Batman Begins

Features, Shorts, Live-Action and Direct-To-Video
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Post by Ben » December 17th, 2004, 1:59 pm

In keeping with the Schumacher bashing...

My "take" on his Phantom Of The Opera:
http://animated-news.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=179

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Batman

Post by ShyViolet » December 17th, 2004, 2:25 pm

I liked your review Ben.
:P

BTW I just thought of something (about Batman): It is pretty lame that "face cream" was the villain's weapon in Catwoman, but if you think about it the Joker did the same thing in Batman #1, with the chemicals in face powder and makeup, etc....Just a thought.
You can’t just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!

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Post by Ben » December 17th, 2004, 2:55 pm

Now, that's pretty true!

But at least that wasn't the Joker's only bad deed and he did mame and kill people!

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Re: Batman

Post by Stego » December 18th, 2004, 12:59 am

ShyViolet wrote:BTW I just thought of something (about Batman): It is pretty lame that "face cream" was the villain's weapon in Catwoman, but if you think about it the Joker did the same thing in Batman #1, with the chemicals in face powder and makeup, etc....Just a thought.
Well, while we're at it, why don't we mention Clayface...who became what he is because of an excess of...you guessed it...FACE CREAM! :wink: Man, i'm starting to think that the Batman stories are pretty darn vane. :lol:

Oh, and i liked your review of Phantom as well, Ben. Your painstakingly written details of the pain that you underwent...umm...stakingly...was really funny. Saves me the trouble of going to see it!

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Post by mr. squarepants » December 18th, 2004, 1:54 pm

Actually, I kind of want to see the film more now. I did want to see Fat Albert for some light-hearted, dumb fun, but it sounds like Phantom of the Opera has more of it.

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Re: Batman

Post by Ben » December 18th, 2004, 7:40 pm

Stego wrote:Oh, and i liked your review of Phantom as well, Ben. Your painstakingly written details of the pain that you underwent...umm...stakingly...was really funny. Saves me the trouble of going to see it!
If I can have at least saved ONE soul from undergoing the intense torture, then my job has been done. :roll:

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Can't wait for BATMAN BEGINS

Post by ShyViolet » May 19th, 2005, 12:28 pm

It looks really cool. It seems so radically different from other conceptions of Batman but maybe that's what the franchise needs.


BTW Cillian Murphy looks SO hot. :wink: :oops:
You can’t just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!

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Post by Macaluso » May 19th, 2005, 1:56 pm

The only problem I have with the movie as of now, is that the batmotank looks really really REALLY stupid.

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Post by Christian » May 19th, 2005, 2:54 pm

Yeah, the Batmobile just doesn't seem right.

GeorgeC

Post by GeorgeC » May 19th, 2005, 3:12 pm

Color me unimpressed with this film.

I really don't like what I'm seeing. Besides an art direction that takes the WORST cues from the Burton/Schumacher films, I really, really don't care for some of the casting choices and the fact that it's another DARKLY shot film where I won't be able to see half the darn film because it's filmed in an unlit closet.

And yeah, that's no Batmobile... That looks like something Arnold Schwarzenegger would drive around in to a special meeting of the California Senate! Worst Tractormobile, er Bat---.... I can't even say it. That thing looks awful!

I'm sticking to the 1990s Batman animated series. Before Batman Beyond, before the even worse "The Batman."

That was the last time anybody got Batman right on film!

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Post by GeorgeC » May 19th, 2005, 3:13 pm

P.S. -- Revenge of the Sith is DEFINITELY worth seeing.

I might have to break ranks and say it's better than A New Hope, but not quite Empire Strikes Back level. It's definitely way better than Episodes I and II for sure!

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Post by Ben » May 19th, 2005, 4:36 pm

George... I am surprised.

It is a lame, emotionless, empty film. As I said elsewhere, it is "bigger" than Clones, but not better.

Nothing has any real depth and the things we really wanted to see all these years are over all too quickly. Trouble is, the story didn't really stasrt until Clones, after which there was too much to put in here.

It's as if Lucas was getting from A-to-B-to-C-to-D-to-E and so on, not allowing the CHARACTERS to tell the story, but simply passing around the various elements randomly.

Just how DID Padme become pregnant if Anakin had been off in the Wars for so long? What the heck inspires her to name the kids as they pop out (and so quickly too - just get it over with George L)?

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Post by GeorgeC » May 19th, 2005, 9:54 pm

Well, that's my initial impression for Sith.

Give it a year -- things COULD change.

Right now, there's no question it's the best of the Prequels. And I have seen A New Hope recently enough to tell you that it's as rough in the acting and logic department as what we've seen of the last two Prequels -- almost put together. A New Hope is OVERRATED.

There's no question The Empire Strikes is the best Star Wars film by far. It works the best emotionally, the acting is decent (courtesy of a director who's better than George Lucas), and it doesn't hit you over the head too much with revelations... and it also doesn't feel rushed to resolve plotlines and wrap things up which is a problem with BOTH Return of the Jedi and Revenge of the Sith.

I resolved myself long ago to the fact that Revenge of the Sith was NOT going to be The Godfather. I think that's the only way you can enjoy the Prequels at this point in time. Lucas's directing stunk from day one and was lucky with the success of the Original Trilogy. He was NEVER a great actor's director, folks, and his dialogue has ALWAYS been lousy.

If I could let go and do the same for the next Batman film, I would... but there's been so much before this film that was basically close-to-perfect (the 1992 Batman animated series and its 1997 follow-up) that I really can't. There hasn't been that much of Star Wars YET -- but just wait for the TV series and they'll make the videogame that is Tartakovsky's Clone Wars look like a classic.

If you want an emptier Star Wars experience than ANY of the Prequels, watch 10 minutes of the Clone Wars animated series and get back to me. Just like Samurai Jack and 75% of Dexter's Laboratory, it truly is an empty emotional experience.

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Post by Christian » May 19th, 2005, 10:13 pm

Padme could've had a boy name picked out and a girl name picked out long before the actual birth. Then when delivery time came she was prepared.
I resolved myself long ago to the fact that Revenge of the Sith was NOT going to be The Godfather.
If it's not even trying to be then what's the dilemma?

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Post by GeorgeC » May 19th, 2005, 11:51 pm

I'm just saying DON'T set your expectations too high and you won't be massively disappointed like Ben evidently is.

Frankly, there hasn't been an animated film in OVER TEN YEARS that's as good as ROTS was. If you want to talk about REALLY p***-poor character development and lack of logic, I don't think there are many animated films written better than ROTS.

Yeah, I'm not kidding myself into thinking ROTS is MacBeth or better than a film student-level script, BUT there have been a lot worse scripts written, too.

There's a good reason why animated generally don't make top 100 film lists. The writing stinks in 98% of them... Worse than the average episode of Buffy or Angel. Worse than half the comic books written in the US today.

I think Lucas attempted to make ROTS more mature and succeeded 70% of the time in the movie. That attempt isn't made most of the time in animated films and you generally end up with either tit-fests like Ralph Bakshi's execrable films or misdirected, misguided films (and generally poor films) shooting for a teen audience that doesn't exist in the US like Titan AE, Treasure Planet, Atlantis, The Emperor's New Groove.

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