I
didn't think the Batman franchise would recover from what George
Clooney did to it with 1997's Batman and Robin. To date,
that thing remains the worst comic book movie ever created. Ben
and Jennifer Aflleck have made better comic book movies. Ang Lee
has made a better comic book movie and he's Chinese (of course
it has nothing to do with anything...that's what makes it fucked
up).
What
pisses me off most about that film's failure is that Clooney was
able to walk away from the debacle unharmed and able to prosper,
while the once bright careers of his young co-stars, Alicia Silverstone
and Chris O'Donnell, have faded before our very eyes. The
Bachelor, Vertical Limit, Miss Match, Beauty Shop...these
pieces of shit are all Clooney's fault. O'Donnell and Silverstone
deserve better. If Clooney made 15 Solarises and 15 One
Fine Days, it would not make up for ruining two great young
talents and almost ruining a billion dollar franchise.
All this leads me to my point. My point is that the best thing
about Batman Begins is that George Clooney doesn't have
a thing to do with it. He wasn't even a grip. He didn't do craft
services... nothing. Thank you, Jesus! Christian Bale dons the
cape in this installment. As usual, he's a bit too intense for
my liking, but it's okay. At least he's not George Clooney. If
he were George Clooney, he'd have been smirking all the fucking
time. I also could have done without Katie Holmes as the love
interest. But, I'll even accept that. She's not George Clooney,
after all.
This is the darkest of the Batman films. There is gloom all around.
The sky is only clear over Wayne Manor and there's steam all over
the damn place. What is the deal with the STEAM!?!? The story
of this film is also the most interesting of the series, because
it tells us how and why Bruce Wayne became Batman. The story goes:
when Bruce was around 10 or 12-years-old, he fell into a well
in his backyard. He broke his arm. Hundreds of bats were in a
cave and they all flew over Bruce and out of the well, leaving
him there hysterical and traumatized. Little Bruce and bats just
don't mix after that. His fear of bats becomes deadly one fateful
night at the opera when he asks his parent to leave, as one of
the characters too closely resembles an ugly rodent. Big mistake.
His irrational fear of one of God's creatures cost his parents
their lives, because if they hadn't left early they wouldn't have
been mugged and murdered by some desperate guy in the alley behind
the theater. Ugh! I cannot stand George Clooney! Then, Little
Bruce can't take it anymore. He runs away...to the Orient...learns
to become a master of martial arts...from...an IRISHMAN! Yeah,
he learned how to become a ninja from Liam Neeson. I was offended.
First Tom Cruise becomes a samauri and now Liam Neeson's a ninja?
Yet, people are still bitching and moaning about Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
in Game of Death. 'Cism.
All in all, this movie is okay. Michael Keaton is still the best
Batman. I'm kinda disappointed Joe Morton didn't get the role
of Black Scientist Who Makes Deadly Weapons, but Morgan Freeman
is Morgan Freeman. What can ya do?