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Critics Positive on 'Batman Begins'


Elmo Lewis

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I have never seen an strak trek toy anyway (appart from amybe micro machines), but i can recall several series batman ones, even spin-offs and so.

You must not be looking in the right places. I bought a brand new toy Enterprise just last month. Hell, just look around here.

Neil

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But he didn't look like Batman. This is solved now, finally.

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Alex Cremers

He was Batman. He looked the part more than Bale did, who is too young.

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But he didn't look like Batman. This is solved now, finally.

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Alex Cremers

He was Batman. He looked the part more than Bale did, who is too young.

Strange, he's not. Not with curly hair, little round face with female mouth. Please, explain to me how this is Batman?

Pause.

Well, I'm waiting?!

Are you sure you are familiar with the comics? From your posts, I can't say you do. Yes, I know, childhood memories stand in the way of making any sense. It's okay. All is forgiven. You know, it really comes down to this: Children who are brought up with Jurassic Park think it's art too. It's not their fault. It's melancholy. It's part of their innocence. You saw Batman as a youngster and still think the world of it. Isn't that cute.

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Alex Cremers

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More important, Keaton was Bruce Wayne which is who he really is supposed to be, the bat character has always been a facade.

It must be a good movie, because Harry the Hutt just puked all over his own review.

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More important, Keaton was Bruce Wayne which is who he really is supposed to be, the bat character has always been a facade.

It must be a good movie, because Harry the Hutt just puked all over his own review.

Are you saying that the batman character is a mask for Bruce Wayne? If so, you're wrong.

Bruce Wayne has always been the mask.

He was Batman. He looked the part more than Bale did, who is too young.

I think Bale's a great choice for the film. Saying he's too young makes no sense, this movie takes place before all of the other batman movies, albeit not in the same continuity. Bruce was a young guy when he went off to train in the comics, having him be Keaton's age in the movie would make no sense.

Max

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no Bruce Wayne is the man and has always been so,

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I have never seen an strak trek toy anyway (appart from amybe micro machines), but i can recall several series batman ones, even spin-offs and so.

You must not be looking in the right places. I bought a brand new toy Enterprise just last month. Hell, just look around here.

Neil

Im saying here, and in 'normal' toystores. Not conventions and so.

But it could be just spain... you know 'Spain is different' :roll:

Luke, who wants to buy the action figure of G. Grievous and it is not there!

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considering that at one point I had the first issue Batman from the 30's I'd say I had read a few Batman stories, I gave up on him when they perverted him into something else.

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considering that at one point I had the first issue Batman from the 30's I'd say I had read a few Batman stories, I gave up on him when they perverted him into something else.

It sounds as if you're talking about Michael Jackson!

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I gave up on him when they perverted him into something else.

Yeah, just like Superman. Making him fly, and have X-Ray... What a murder of the classic.

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I gave up on Superman when they perverted him too Ross,

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Batman and Robin took in more on its opening day than did Batman Begins

Batman Begins underwhelmed at the BO yesterday taking in a rather poor $15 million dollars.

By comparison Batman and Robin took in over 16 million as did Batman Returns, and Batman Forver took in over 20 million on its opening day. Even the original Burton Batman made more money on its opening day by about 250,000.00

Perhaps good word of mouth will help and the BO will improve.

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This movie needs positive word of mouth if it's to do well. It had a lame ad campaign (did anyone actually enjoy the previews for this movie) and it has to overcome all of the damage that Joel Schumacher inflicted. The average filmgoer probably doesn't realize this is a totally new creative team and is probably afraid to go near this thing.

Neil

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I agree with Alex that Keaton did not look like Batman,or someone that could be cast as a Superhero.

K.M.Who hasn't seen Batman Begins yet but will this weekend.

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Saw the movie today. Freakin awesome. I enjoyed the Burton version when I was younger, but got disenchanted with it as I got older. Batman Begins is a great movie. If you take away the comic book factor, it still works as a normal film. I think a person who doesn't like comic books could plausibly enjoy this movie. It really shows you the reasons Wayne becomes Batman (or what he was destined to become, himself), and goes to pains to have it make sense (why he chooses the bat as a symbol), it is a great personal drama. I expected this to be great, and I wasn't wrong.

Tim

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Batman Begins underwhelmed at the BO yesterday taking in a rather poor $15 million dollars.

Uh, yea, it "only" made $15 million on opening day when compared to the other films, but lets look at the figures:

Heres how the past 4 films performed, in millions:

Batman: Opening ($40) Overall ($251)

Batman Returns: Opening ($45) Overall ($160)

Batman Forever: Opening ($52) Overall ($185)

Batman & Robin: Opening ($42) Overall ($107)

Of course, this is just stateside alone.

How does WB feel about it:

http://www.variety.com/article/VR111792459...13&cs=1&s=h&p=0

Now look at past Wednesday openings, from boxofficemojo.com:

Rank Title / Studio / Opening Day / % of Total Theaters / Average Date Total Gross

1 Spider-Man 2 Sony $40,442,604 10.8% 4,152 $9,741 6/30/04 $373,585,825

2 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King NL $34,450,834 9.1% 3,703 $9,303 12/17/03 $377,027,325

3 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace Fox $28,542,349 6.6% 2,970 $9,610 5/19/99 $431,088,301

4 The Passion of the Christ NM $26,556,573 7.2% 3,006 $8,835 2/25/04 $370,274,604

5 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers NL $26,159,972 7.7% 3,622 $7,223 12/18/02 $339,789,881

6 The Matrix Revolutions WB $24,311,365 17.5% 3,502 $6,942 11/05/03 $139,313,948

7 Jurassic Park III Uni. $19,024,360 10.5% 3,434 $5,540 7/18/01 $181,171,875

8 Men in Black II Sony $18,599,621 9.8% 3,557 $5,229 7/03/02 $190,418,803

9 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring NL $18,214,211 5.8% 3,359 $5,423 12/19/01 $313,364,114

10 Independence Day Fox $17,406,144 5.7% 2,880 $6,044 7/03/96 $306,169,268

11 Batman Begins WB $15,068,368 100.0% 3,718 $4,053 6/15/05 $15,068,368

And this is a wednesday opening. Word of mouth has been amazing for this film, and this film will likely top $100 million by weekends end, and maybe wash away the stains from Batmans 1-4. The 10 other films in the list averaged ~$200 million I'm guessing for the domestic total.

Neither of the past 3 Batman film mananged over $200 million, but based the past wednesday openings, and how this film has been doing, not only will it pass the past 4 films, but also be one of the year's biggest hits.

And this film underperformed Wed.? Man, some people just don't know jack................. :?

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And this film underperformed Wed.? Man, some people just don't know jack.................  

and that would be you movieman, and lets get something straight, Burton's Batman is a fine film, there is nothing to be erased by this film.

the variety article is a shame as it trys to gloss over the fact that WB expected an opening over 30 million, and didn't get it.

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I just saw it. I really liked it actually. Nowhere as bad as I thought from the previews. It doesn't attempt to be the definitive version, just another way of telling the story. I enjoyed it. Score worked, but was nothing special.

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I just read in the newspaper the sequels will have The Joker.

Mark Hamill is rumored for the role.

That would be very cool. He has the voice, and the looks unfortunately because his car accident.

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I just read in the newspaper the sequels will have The Joker.

Mark Hamill is rumored for the role.

That would be very cool. He has the voice, and the looks unfortunately because his car accident.

Well it was pretty evident after you watch the movie

I think it's pretty difficult to have a new joker. Jack Nicholson was the joker. Some people here may not agree cause it was not just like the comic, but I think is one of those characters you can't imagine with a different face. Some like Hannibal Lecter and Anthony Hopkins.

And about Mark Hammill, I haven't heard him as Joker cause I've always seen Batman TAS dubbed, but I heard his work was awesome. But I'm not sure if any director or producer would risk that much giving him the role. For most of the audience, he is, and always will be young Skywalker. Too many people would go like: what? Luke Skywalker is the joker?

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Just saw it. First and foremost, an excellent cast ensemble. Christian Bale made fine Bruce Wayne. Finally, since Michael Keaton, we have a decent Batman. Val Kilmer and George Clooney were below average in two very shallow films. But the Bruce Wayne/Batman character can't hold a film on his own, for which we must be thankful there's a great bunch of scene stealers like Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Liam Neeson. Katie Holmes was surprisingly cute, I'd never paid attention to her before.

The score was bland, as expected. Even James Newton Howard's material was flat. The Batman music soundscape belongs to Danny Elfman, no matter what. This film just lacked a strong theme. There was barely any kind of development in the score, just "DUMMMMMMMMMMM... DROOOOOOOOOMMM!" Pathetic, really.

Other than that, it was an almost perfect superhero movie. I'd rank it as good as Tim Burton's two masterpieces.

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Batman Begins is good but the action moments keep this movie from being great. The first half is the stronger part with great characters (except Ken Watanabe/Ra's Al Ghul). The action scenes are somewhat different (more standard) then from the overall tone. Also, the close-up filming of the fighting scenes was confusing and little engaging. Most likely Nolan's goal was to create a sense of speed and chaos. I regret that he made this choice. The public didn't see (just like the gangsters probably) what was going on. The film also sufferes a bit from too many villains (I've counted five!).

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Alex Cremers

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I just read in the newspaper the sequels will have The Joker.

Mark Hamill is rumored for the role.

That would be very cool. He has the voice, and the looks unfortunately because his car accident.

(deep breath) ok here we go

Original Star Wars star Mark Hamill has joined the shortlist of favorites to play The Joker in the Batman Begins sequel. The actor, who played Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi, has become a fan favorite to play Batman's colorful foe. He joins Crispin Glover and Aussie actor Lachy Hulme on the three-strong internet shortlist. Hamill became an obvious choice for some Batman fans after voicing The Joker for the Batman cartoon series. A spokesman for top Batman website Darkhorizons.Com points out, "The net basically picked Christian Bale to play Batman, so who knows." Batman Begins opens across America and Europe this week.

This is from http://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2005-06-15/

I expect people to know who Mark Hamill is, Crispin Glover aka George McFly and after looking it up Lachy Hulme in his most recent role was Sparx in The Matrix (more promininent in the game).

This debate has been ragining over at Newsarama and comic book writer Peter David has said some things on why Hamil would be a good choice

I came out of the preview saying, "Man, if only they'd get Mark for the Joker in the next film, that would be so great..." Interesting to see I wasn't the only one.

Anticipating arguments from board members I've added the following quotes

On if Mark's a good enough actor

Well, I've known Mark for going on twenty years now, and I don't find him especially any more eccentric than any other actor I know, and considerably less so than some. He's actually a very sweet guy, and a devoted family man to boot.

Also, having seen him in a number of roles other than "Star Wars," including quite a few performances on stage, I respectfully disagree and think that he has far more chops than you're crediting him. Ever see Tom Hulce in "Amadeus?" Observers who saw Hamill on stage in the role opined that Hulce was simply doing a Mark Hamill impression. Between the stage "Amadeus" and the Batman animated series, Mark's probably logged more experience playing a mad laughing genius than anyone in the business.

Obviously I'm not unbiased in this matter, but I think he could slam-dunk the role myself.

Type-casting

Type casting is of course a grand tradition embraced by Hollywood, but on the other hand, the canny executive (should there be such a thing) will realize that any such perception--between the costume and facial make-up--will last approximately two minutes before they accept him as the Joker. To say nothing of the fact that to millions of viewers of B:TAS, he'll sound like the Joker already.

As for transitioning from animation to live action, well, the producers of the upcoming live action "The Last Unicorn" have already cast several of the performers from the animated version as their live action equivalents, plus Mia Farrow--the animated voice of the unicorn, but too old now to play her as a human--as "Molly Grue." So it's not unprecedented.

A big one, if Hamill's too old

"HE'S OLD"? What are you, fourteen? Fifteen tops? "He's old." Jeez.  

First, you do realize that he's almost the same age as Liam Neeson, right? Do you think Liam Neeson was too old to star in "Batman Begins"?

Second, it's less than generous of you to comment on his features considering his face was wrecked in a car accident years ago and was put back together through plastic surgery. It's a miracle of medicine that he's got a face at all.  

Third, since his features would be covered with white clown make-up and prosthetics, I have no idea why his age should be a consideration...unless, of course, it's simply the ageist prejudice of young people who believe that old equals useless.

More

Except here's where the argument falls apart: The basic conceit is NOT about Batman when he's young. It's about Batman when he's beginning (and if you go with the film's own time line, he was pushing thirty). When you think about it, Tim Burton's first film was ALSO about Batman when he was beginning. He was a mystery to Gotham, a rumor and a newcomer, the Batsignal wasn't in place, and the police were still after him.  

How old was Jack Nicholson at the time? Let me check. Ah. Fifty two.  

Now if you want to make the argument that Jack Nicholson was too old to play the Joker, be my guest, but I think that's a ludicrous proposition. And while we're at it, with only a difference of twelve years between them, Harrison Ford was far too old to play the son of Sean Connery. I'd like a show of hands from everyone who had "Last Crusade" ruined for them because of that little fact.  

It's a load of crap and yes, I say again, ageist. With the make-up on, you wouldn't know if Hamill was sixty, fifty, forty or thirty. It'd be a great performance, and by the way, the derogatory comment someone made about Mark's live performances is just nonsense. A voice acting performance is just as "real" as on on-camera performance, and in many respects, much tougher. As for his REAL live performances, I've seen him on Broadway several times, and I'll wager most of you have not, so I'm telling you that he does great live

for those that want to look on this thread for all that he says link

I agree with David on many levels, I think Hamill could be great for the role and on the other hand Glover could do fantastic as well so we'll see....

Lastly SPOILER WARNING. This is old news but for those who haven't seen it this is the basic plot layout for the next two movies from writer David Goyer. Highlight to read

The next one would have Batman enlisting the aid of [Jim] Gordon and [D.A. Harvey] Dent in bringing down the Joker... but not killing him, which is a mistake they made in the first one. ... In the third, the Joker would go on trial, scarring Dent in the process" and thus creating Two-Face.

Max

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Mark Hamill as The Joker? Wow, some people need to get off there Star Wars fix.

It will be at least 2 years minimum before the next Batman hits theaters, and Hamill will be pretty old by then. I'm sure they would want a more familiar and marketable actor than him. He has only the Star Wars films to his credit really, and though he may do a good job, he deonst fit the persona of a psycho villain at all. It wiould be a very awkward and miscasted part, and I'm sure the majority of the movie going public would agree. (the public outside of this forum that is)

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Im going to say this once.

Batman Begins was so incredibly good they should not be making a sequel. Leave it alone. You did the best Batman that you could do and it rocked the house! Don't do anymore sequels!

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considering that at one point I had the first issue Batman from the 30's I'd say I had read a few Batman stories, I gave up on him when they perverted him into something else.

Surely you don't think that Batman stories such as "Year One", "Long Halloween", and "Dark Victory" are tarnishing the dark knight.....

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I don't care what anyone says, Mark Hamill would make fantastic Joker. He does a phenomenal voice job on the animated series and he could easily look the part.

People need to get over Jack Nicholson. You don't need a bankable actor for it to be good.

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he deonst fit the persona of a psycho villain at all. It wiould be a very awkward and miscasted part, and I'm sure the majority of the movie going public would agree.

Look i saw him in a movie where he was a road serial killer. He can put maniacal faces.

Believe.

Darth Ominus has spoken.

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considering that at one point I had the first issue Batman from the 30's I'd say I had read a few Batman stories, I gave up on him when they perverted him into something else.

Surely you don't think that Batman stories such as "Year One", "Long Halloween", and "Dark Victory" are tarnishing the dark knight.....

I gave up on Batman around that time.

All this talk of a sequel is premature as the boxoffice has Warners reconsidering the future of this franchise.

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Mark Hamill as The Joker? Wow, some people need to get off there Star Wars fix.  

It will be at least 2 years minimum before the next Batman hits theaters, and Hamill will be pretty old by then. I'm sure they would want a more familiar and marketable actor than him. He has only the Star Wars films to his credit really, and though he may do a good job, he deonst fit the persona of a psycho villain at all. It wiould be a very awkward and miscasted part, and I'm sure the majority of the movie going public would agree. (the public outside of this forum that is)

See my above post.

And as to your box office comment Joe, the film has made approx 113 million so far, still not enough to make up the money spent on making it but Titanic didn't exactly do well in it's first few days either.

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so far batman begins has made 71 million not 113, and Titanic did well and steady, something BB will not do.

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He has only the Star Wars films to his credit really, and though he may do a good job, he deonst fit the persona of a psycho villain at all.

I'll help with this one. Mark Hamill has been the voice of the Joker in the Batman cartoon for many years. He has acted as the Joker for more hours than he has acted as Luke. Now, the Joker is not supposed to be subtle, so there is no reason they can't just make him like the cartoon in a movie as "realistic" as Batman. I think he might do well with a prosthetic chin and nose, as well as dropping a few pounds, but Hamill would be pretty comfortable in the role by now.

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Batman Begins has grown on me in these three days, but I still do not believe it to be the groundbreaker runaway hits that the original two Batman films were.

I don't know if this is the first time that a franchise has been totally reimagined from the beginning, but I was put off by a lot of the changes. The BatHummer was one of the main ones. And also making the killer of the Wayne parents different was a head scratcher.

I did not know going in that this was going to be taking a totally different route than Burton and Schumacher took. My understanding was this was going to be a prequel. It wasn't, even though the final minute of the film made me believe walking out that it actually might be.

That said, I still have a soft spot for 1989's "Batman." Always will.

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so far batman begins has made 71 million not 113, and Titanic did well and steady, something BB will not do.

From coming soon.net

Warner Bros. Pictures' Batman Begins topped the weekend box office with $48.7 million. The Christopher Nolan-directed comic book adaptation has pulled in $72.9 million since opening on Wednesday. Budgeted at $150 million, the film also collected $41.7 million from 73 international markets, for a worldwide total of $114.6
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Oh, and could someone please explain the inhuman forces of nature that thought it necessary for James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer to work together? They both didn't seem to work well together, though I enjoyed the string ostinato throughout. Otherwise, it was a little too bombastic. Not as elegant as Danny Elfman, who by the way was only a film composer for two years when he got the "Batman" gig.

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I saw it in IMAX tonight

It was ok,not a great movie.I wasn't really pulled into the film in any scene.The story was so so.The fights are too close.the movie is too darkly lit.The score is terrible,not a good thing for a superhero movie.

I don't plan to see this again

K.M.

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I saw it in IMAX tonight

It was ok,not a great movie.I wasn't really pulled into the film in any scene.The story was so so.The fights are too close.the movie is too darkly lit.The score is terrible,not a good thing for a superhero movie.

I don't plan to see this again

K.M.

Maybe you should.

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I'm not saying it was bad.Just average.Yes,Bale is very good as Batman,that's one thing.Didn't really care for the Scarecrow or Liam Neeson's character or the whole plan to destroy the city with a microwave thingy

K.M.

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so far batman begins has made 71 million not 113, and Titanic did well and steady, something BB will not do.

From coming soon.net

Warner Bros. Pictures' Batman Begins topped the weekend box office with $48.7 million. The Christopher Nolan-directed comic book adaptation has pulled in $72.9 million since opening on Wednesday. Budgeted at $150 million, the film also collected $41.7 million from 73 international markets, for a worldwide total of $114.6

thanks, that makes it even worse, they expected nearly twice than already.

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