Batman Begins

[Mr. SmartyPants]

MARK HAMIL AS THE JOKER???? That I would absolutely LOVE!

I saw batman begins last week, and I totally loved it!

[uc pseudonym]

I saw and enjoyed this movie. There are a few comments that I have to make, I suppose.

First, this is so different from the old Batman. Those I'd recommend for comedy value, but little else. This Batman... it actually makes sense that people would be afraid of him.

Second, I liked the new villains. That's all I'll say about them, other than that for a while I thought Batman was going to take their philosophy, and that worried me, as it was even more vicious than the darker incarnations of Batman. Nice take on the Scarecrow, and the hint at the Joker at the end was great for anyone familiar with Batman.

Third, I liked how a lot of things actually had reasonable explanations. For example, Batman is so stealthy because he's studied ninjitsu. Or that it never matters if his suit gets damaged, because he has them in bulk...

Lastly, it was quite obvious that this wasn't the All-American blue-tights Batman. This was particularly obvious to me in the chase scene with the police.

My only complaint really is that the writers need to remember that the human body is mostly water too.

Originally, I thought that their plan would be to hit humans directly, and presumed we wouldn't actually see that on camera.

[Jeikobu]

lol Mark Hamill as Joker? That would be very intertesting, especially since he voiced Joker on Batman TAS (and did a perfect job). However, isn't he getting a bit old? And he doesn't look like the Joker.

[ShiroiHikari]

I...don't know about Mark Hamill myself. But, who knows. This director seems to know what he's doing, so I'm sure that if they do make another movie and pick Mark Hamill, it'll probably come out okay.

As for him not looking like the Joker...you'd be surprised what makeup artists can do.

[Yojimbo]

Have Jack Nicholson do him again! But I doubt he'd do a role like that again at his age though.

And I don't know what some of you guys are talking about Batman not being cool till now. Michael Keaton was way cool in the first one and it's sequel. It's just after he did those he became uh...not so cool.

Anyway I'm likely going to see this tomorrow so I'm looking forward to it.

[termyt]

Second, I liked the new villains. That's all I'll say about them, other than that for a while I thought Batman was going to take their philosophy, and that worried me, as it was even more vicious than the darker incarnations of Batman.

This is one of the aspects of the film I enjoyed the most.
[spoiler]Batman refuses to accept the tired old anti-hero myth that to defeat evil you must become evil. Instead, he takes the high road and becomes a true hero instead of an anti-hero. My tag line for this was "He is in the darkness but not of the darkness.[/spoiler]

Johnny Depp may make an interesting Joker. I hadn't thought of that before. Mark Hamill definitely has the voice for it, but I'm not sure he can pull it off on the big screen. I doubt he's in serious contention for the role, anyway. The rumor likely started because Mark Hamill plays the voice of the Joker in the Batman animated series.

[uc pseudonym]

I think it's highly likely we'll see a sequel, as this movie is doing well in terms of money and fans.

[spoiler]Batman refuses to accept the tired old anti-hero myth that to defeat evil you must become evil. Instead, he takes the high road and becomes a true hero instead of an anti-hero. My tag line for this was "He is in the darkness but not of the darkness.[/spoiler]

Yes. That is very much what I meant.

[Michael]

In response to Termyt's spoiler: But Batman's true character is that he's always one step away from becoming what he fights. You don't truly see that in the movie, but it's all over the comics. Joker kills Bruce's best friend at one point and Batman almost kills the Joker, (Gordon stops him). That's the true essence of Batman, you see it in the end of the film when--

[spoiler]Batman leaves Ra's Al Gul to die. I think Joker will probably wind up killing Katie Holmes in the next film and Bruce will try to kill the Joker but Batman has to be more than a man, and a normal man would take revenge, but Batman can't. That's how I see the setup anyway.[/spoiler]

Yeah, I don't know if that makes sense but anyway; NO Johnny Depp for the Joker. I have never seen him to a manical, insane villian. The closest was 'Secret Window' and he was just midly crazy in that. Michael Keaton or Mark Hamil would be good.

[VioletEyedCat]

NO Johnny Depp for the Joker. I have never seen him to a manical, insane villian. The closest was 'Secret Window' and he was just midly crazy in that. Michael Keaton or Mark Hamil would be good.

Johnny Depp can do anything. Who woulda thought the young hot shot from 21 Jump Street could also be Burton's Frankenstein? Or the creepiest Candy Man ever? Or a charming, but slighty crazy pirate? I can see him going evil in an instant. He's cool like that.

[Yojimbo]

Johnny Depp can do anything. Who woulda thought the young hot shot from 21 Jump Street could also be Burton's Frankenstein? Or the creepiest Candy Man ever? Or a charming, but slighty crazy pirate? I can see him going evil in an instant. He's cool like that.

Well I'm kinda meh about him I mean he *might* be able to do a good Joker but it's hard to say. As far as everyone saying Mark Hammil would be a good Joker I have to disagree. He does the voice of him in the cartoon but that doesn't matter. Mark Hammil is washed up and could never be a villain voice or no. Jack Nicholson will always be the true Joker funny, sick, and twisted!:P

[Kkun]

Well I'm kinda meh about him I mean he *might* be able to do a good Joker but it's hard to say. As far as everyone saying Mark Hammil would be a good Joker I have to disagree. He does the voice of him in the cartoon but that doesn't matter. Mark Hammil is washed up and could never be a villain voice or no. Jack Nicholson will always be the true Joker funny, sick, and twisted!:P

I think Johnny Depp would be killer as the Joker. I do, however, agree with your sentiment about Mark Hamil. He's just too old and he just wouldn't be a very good Joker, even if he did the voice in the cartoon. I don't think he'd play that role very well at all.

[Yeshua-Knight]

i have to wonder if they're gonna try to do a joke that is comparable to the joke that is in the new batman cartoon as far as agility and that kind of thing, the old school joker (batman 1) was more of a gangster that was driven over the edge due to the after effects of falling into some chemicals, however as far as i know the origin of the joker has never really been disclosed, to be quite honest i'm hoping that perhaps what they'll do is have it where each of these villians that appear in however many sequels they do of this batman are actually somehow connected to ra's al ghul, ra's is from what i recall from various sources the true "anti-batman" character as in he has all the skills and resources of batman, but he's just as bad as the evil he's trying to stop, [spoiler] so perhaps ra's didn't actually die in that train wreck, but lived and while he's recovering he's gonna send in others of equal caliber to destroy gotham once and for all [/spoiler] and before these other guys start showing up, the joker comes in and reaks some havok, i've also heard from a friend of mine that they're gonna have it so that harvey dent, (aka two-face) will come in sometime in the second one as the new DA, and somehow become deformed and end up as two face for either the second movie or maybe the third, who knows

[Stephen]

Saw the movie the other day and loved it. But, I am not gonna leap blindly onto the Bale bandwagon. Bale played an excellent Batman...but, so did Keaton. I won't say one is better then the other because really...they were 2 different films. The idea of new films is good and bad to me. For one, we might get a Bane that does not suck...but, there will never be another Joker as good as the original.

[Maledicte]

[SPOILER]so perhaps ra's didn't actually die in that train wreck, but lived and while he's recovering he's gonna send in others of equal caliber to destroy gotham once and for all [/SPOILER]

[SPOILER] the man has to come back. There's a Lazarus pit in Gotham, isn't there? All they have to do is pop him in there and ba-BAM, he's good as new.[/SPOILER]

[uc pseudonym]

Do we actually have any official information on future Batman films? As far as I knew this was a single movie deal, though that wouldn't exclude sequels.

[SpikeSpiegel306]

No, there are definitely going to be sequels. The whole point of calling it Batman Begins was the idea that the time has finally come to use new technology to try another shot at the Batman films. Its kind of a reincarnation if you will.

[Lehn]

No, there are definitely going to be sequels. The whole point of calling it Batman Begins was the idea that the time has finally come to use new technology to try another shot at the Batman films. Its kind of a reincarnation if you will.

I heard that the entire main cast back (caine, baile, and freeman are the names that I remember) signed back on, but the directors dropped Katie Holmes, (I'm personally hoping for Scarlet Johansson to take her spot, because she’s such an intense actress --- and would be perfect opposite for Baile) and are currently trying to pick out the next Joker.

This is going to rock.

[Michael]

Yay, they dropped Katie Homes. I hope they introduce Catwomen in the next film, (and get a decent actress to play her).

They definitely are doing a sequel and the cast should remain pretty much the same.

And about the Lazarus Pit . . . . .

[spoiler]I highly doubt that the writers will put that in. It worked OK in the comics, but it would be way too forced in a live-action film. People coming back from the dead and acting insane? I don't think so. Ra's dead. It's a shame because it was funny when he kept trying to get Batman to marry his daughter. Oh well, maybe we'll see the Riddler soon.[/spoiler]

[ShiroiHikari]

[spoiler] I don't think Ra's Al Ghul is dead. If he was supposed to have died, they would have shown it for closure. He'll probably be back. The Scarecrow will probably make another appearance too, since it didn't say if he was dead or what. She just shocked him in the face and he rode off.[/spoiler]

[Stephen]

[SPOILER]They also mention Scarecrow at the end, that "He is still out there"[/SPOILER]

[Lehn]

I saw a chic the other day at the mall with an "I <3 the scarcrow" t-shirt.

On the Joker, the IMDB had this----

British actor Paul Bettany has joined the race to play Batman's nemesis The Joker in a planned sequel to Batman Begins. Director Christopher Nolan left no doubt The Joker would feature heavily in the next Batman installment when the villain, formerly played by Jack Nicholson, left a calling card in the final scene of the box office smash hit. And now Batman fansites are desperately trying to make sure producers pick the right man for the job. Crispin Glover was an early favorite, along with Star Wars' Mark Hamill, who provides the voice of The Joker in the Batman animated series and Aussie actor Lachy Hulme, and now Bettany has got the fans' vote. An insider tells website Batman-on-film.Com that the A Beautiful Mind star is officially in the running to play the evil character.

I could live with Bettany as the Joker (The poet from Knights Tale, the "roommate" from A Beautiful Mind, and the tennis player in Wimbledon) --- he has a great sarcastic charm going on, and I've liked him in everything that I've seen him in.

Hamill would be my second choice to him.... because I wonder, has Hamill done any real acting (I mean camera-in-the-face -- not voice acting) since Star Wars? I was under the impression that the entire Luke Skywalker thing shot him in the foot camera time-wise because of the over-exposure.

Just my two cents though...

[uc pseudonym]

I thought the title was Batman Begins because this was the beginning of Batman himself. This was how he went from a billionaire playboy to costumed crusader. This began the era of supervillains, and set up quite a bit (Commissioner Gordon, for example).

[spoiler]I'm not sure if I think Ra will be back. We didn't see him dead (or see him escape), but the train sure did a lot of blowing up.

As for Scarecrow, I'm sure we'll see him again. For one, he's a classic villain. For another, he only got hit with a taser. Even if the face, that wouldn't be lethal.[/spoiler]

[Ichigo_89]

Just saw it recently. BEST BATMAN FILM. EVER. PERIOD. Go see it!

[agasfas]

I saw the movie this past Saturday. I was actually surprised on how good it turned out. It did a fine job setting up the other batmans indeed.

[spoiler]But I would love to see both Ra and scarecrow return later. Though I thought it ironic that Ra was seen as a good guy in the begining turned out to be such a bad guy (more or less). To punish the majority for the mistakes of a few...[/spoiler]

[Yojimbo]

[spoiler]Oh Ras will be back I'm sure, he's the antithesis of Batman and is such a cool villain. It's been wrung to death that there will be a sequel with the Joker so there ya go.[/spoiler]

And yes Hammil did...some acting after Star Wars. The only noteworthy roles though were in The Big Red One and the old school PC game Wing Commander as it turns out. It's a really good WWII movie with Lee Marvin and they just put a "directors cut" out on DVD with alot of good extra footage. You can see it all the time on AMC, Bravo, the History Channel, and the like. It's really Hammil's only ntoeworthy acting role outside of Star Wars. Beats the pants off of Corvette Summer that's for sure.

[SpikeSpiegel306]

I am hoping that they will maybe show Joker's major role in the "creation," if you will, of most of Gotham's supervillains. Maybe at the end of the second one there will be something about Joker accidentally creating Clayface, developing Bane's venom, or calling Solomon Grundy back from the dead. If Nolan truly wants to stick closely to the comics, there will be a lot of supervillains having minor parts in the next one.

[Radical Dreamer]

[SPOILER=Scarecrow and the Joker...]Ok, maybe this is a bit far-fetched, but...You don't think they'll get the guy who played Scarecrow to be the Joker, do you? I mean, he would be wearing the makeup, and his face would no doubt be all screwed up from that taser...Plus, Scarecrow attacked with gasses, as did the Joker, and he's also always dealing with those insane people, while he's a tad insane himself. So, does that make any sense, or am I just dreaming?[/SPOILER]

[cbwing0]

[spoiler=Scarecrow and the Joker]I would say that it is a definitely possibility now that I think about it. If I remember correctly the neutoroxin that Crane used caused permanent insanity if not treated immediately, so he would be loony enough to be the Joker. In fact, I thought that he was the Joker in the commercials for the movie (you know, the part where he says, "He's here." "Who?" "The Bat-man!"). Not a bad theory at all [/spoiler]

Mark Hammil would make an interesting Joker. I would prefer him to Johnny Depp (he is a good actor, but like Clooney and Batman, he just doesn't fit the role), or any of the other names suggested so far (except for one... ).

[umathurmanlover]

....amazing....blows the two burton films out of the water, and I love those too.
I would have picked different villains, but those two really fit into the movie well...in the sequal i'd love to see some female villains, since they were always my favorite ...e.g. poison ivy and catwoman(please no halle berry)

[termyt]

I am hoping that they will maybe show Joker's major role in the "creation," if you will, of most of Gotham's supervillains. Maybe at the end of the second one there will be something about Joker accidentally creating Clayface, developing Bane's venom, or calling Solomon Grundy back from the dead. If Nolan truly wants to stick closely to the comics, there will be a lot of supervillains having minor parts in the next one.

Those events happened over the course of many years in the comics, so I wouldn't expect them all to appear in the next movie even if they do try to maintain those connections. Anyway, they are already off a little in regards to villain creation myths. Joker's creation came at the hands of Batman himself in a situation very similar to the scene in the first Tim Burton Batman movie.

Apparently, the Joker already exists in the movies, independent of the Batman. Of course, they could say that the Batman contributed to the Joker's creation during a fight that chronologically occurred during the first movie, it just wasn't shown on screen.