More on Batman Begins

From pinoyexchange: Well, I'm glad that at least, you're just one of the few (about 1 out of 10 critics?) that does not see the genius of the movie. 

What can I say? We geniuses are that rare. 

Christian Bale: But to me, whilst I enjoyed those ones, it was more the stylization of the villains than Batman himself. I didn’t see a whole lot going on in Batman.

But he would say that, wouldn't he?

I thought he did a good job with Wayne--said so in my article. But his Batman, if anything, had even less going on than Keaton, especially when Keaton had to face off with Pfeiffer (now that's  chemistry--someone you want to punch and kiss at the same time!). Bales' Batman had no one to react to really, as an equal and an opposite (he interacts well with Gary Oldman, but Oldman's an ally not an adversary. And Katie Holmes--well, she's no Michelle Pfeiffer).

To me if you’re gonna make ‘Batman,’ you really have to really pick a side and either really send it up the way that Adam West did it, because a man running around in a bat suit can be a very funny thing, or really take it seriously and delve into the demons, you know, of this character etcetera. I think that the other movies kind of went in-between.

A balance between Batman's grimness and Burton's black humor. Harder to do, I'd say, than Nolan's monotone.

bluewing: why does noel vera always NEED to swim upstream? i have a feeling it's already a bad habit for him. he couldn't help himself. he just HAS to play devil's advocate. is there a film you actually enjoyed with the rest of us mere mortals?

Check out the Hellboy and Prisoner of Azkaban thread.

 Spiderdude: Noel: you should be aware marami batman fanatics dito...mahirap makalaban sila. Kasing tapang nila si batman

jdlc: He probably didn't get the memo... errr you probably didn't get the memo about Noel Vera .

I hope they realize that mine's is at best an opinion...no better and no worse than anyone else's.

That said--you should see the fanatics in the THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST (free registration necessary) thread!

From pinoydvd:

X44: Nice one, Noel.  Agree with you onpractically every point. Specially the point about the villains being the stars of the show. From Adam West down to the last Schumacer, they always were. After all, once you've gotten past the anal-retentive-millionaire-playboy-traumatized-by-the- shooting-of-his-parents, there's really nothing left to say that's interesting. Even the guys doing the comics knew this.

Thanks X. Tho on one point, I'd argue: if Pfeiffer was so memorable in Batman Returns, was she memorable in a vacuum? It was a pas de deux, with Pfeiffer and Keaton reliving their bittersweet romance from real life...