The Movie Had a Sense of Humor
While obviously infinitely more serious than, say, Batman and Robin, Batman Begins still had some amusing lines and moments throughout, and at least Bruce Wayne was allowed to have a little fun with the whole being Batman thing. At least for a little while.
The Dark Knight had some dark humor from the Joker, but Batman himself was stuck in the midst of a full-on mope throughout. The Dark Knight Rises barely had a moment when the proceedings weren’t grimly serious. Sometimes it’s okay to just let Batman have some fun punching dudes and playing with his wonderful toys.
Gotham City Felt Unique
The Gotham City of Batman Begins is a fascinating mish-mash — part real-life Chicago, part steampunk fantasy, part Blade Runner dystopian slum. The Gotham of the later movies pretty much just looks like a regular, somewhat generic, modern-day American city. Considering how much time people spend talking about and obsessing over Gotham City in Batman movies, the city really ought to have some character I think.
What happened to the trains in the later movies?
I Kind of Love Scarecrow
I’ve always been a fan of minor comic book villains — the guys who aren’t necessarily threatening or really competent in any way, but just keep showing up because they’re assholes who don’t know when to quit. I’m the kind of guy who ranks Killer Moth and Firefly above The Joker on my list of favorite Batman villains.
Cillian Murphy is great as Scarecrow and I kind of love that his minor villain appears in all three Nolan Bat-films. So yeah, Batman Begins gets bonus points for having the most Scarecrow content.
This game is called “try to keep a straight face as Katie Holmes tries to act”.
It Has the Best Character Moments
With the exception of any scene involving Katie Holmes, I think Batman Begins features the best interplay between characters. There are so many great moments between Bruce and Gordon/Alfred/Lucius/Ras al Ghul. The scene where Bruce in his proto-Batman outfit holds a stapler to the back of Gordon’s head and tells him “now we’re two” may be my favorite of the entire trilogy. The “we fall, so that we can learn to get back up” scene between Alfred and Bruce after Stately Wayne Manor is burnt down? Brings a tear every time.
The other movies had their moments too of course, but the relationship between Bruce and Harvey Dent in the Dark Knight and Batman and Catwoman from Dark Knight Rises just weren’t as effective. Gordon, Alfred and Lucius of course all appeared in the sequels, but they didn’t seem to have as much to say or do.
So there you go, that’s why I think Batman Begins is the best Nolan Bat-movie. What about you folks? Which is your favorite? Is Batman Begins underrated or am I the wrongest guy in the history of wrongness?
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Agree wholeheartedly
I think the interactions with Alfred in TDKR are far more heart-wrenching and tear-inducing than the line after Wayne Manor burnt down. It’s a bummer Alfred wasn’t around for more witter banter between the two of them, but between Alfred leaving Bruce and him talking to Bruce’s parent’s graves at the funeral I had a hard time not tearing up.
Pretty much every scene with Alfred in the new movie was tear-inducing. What a great character, and brilliantly played.
I dunno, I just had a hard time believing the whole “Alfred leaving Bruce” thing from TDKR. That’s Alfred’s whole thing — he never leaves Bruce. He never gives up on him. Seemed a bit contrived.
I couldn’t agree more with Nathan on the whole Alfred thing. He’s always there. No matter what. That scene brought me out of the movie a little bit. Also Begins really is underrated.
But he was leaving for Bruce’s own good. And it obviously killed him to do it, but his one duty in life was to protect Bruce and Bruce wouldn’t allow him to do it anymore by being reckless and going up against Bane.
Thanks for the spoilers, asshole.
@Una You mean the one at the top of the article?
But being reckless and going up against guys he shouldn’t be able to beat is also Batman’s thing. It’s literally all he ever does.
I know what they were going for — Batman is going into a situation so dangerous even the guy who always supports him can’t support him anymore! But it rang false and like a cheap way to elevate Bane as a bigger threat, when really there’s nothing about Bane that makes him any worse or more threatning than say, the Joker, who didn’t cause Alfred to quit.
Alfred’s scenes in TDKR were contrived and overwrought. His clichéd “I failed you” to Bruce’s parent’s graves at the end was painfully bad. I think his personal best was Dark Knight, especially the now canonical “some men just want to see the world burn”
I’ve been saying this since the second one came out. Batman Begins grabs your heart strings almost immediately and does not let go. It’s a very focused, understandable story without being dumbed down. And the soundtrack taps into the emotions.
The other two movies are excellent, no doubt, but the first one is a masterpiece.
I know we’ve had our qualms about Mr. Ryan Reynolds, Nathan, but I have to agree with you 100% on the Gotham Felt Unique point in this. I had a hard time watching the big Batpod/Re-Introduction of Batman scene when I could correctly identify several buildings and a few intersections in Los Angeles. It was a bit of a let down. I think that Batman Begins was the one that felt most like a different city. I think the CGI inserts of places like The Narrows and Arkham Asylum (it’s establishing shot) made Gotham feel different. Dark Knight Rises seemingly didn’t even try.
Begins is a genuinely great film. A simple story that focuses on a few characters to great effect. That’s what films should be like – the second two overextended themselves.
It’s rare for me to tear up or feel a shiver down my spine, but I get at least 2 of one and one of the other EVERY TIME i watch begins. And I’ve seen it about 8 times! Brilliant, brilliant film.
As a whole, I mostly agree, but the first time the goddamn Batman pops out of his just blown up Tumbler on his batpod I still gasp like Dean Pelton seeing a shirtless Winger.
*swoon*
The Batpod *is* the best of the Bat-vehicles from the Nolan movies. That’s one thing I liked about TDKR — lots of Batpod. Also, usually it was Catwoman riding it, so lots of Batpod with lots of Anne Hathaway ass.
Still, no individual Batpod scene is as good as that first Tumbler scene.
Anne Hathaway’s stunt double’s arse, you mean. Not that there was anything wrong with it.
Nothing wrong with it at all.
[www.youtube.com]
For me the most heart-wrenching moment in the entire trilogy is the bit where Two-Face nearly shoots himself. Aaron Eckhart’s delivery of the line “My turn”, and the look on his face when the coin comes up the wrong side, chills me every time. He was overshadowed by Heath Ledger, but I really think Eckhart gave the best performance in the trilogy.
You are outside your mind. Ledger’s Joker danced all over Eckhart’s acting as Dent / Two-Face. And I actually liked Eckhart’s acting in The Dark Knight. But the scene in the hospital where Two-Face says “Your men, your plan.” and then Joker launches into his “Do I really look like a guy with a plan?” monologue really shows you what they’re both capable of.
I agree with you for the most part, except that I feel that Begins had the least “visceral” villain. With Ras it was more that he was a villain that just saw Batman as an inconvenience as opposed to an actual foe. I guess I just didn’t see a lot of passion in that. The Joker is of course everything that Batman is not, all passion and chaos. Bane, in my opinion, is what Batman could have become if he had submitted to the League of Shadows. The same methods used for more nefarious ends. The conflicts between Batman and the Joker or Bane rang a little truer in terms of character, but as far as making a film goes, I’m about 85% there with you about Batman Begins.
Makes the trilogy even cooler when you consider that Ra’s thinks of Batman as nothing, Joker thinks of Batman as his equal, and Bane wants to defeat Batman to display his superiority
I think these are all nice reasons to favor another movie over another (and duh, I know it’s an opinion piece and not a fact piece), but I don’t think these things necessarily mean that Batman Begins is the best.
For instance the character motivations. Halloween is a good movie, but why does Michael want to murder Laurie (in terms of just that movie without info from the sequels)? Not every crazy person like the Joker needs a motivation but to cause chaos. I’m amazed people still don’t understand the Joker. Could the psychotic, murderous guy wearing clown make-up and who lies about his past possibly be lying about not having a plan? And anyway when he says he doesn’t have a plan, I take that to mean he thinks up one crazy scheme, then the next. But he doesn’t necessarily plan out a major series of schemes.
I don’t know. Batman Begins is an awesome movie, but I think The Dark Knight is a movie people will remember in 40 years. But, hey, those are just my thoughts.
Being the geek I am, I definitely went back and re-watched “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight,” before hitting up “The Dark Knight Rises.” I’ll admit, most of your points here are valid, but for me, “The Dark Knight” still holds up as the best of the trilogy.
I think one of the reasons most people hold “Begins’ over its predecessors was because it was, for lack of a better expression, the most conventional film of the trilogy…. it was a straight-forward origin story that delved into what drove Bruce to don the mantle of the Bat. Basically…. it gave the people exactly what it wanted. I think the general audience doesn’t want to sit through a 2 1/2 – 3 hour movie, unless it’s wall-to-wall action… but even then, that’s excessive. The later 2 films didn’t get praise for nothing. They legitimately had great character moments that moved their respective (intriguing, yet “complicated”) narratives forward.
For me, “The Dark Knight” stands out because it didn’t give me what it wanted. It DEFIED every convention of the modern-day “super-hero” tale. The victory of the hero wasn’t necessarily a physical victory, but rather, a philosophical one. I found it refreshing to have a film like this end with the hero being in WORSE shape than what he was before. It’s amazing how people have been critical of the 2 and 3rd chapters of over-reaching their limits…. I, for one, praise them for at least trying to go beyond what is expected of these types of films and say something more meaningful.
A lot of my favorite character moments in the trilogy took place in “The Dark Knight.” The interrogation scene between Batman and the Joker alone is the worth the price of admission. Even though it wasn’t a physical battle, everything about their debate and confrontation epitomized EVERYTHING i’ve come to know and love about the Batman/Joker dynamic in the comics. Then, of course, Aaron Eckhart’s great turn as Harvey Dent. While Heath Ledger’s eccentric take on Joker is worthy of praise, I got to give props to Eckhart’s performance as the tragic hero turned villain. He was the pivotal player of “Knight,” and seeing him descend into Two-Face was very moving for me. Even though I’m a comic-fan, and I knew the road he was destined to take, the second that building explodes, and he get burned, it’s still a jarring moment for me. The final scene between, Two-Face, Gordon, and Batman is probably my second-favorite scene in the trilogy…. hands down. “Begins” had great character moments too, particularly from Christian Bale’s Batman…. but the thing is…. it was expected. It’s his origin. There HAS to be moments like those. I don’t think anyone was expecting Joker to be the unpredictable beast that he was, or Two-Face to be as sympathetic as he was, or Gordon to be as integral to the story as he was….. but those are the reasons why the characters were so well received, and why each of them continues to play vital roles in the comics today.
I do agree that Christian Bale’s Batman does somewhat get shifted into the background with the 2nd film, but when you consider his origin in “Begins,” it really doesn’t bother me. You understand that the film is about escalation, and you see him go from a head-strong hero, confident and proud of his accomplishments, to a more conflicted character, now having to truly back up his statement: “Batman has no limits.”…. everything in the film leads up to the moment when he turns to Gordon and says, “I killed those people. That’s what I can be.” Joker’s a man of his word… but so is Batman.
Neither of the first two films made me close to tears, however, as much as “Rises.” Michael Caine gets some legit character moments. Bale too closes up his trilogy arc. Probably my favorite line is: “I’m not afraid. I’m Angry.”
I could go on, but I think I’d just be ranting. For me, “Begins” is the weakest in the trilogy because it conformed to conventions… but that doesn’t, BY ANY MEANS, make it a bad movie. It was a fantastic jumping-off point for the incredible trilogy that we eventually got. “Knight” defied those conventions and really expanded on what the world of Batman is truly capable of, and sent it into depths only real comic-book purists know. “Rises” had the great misfortune of having to follow up on such a high note. While I think it fell slightly short of expectations, like “Begins,” it is by no means a terrible film. I found it to be a great film, and within the context of “Begins,” a fantastic conclusion to the story and ideas brought up in the initial film.
To everyone his/her own….
/slow clap
Very well put
I just don’t understand why Batman is crippled at the beginning of DKR. It supposedly is 8 years after dark knight, but batman hasn’t been seen since. 8 years, plus a fortune should be enough money to get your body fixed. If thats how it is, Wayne spent 7 years traveling the world and joining the league of shadows, 2 years being batman, 8 years holed up in the wayne manor. Where does someone come and take all of the cartilge out of his bones? It would have been something if he was just being batman for the past 8 years, but it was pretty explicit that no one has seen batman during that time, so he was just sitting at home. I fail to see why he’s in such bad shape physically at the outset. It’s like the script originally called for Bane to break batmans back at the beginning of the movie and then the whole movie follows the recoup and return, but once they changed it, they forgot it doesn’t make sense anymore.
He is injured from tackling Dent. Dude falls like two stories and is limping as he runs away.
I just took it as regular wear and tear. Your knees aren’t going to last too long when you’re jumping off buildings. It was a nice “realistic” touch.
I was a little puzzled by the 8-year jump ahead for TDKR though — not sure why they had to push things that far ahead. If it had been only, say, 2 years since TDK Bruce Wayne not fixing his knees would have seemed more reasonable.
I thought about that. I justified it as a combination of the people above me, I rememberd the limping. Then you add in some laying low, and the wear and tear taking its toll, and then you could see how maybe something more chronic developed.
He got his ass kicked a lot early in the first movie two, and in each movie he had to get stitched up at one point.
Except for the fact Rachel Dawes should have been Harvey Dent I agree.
This is a Batman movie. The Dark Knight is The Joker and Love Triangle movie. Dark Knight Rises is Nolan crapping on the Batman Mythos.
Birch, I profoundly respect you. That said, I think you need to stop leaving your adult beverages in the same place you keep your industrial solvents.
Well, that explains the ulcers.
They were all good movies, and they were all different movies. All had a different look, tone, and direction. Like a different Radiohead album.
I like this comment the best.
The three Batman movies are three different piles of Hipster crap? Your Radiohead analogy eludes me unless you are saying they were all overrated and only morons hold them up for praise.
i hated radiohead before hating radiohead was cool.
also agree, the scene at the end where Gordon hands batman the joker card was an unexpected surprise for me especially after sitting through such a great movie
I still get chills when I see that scene. “I’ll look into it.”
After reading this and thinking on it I can understand where you’re coming from and what leads you to think B.B is the best. Personally, I would reank it second best behind TDK, just because that film made me squirm and literally shout out in the theater with awe and sheer surprise. The character relations I will say in alliance with what was written, was much better in B.B than say TDKR. My favorite scene from B.B and still trumps many scenes to come was his first stealth takedown scene on the waterfront when Falcone was shipping in the “bears and rabbits” “I WANNA KNOW ABOUT BEARS AND RABBITS!” intimidating yet funny line the Bat says as he makes Falcone talk.
Good article.
All tjree movies are like “Seven”. They are great unless you think about all the plot holes.
yeah, i always like “Batman Begins” the most. “Dark Knight” was kind of a mess. way to fragmented, too long because of it. “Begins” was actually a good movie, not just badass superhero action stuffs.
Totally agree. It goes 1) Begins 2) Rises 3) The Dark Knight in my books. Heath Ledger’s performance was amazing but it covers up some serious flaws.
Nah… I watched Batman Begins again…
It was just too loony for me.
I’ll buy a “realistic” Batman, but the bad jokes, his inability to turn his head, Katie Holmes, and the ludicrous threat at the end…. I’ll take Dark Knight till I get a chance to see Rises… Then I’ll make my choice between the two.
Ra’s Al Ghul, Qui-Gon Jinn buddy cop movie.
win
Batman Begins is underrated, and you’re correct in that it is largely forgotten, which is a shame, but it isn’t the best of the bunch.
I still really love Batman Begins, but the main reason it’s not the best BATMAN movie is the ending. “I won’t kill you, but I don’t have to save you.” YES YOU DO BECAUSE OTHERWISE YOU’RE BASICALLY KILLING HIM!
That line did bug me the first time I saw the movie, but I’ve kind of let it go. I think it’s supposed to be a call-back to the fact Bruce *does* save him early in the movie, and the fact that Ras repaid his kindness by trying to destroy Gotham. It’s a poorly written line, but eh, doesn’t sink the movie for me.
I’m just saying that since he’s essentially killing him, that’s the most Un-Batman thing that he can do. It runs contrary to Batman’s most defining character trait.
You know whats also very Un Batman like in BB?
Batman killing a temple full of ninjas and a thief because he was being forced to kill the thief.
I have always preferred Begins to Dark Knight because I felt that Dark Night lost the character of Bruce Wayne amidst its heavy thematic plot.
In Begins I love all the talk of Bruce having to represent his fathers name and continuing what his parents did and their ideals, especially when they brought it full circle revealing that Ra’s last attempt to destroy Gotham through economics was thwarted by Bruce’s parents. As you said, the scene in the elevator after Wayne manor burns is key.
I felt the second movie lost all this humanity and there could have been anyone underneath that famous cowl. Even after Rachel dies he’s back to cracking a joke about the Batmobile not being very subtle in the middle of the day. He should have been losing his mind with anger.
And lastly, I hated the whole GPS sonar fight sequence where Lucius tells him where everyone is and it intercuts the blue CG images. I found that disruptive.
“Batman Begins” is boring. Massively, overwhelmingly boring. The first hour or so isn’t bad, but towards the end it’s just unwatchable. The car chase scene that you love so much is pathetic. For a car chase to be exciting, it has to be believable. The car chase in Batman Begins is just a 20-minute mess of pointlessly CGI’d polygons. I literally weep for the person who could possibly find that scene enjoyable.
Uh, that scene was done almost entirely with practical effects. That’s an actual Batmobile actually driving around smashing stuff.
A car chase scene involving the goddam Batmobile fails for not being believable enough!??!
The only point I agree with in this article is the one about Gotham feeling totally unique in Batman Begins. But I feel like Gotham in the next two films is meant to have a different feel, like it’s supposed to feel more real-world, more easy to connect to for the average viewer. I would also like to point out that it felt (at least to me) that The Dark Knight and Rises were both shot in much more daylight than Begins, so using a real city would be much more convenient and would reflect a positive change in the city as a whole. The bottom line for me was that in Begins Katie Holmes was an absolutely awful actress, and a truly magnificent villain in The Scarecrow was lost to a much bigger emphasis on the conflict with the League of Shadows (just my opinion). I would’ve liked to have seen a lot more conflict between Batman and the Scarecrow, rather than just three scenes of any real significance.
The Dark Knight is, in my opinion, the best of the series for several reasons:
1) One of the industries all-time great acting performances by Heath Ledger as the Joker. As argued above, it does cover up some holes, but the job Ledger did and the importance of the Joker can’t be overstated.
2) Joker vs. Batman conflict- as the Joker so eloquently put it, “This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.” This conflict very well continues the theme of Begins, where Batman is perceived by Liam Neeson’s character as being too weak to do what is necessary (killing) to achieve true victory.
3) Character interactions- The obvious emotion that Bruce Wayne feels for Rachel is hard to watch, because you know it isn’t going to work out. The scene where Rachel gives Alfred the letter telling Bruce how she really feels is so heartfelt and genuine. It is absolutely killing Alfred to have to give this news to Bruce, and he ultimately tries to save him the pain by burning the letter. The scene at towards the end of the movie where Lucius shuts down the computer cell-phone thingy is great to me, because it reminds us just how great Bruce is and what the Batman stands for. He will do what he has to do to ensure victory over the Joker, but he has limits and an amazingly strong moral compass.
Possible my favorite scene in the movie is the scene in which the Joker declares to his Russian contemporary that “Gotham deserves a better class of criminal.” Those little things he says/does with the mob members really makes the character, for me at least.
4. Car Chases- I totally disagree with the argument that the car scene in Begins was the best in the series. The Lower 5th chase in Knight tops it by a mile.
5. The Dark Knight has possibly the best opening scene I’ve ever seen in a movie (other than The Godfather). It grabs the audience in an instant with a good mix of action and suspense, and introduces the Joker in a perfect fashion. A character like the Joker needs a royal entrance, and that’s what The Dark Knight gave him.
I’m not going to go much into The Dark Knight Rises because a lot of you reading this may not have seen it yet, and I spent a lot of time talking about The Dark Knight, but I will say this. Although long, Rises was fast paced and offered the introduction of many new, well defined and constructed characters. Anne Hathaway as Catwoman was a surprise like for me; I wen in the film expecting to be disappointed with her, but ended up loving it. And say what you want about Tom Hardy being “wasted” as Bane, but I for one felt he put on a brilliant performance. His speech before Black Gate Prison was riveting for me, and he was great about delivering so much emotion without the use of his face/nose. The man did wonders with his eyes. Hardy portrayed Bane as the ruthless and brutal vision of what Bruce Wayne could’ve been, while showing what a calm and collected evil genius he really was.
In the end, I rank the movies 1. The Dark Knight 2. The Dark Knight Rises 3. Batman Begins
All of these are great films, but I think that in the long run The Dark Knight is the only one that people will really talk about 20 years down that road. It’s the only one with lasting potential.
Agree. Begins was a Batman movie. Dark Knight was a Joker movie. You can do a Batman movie without Joker, but you can’t do a Joker movie without Batman and Dark Knight felt like Batman was really just in it to give the audience a chance to breathe between Joker scenes.
yup
I agree with a lot of these comments in that Begins was a Batman movie, and Dark Knight was a Joker movie, but I would like to add that Rises was a Bruce Wayne movie.
did not read…
batman begins was a piece of shit
“I’m the kind of guy who ranks Killer Moth and Firefly above The Joker on my list of favorite Batman villains.” I think that pretty much sums it up
Yeah, my taste *is* pretty great, isn’t it?
Agreed. Batman Begins is probably my favorite movie of all time. It feels so real and believable. Nolan has outrageous characters to work with but they are all saying things that have the ability to reach you on a deeper level. Even with very short dialogue sequences. Plus, I completely agree that everyone’s motivations are clear, especially when compared to the TDKR. However, in regards to action scenes, I don’t think anything can beat that car chase scene with the Joker tries to shoot an RPG at that armored police vehicle carrying Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight; then also to end that scene, having the standoff with Batman on the Bat-pod as the Joker stands there antagonizing Batman, urging “Hit, me! C’mon, I want you to do it. C’mon…Hit me!” Even though when I saw The Dark Knight for the very first time at midnight showing in Chicago, I left the theater thinking that I have never scene a movie like that before…Dark Knight is amazing, yet at the same time, I still have a special connection to Batman Begins. For all those who do not believe BB is better than TDK or TDKR, re-watch BB & you will surely realize that the dialogue is definitely some of the most amazing, deep, truthful words you ever heard in a movie (especially everything that comes out of Liam Neeson’s mouth…he had me convinced!). Regardless, the Joker is the ultimate nemesis to Batman, so he was surely the best villain. However, I agree that Batman Begins has a deeper, more dynamic and meaningful ending on the train heading for Wayne Tower. Either way, this was a great article, I wish you wrote more on this subject and/or topic.
Lucious had a pretty crucial role in The Dark Knight.
I actually rate Rises as my favorite, for me it was the perfect balance and the smoothest pace that Nolan had really struggled with in the previous two. I like the comment about it being a Bruce Wayne film, and I think that sums it up perfectly, its all about Bruce coming to terms with life after Batman, and accepting his parents death as well I think. It was beautifully shot, I loved Scarecrow coming back as a judge, and Bane is really terrifying in parts. The whole child ting kept me guessing as well, didn’t see that coming (maybe because I hadn’t trawled through IMDB).
I can never get my head around Begins, love the training part obviously, but once Gotham starts blowing in the final battle, I really hate it. I hated the train, I hated the green gas, I hated the fact the streets looked like a cramp set, and I hated Gordons kid. And Katie Holmes. That one scene has a lot of hate directed at it.
And Dark Knight was just so rushed, it really bugs me. If it was a three hour film like Rises, maybe it would have been easier to take in, but then it probably wouldn’t have gotten made.
Nah, for me, Rises is king. Also of note, The Bat was incredible.
EXCELLENT article! I’m a sucker for a good origin story, and this one was the best. Although it would have been nice if Bruce and the folks went to Zorro on the fateful night, and if we saw Bruce learning from some preeminent detectives, montage style, before going to Ras. The Detective part of the Batman was lacking in this entire series…
But I digress. The flashbacks to Bruce and his father, then Alfred echoing those words. The fight in Arkham Asylum, with Batman attacking sucker from the shadows, as the fear became palpable. Watching Bruce learn on the job. It was all incredible.
One thing, though. Bad as she may have been, Katie Holmes > Maggie G. Seriously. Watch the TDK and tell me Maggie G is not as wooden as George Washington’s teeth. And Katie’s more convincing as a love interest for Bale.
Finally, best line of the whole trilogy was Bruce to Alfred: “Keep the guests busy until I arrive. Tell them that joke you know.”
Oh, and Scarecrow, FTW!!!!!!!
No argument here. As much I prefer TDK, I loved the shit out of the the first movie. The ending was alright, but wasn’t as strong as the rest of Batman Begins.
Great debate topic. I have recently seen all three, of course in the completely wrong order.
I’m torn between the first two. I agree with virtually all of your points, some I myself hadn’t noticed.
My heart still leans to the second movie for the fact that it was just simply a batman movie and it was done so damn well. I love origin stories, but with superheroes I honestly just prefer a good romp in their shoes for a few hours.
I’m still leaning towards Dark Knight. First off, Batman has all his toys, and gets more. He breaks out the motorcycle for the first time, still kicks ass in the tumbler, has plenty of good fight scenes (although Begins’ are excellent) and still plays his ninja thing pretty well. Suit upgrades and the skyhook and the timebomb sticky gun thing. It’s all fun as hell to watch.
And by far has the best villian that will ever be played. Scarecrow is cool but he gets taken out of the action on his second encounter with Batman, and in remarkably easy fashion. And while you argue that the Joker has unclear motives, the real answer is that he didn’t have any motive at all. He’s just crazy. He’s like the guy that shot up that theater, just doing it for shits and giggles. Which added a very well hidden element of surprise in the film. You had no idea what the Joker was going to do next.
Harvey Dent was great, Maggie Gyllenhall a significant upgrade over Holmes, Alfred was still awesome as was Fox.
Begins, being an origin story, and DK being a full on batman film separates the two movies into slightly different classes IMO. I generally lean against origin films, although I do love them as well when done right. But for me, I prefer the full batman experience that Dark Knight provides
As far as the latest film. Great movie, but not on the level of the first two. However what WAS better than the previous films was the acting as a whole. Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne finally bearing his emotions, and Alfred’s monologue roles were fantastic. Tom Hardy was epic even if his character was flawed. The writing and some of the filmography felt off to me, pacing was also quite fluctuating. The film just felt a tad slow in parts.
Not only all of that but the dialogue and music… my god that heavy dialogue, character profiles and that music. This movie is so underrated, it’s the best batman movie and probably one of the best movies of all time. Batman Begins is in my top 25 list any day and any year ’till I die.
Although I agree with the article, one thing is really bugging me.. Why does everyone hate on Katie Holmes so much for Batman Begins? Not just this site, but EVERY single piece that I’ve read on Batman Begins and the trilogy. People keep typing that she was the worst part of the film but never give any concrete reasons as to why. In my opinion I preferred her much more than Maggie in the second film, and a lot more breathtaking to look at..
As movies, The Dark Knight kicks the other two’s asses! The acting was much better, the plot had more depth, and it just felt more cohesive.
However, Batman Begins really shines as a BATMAN film. Like you said, Gotham looked so much more unique. It just looked like a replica of New York City in the sequals. I also agree that the fighting scenes were much better executed in Batman Begins. My favorite scene in the series is when Batman “calls in back-up”. Of course Katie Holmes is the only thing that makes be doubt the film. Her fake emotions and forced performance just kills me!
Anyway, it’s definitely a close battle between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.
he was leaving for Bruce’s own good. And it obviously killed him to do it, but his one duty in life was to protect Bruce and Bruce wouldn’t allow him to do it anymore by being reckless and going up against Bane. However, being reckless and going up against guys he shouldn’t be able to beat is also Batman’s thing. It’s literally all he ever does.