Batman Begins!

Batman Begins (courtesy of www.batmanbegins.com)

I just watched Batman Begins yesterday with my family at Berjaya Times Square. One of the rare family outings that involves movies. Believe it or not, it was 16 years ago, since I watched a Batman movie with my family. Yeah, the 1989 Batman, starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson. We all went to the Rex Cinema at Petaling Street to watch. I distinctly remember waiting in the car going through a traffic jam at the traffic lights at Jalan Silang. Hmm... good to reminisce.

Anyway, it's the BEST Batman movie franchise I've seen so far! I thought the original 1989 was good, but this one is WAAAAYYY better. Of course, don't even talk of those crap sequels like Batman Returns, Forever, .. & Robin, especially the last two... total, absolute crap!

This movie stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Michael Caine as Alfred, Gary Oldman (wow, this one was a surprise!) as Gordon, Katie Holmes as love-interest, assistant DA Rachel Dawes, Liam Neeson as Ducard, Ken Watanabe as Ra's Al Ghul, and some more. Directed by Christopher Nolan, who did a good job, this movie depicts the story of Batman himself and the history of the creation of Batman. Unlike the previous movies, this version tells more of what Bruce Wayne is, and what he was to become as a result of the death of his parents, giving him more depth to his character as Bruce Wayne and Batman. Oh, but for techies, it also showed how some of his high-tech gadgetry came about, and the creation of the Batcave... from the Bat-suit, grappling hook, Bat mobile (or tank in this case!), utility belt (which looked more practical then the 1989 comically made one), and more. Oh yeah, to quote my brother on the Batsuit, "... thank God.. no nipples on the suit, man!". Couldn't agree more.

In terms of storyline, I was really glad that the writer of the movie stuck very closely to the original story in the DC Comics, and character wise, very close to the one Frank Miller created. A dark, pain-ridden Bruce Wayne/Batman like in the Batman: Year One written by Frank.

Christian Bale made an excellent Bruce Wayne/Batman... even slightly more than Michael Keaton (which was my personal favorite before). Michael Caine was also excellent as Alfred. It was surprising to see how Gary Oldman played the then-Lieutenant Gordon, in what Yahoo! Movies described as a William H. Macy role. Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox (a character that was in the comics but never appeared in the previous instalments). Also the introduction to two new villians, Jonathan Crane as Scarecrow (played by a sinister-looking Cillian Murphy) and Ra's Al Ghul (Ken Watanabe). There's a slight twist to the Ra's Al Ghul character, but I'll leave it up to you to find out in the movie.

GO WATCH IT! Awesome.

Biased as I am, but it's an A+ for a Batman comic adaptation for me!