I see BATS!!

This is a rather well delayed article. One that I wanted to write shortly after the watching movie. I was rather busy during that time and still am. So after a conversation with Lisa a.k.a Bohemian Hobo, I thought that I would just sit myself and finish this. So here it goes…About six months ago I watched a movie trailer depicting a caped crusader of the dark that I had been familiar with since I started my comic collection back in '86. Bonafide, intelligent, rich and nocturnal - The Dark Knight was my favourite hero. He did not have any special powers but he had an array of cool gadgets, a slick car, an awesome costume and a gothic lordiness to his poise. Some of my favourites were Frank Miller's Return of the Dark Knight, Alan Moore's Killing Joke, Starlin and O'Niel's Death in the Family, and let's not forget Morrison's ever infamous Arkham Asylum.

Finally a long awaited Batman movie with a sense of equilibrium was here and there I was on opening day at the cinema buying my tickets, popcorn and soda after a fast-food dinner.

It was a refreshing new look. Christian Bale with his somewhat mundane style and rather insipid smile played the Corinthian Bruce with just. A pale rich kid who witnesses the death of his parents as a child consequently maturing into a rueful adult. I like the path that Nolan and Goyer took with the sagely intellect Ra's Al-Ghul being a major influence in Bruce's life. This paves great possibilities for sequels.

Some may say that the first half of the movie was rather long and wearisome, not enough action and yet this is by far the best of the five Batman movies. I would like to set the record straight that first and foremost Batman Begins is not in anyway connected to the last four Batman movies. This is a whole new movie altogether. Tim Burton did his part and now it is time to place him on your trophy shelf alongside other great series like Alien, Star Wars and Star Trek. So you should expect the Joker to show-up grinning with malice in the sequel. My second point - this is not a Schwarzenegger movie. There is a storyline. In fact – I felt that this particular tale was more of an introduction to those of you who are unfamiliar with the Batman that comic book fans all over have grow to like in the last two decades.

There was no twist nor was there any real brilliance in the storyline and yet it was executed magnificently. The gadgets were way too cool and it felt like Goyer and Nolan may have pushed it just a tad bit much but they never crossed the line of impossible. They kept thing real in all its movie splendour. Casting Michael Caine as Alfred, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox and Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon was simply brilliant. These are actors that can take simple small character and elevate the entire movie to a whole different level

So, who were the mavericks behind this production?
Director Christopher Nolan and writer David S. Goyer. I can’t seem to pinpoint their motivation and most of their inspiration. It seems to me that they took on the job simply because it was Batman and though neither drew experience from comic book I was very impressed at how well they executed this project. Comic fans were entertained and this is an achievement simply because this is one very unforgiving audience.

There was one let down. One that I must voice as it was and is to me a huge influence to any good movie – Soundtrack. I missed Danny Elfman’s soundtrack. It was definitely the Batman soundtrack, and still is.

One review wrote: “This is a story of the Dark Knight, not the Caped Crusade"

"Why do we fall? So that we might better learn to pick ourselves up."