the Joker on his rein of destruction. The Joker happens to have explosives aboard two ferries that are carrying evacuates from the hospitals. Batman intervenes with the Joker and subdues him, preventing him from detonating the explosives aboard both ferries. Meanwhile, Dent is found holding Commissioner Gordon’s family gunpoint on top of a building. Batman arrives, tackles Dent and causes him to fall to his death off of the building.
To me, the film seems to be about motives. It conveys what motivates Batman to do what he does, Harvey Dent to do what he does, and the Joker to do what he does. Needless to say, it is a very enjoyable film to sit through. It’s hard for me to describe how I feel about The Dark Knight. I truthfully can’t say whether or not it is my favorite of the series. It was clearly the most impacting film of the series. Its presentation blew me away and left me speechless. I think I still am speechless. It has been more than a year, and I am still at a lost for words to describe this film.
The Dark Knight simply took my breath away.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
FIG
Avenue Q (The first musical I've ever attended)
Tonight's feature presentation at Jesse Auditorium was Avenue Q, a Broadway musical created by Robert Lopez, Jeff Marx and Jason Moore.
The musical is a basically an adult version of the popular children's show Sesame Street. Like Sesame Street, most of the musical's characters are portrayed by puppets. Some of the characters in Avenue Q are even based on Sesame Street characters. For example, the characters Rod and Nicky are roommates who both turn out to be gay, though it takes until later in the musical for Rod to admit it. This is a parody of Bert and Ernie, whom are often assumed to be gay by the popular culture. Also, there is a character named Trekkie Monster, a parody of Cookie Monster. Whereas Cookie Monster is obsessed with cookies, Trekkie Monster is obsessed with porn.
The musical covers various obstacles of young adulthood, from relationships to paying for the rent to "coming out of the closet." It covers widespread issues such a prejudice, stating that "everyone is a little bit racist." It also covers basic morals like caring for others.
This musical is definitely not for children. There is plenty of profanity with some of the dirtiest humor I've heard in an on-stage show. There are some racial jokes, a lot of sexual jokes, and even some jokes about suicide. However, this is not a complaint; it is a warning. Do not take young children to see this show.
Despite the harshness of the jokes, they are well executed and hilarious. My personal favorite jokes came from two bears that call themselves "the Bad Idea Bears." Though they're only minor characters who don't get a whole lot of stage time, they're the ones that put me to tears the most. But that's not to say they steal the show. All of the characters deliver great lines and are performed quite well by the actors.
Though the musical is generally comedic, there are a few serious moments that usually come when dealing with a relationship between two characters, Princeton and Kate. The two fall in love but are eventually torn apart when Princeton decides that Kate is getting in the way of him finding his "purpose." When Princeton runs into Nicky, who is homeless at the moment after being kicked out of his apartment by Rod, Nicky tells Princeton about how he has to stop thinking about himself and start thinking about others. Princeton decides that he can win Kate back by building a school for monsters, something Kate had always wished to run.
So Princeton and Nicky have to start collecting money, and this is where the musical actually interacts with the audience. The actors run off the stage and up the aisles of the auditorium, holding out hats as if they are looking to collect money from the audience. When they return, one of the characters makes a nice connection to the audience, saying, "We didn't get anything. All we got was a ticket stub to go see the Tigers," which is an obvious reference to Mizzou, where the show of course is taking place. I like it when stage performances make connections to the audience in this way. It shows that the crew is aware of the audience and wants to connect to them at some point.
The music was outstanding. The lyrics were fluent and creative. The visuals were executed perfectly -- well, almost perfectly (I will explain later). The lighting was executed nicely; I was able to identify what was part of each scene. The actors positioning was done well. There were some cool special effects, mostly shown in one scene where Princeton receives a message that he must propose to Kate, and he suddenly starts seeing hallucionations of he and Kate married. The best visual was when Princeton sees a giant version of Kate's head appear behind the building, which, by the way, was the only set used.
There was a hiccup near the end of the musical. When the characters are unveiling a banner fro Kate's monster school, the banner doesn't completely come down. The actors did a nice job of staying in character until one of the actors went to fix the banner, and it was just another moment of laughter for the audience, despite being unintended.
Avenue Q makes me want to see more musicals. It provides entertainment and laughter non-stop from beginning to end. It has gotten me wanting to show it to some of my friends who haven't seen it, and I recommend anyone with an easygoing sense of humor to see this musical in whatever form they can. I just don't recommend it for children.
Avenue Q (The first musical I've ever attended)
Tonight's feature presentation at Jesse Auditorium was Avenue Q, a Broadway musical created by Robert Lopez, Jeff Marx and Jason Moore.
The musical is a basically an adult version of the popular children's show Sesame Street. Like Sesame Street, most of the musical's characters are portrayed by puppets. Some of the characters in Avenue Q are even based on Sesame Street characters. For example, the characters Rod and Nicky are roommates who both turn out to be gay, though it takes until later in the musical for Rod to admit it. This is a parody of Bert and Ernie, whom are often assumed to be gay by the popular culture. Also, there is a character named Trekkie Monster, a parody of Cookie Monster. Whereas Cookie Monster is obsessed with cookies, Trekkie Monster is obsessed with porn.
The musical covers various obstacles of young adulthood, from relationships to paying for the rent to "coming out of the closet." It covers widespread issues such a prejudice, stating that "everyone is a little bit racist." It also covers basic morals like caring for others.
This musical is definitely not for children. There is plenty of profanity with some of the dirtiest humor I've heard in an on-stage show. There are some racial jokes, a lot of sexual jokes, and even some jokes about suicide. However, this is not a complaint; it is a warning. Do not take young children to see this show.
Despite the harshness of the jokes, they are well executed and hilarious. My personal favorite jokes came from two bears that call themselves "the Bad Idea Bears." Though they're only minor characters who don't get a whole lot of stage time, they're the ones that put me to tears the most. But that's not to say they steal the show. All of the characters deliver great lines and are performed quite well by the actors.
Though the musical is generally comedic, there are a few serious moments that usually come when dealing with a relationship between two characters, Princeton and Kate. The two fall in love but are eventually torn apart when Princeton decides that Kate is getting in the way of him finding his "purpose." When Princeton runs into Nicky, who is homeless at the moment after being kicked out of his apartment by Rod, Nicky tells Princeton about how he has to stop thinking about himself and start thinking about others. Princeton decides that he can win Kate back by building a school for monsters, something Kate had always wished to run.
So Princeton and Nicky have to start collecting money, and this is where the musical actually interacts with the audience. The actors run off the stage and up the aisles of the auditorium, holding out hats as if they are looking to collect money from the audience. When they return, one of the characters makes a nice connection to the audience, saying, "We didn't get anything. All we got was a ticket stub to go see the Tigers," which is an obvious reference to Mizzou, where the show of course is taking place. I like it when stage performances make connections to the audience in this way. It shows that the crew is aware of the audience and wants to connect to them at some point.
The music was outstanding. The lyrics were fluent and creative. The visuals were executed perfectly -- well, almost perfectly (I will explain later). The lighting was executed nicely; I was able to identify what was part of each scene. The actors positioning was done well. There were some cool special effects, mostly shown in one scene where Princeton receives a message that he must propose to Kate, and he suddenly starts seeing hallucionations of he and Kate married. The best visual was when Princeton sees a giant version of Kate's head appear behind the building, which, by the way, was the only set used.
There was a hiccup near the end of the musical. When the characters are unveiling a banner fro Kate's monster school, the banner doesn't completely come down. The actors did a nice job of staying in character until one of the actors went to fix the banner, and it was just another moment of laughter for the audience, despite being unintended.
Avenue Q makes me want to see more musicals. It provides entertainment and laughter non-stop from beginning to end. It has gotten me wanting to show it to some of my friends who haven't seen it, and I recommend anyone with an easygoing sense of humor to see this musical in whatever form they can. I just don't recommend it for children.
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