Aju had seen “Batman Begins” last Saturday & he didn’t like the movie very much and told me it was very “boring” but I still wanted to go as I’ve been a Batman fan for a long time. I’ve seen all the Batman movies - in fact I used to collect Batman memorabilia back in the late 80s (don’t anymore though I still have a cool towel with the Bat logo on it 
)
After Aj, wasn’t expecting much, so turned out to be pleasantly surprised. As prequels go, this one was excellent - any Batman fan would be more than pleased at the way the all the characters evolved from what they were to what we know them to be - right from Bruce Wayne, to Alfred, to Jim Gordon - I especially loved the bond that was created with Gordon & Bruce right from the time Bruce’s parents were killed. He ends up as Inspector Gordon (still far from the Commissioner James Gordon we better him as).
Lots of things were done right with the movie for example:
(01) Bruce is always portrayed as a playboy - this movie effectively shows how he invents that mask to hide his alter ego and protect the ones he loves
(02) Alfred’s involvement, knowledge and encouragement in the whole affair is very well & believably explained. I also think that Michael Caine did an excellent job as Alfred.
(03) The whole “Bat” thing was well explained, why Bruce decided to become “Bat” man (instead of for example, Eagleman 
)
(04) The Villian of the Piece “Ra’s Al Ghul” was pretty close to the comic book version, with the whole “League of Assasins” well explained.
There were a lot of other things also thrown in as well, which possibly confused the plot a little (but this is a comic-book action flick after all) like the mafia don Falcone, the twisted doctor/drug dealer Jonathan ‘The Scarecrow’ Crane (who is very convincingly played by Cillian Murphy).
I don’t think however that Christian Bale is the ideal choice as Batman… he pales in comparison (in the looks department esp… does the man have an upper lip???) to the likes of Val Kilmer & George Clooney.
All in all though, I enjoyed the movie. If you’re another Batman fan, sure you will too.
Later: Here’s the bag I found:
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July 15th, 2005 at 9:23 am
Well, small error i believe Ra’s Al Ghul’s organisation is called the “League of Shadows” and not the “League of Assassins” (who are whole different entity).
Anyway, the movie was OK. If you have read “Batman: Year One” some of the scenes will be familiar (they are picked right out of the comic, panel by panel). Other than that quite a bit of characters like mafia boss Carmine “the roman” Falcone come from another classic batman tale “Batman : The Long Halloween”. (That’s enough Bat trivia for today).Still the movie pales in comparision to the enormous potential it had.
Just curious, do u have any bat memorabilia around ?? (other than the towel)
July 15th, 2005 at 11:31 am
Originally in the comics, it is the League of Assassins - as you can check on Wikipedia (or any other site with info on the comic rather than movie).
About the memorabilia, after I wrote this post, found a Bat Bag I used to carry to college with me (yes, well, it didn’t seem so geeky at the time). It’s got tons of signatures from all my mates & is pretty special. I probably will have other stuff around, just don’t really know where, will post if I find any
July 16th, 2005 at 11:14 am
Probably right you are
. The reason I thought so was coz of an issue i have where Batman tangles with the League of Assassins.
Also in Batman : The animated series Ra’s Al Ghul’s organisation is called The Society of Shadows.
As far as bat memoribilia is concerned, got about a handful of comics (including a bob kane original) I managed to keep from my vast comic book collection from when I was a kid. Got a batman begins cap, t-shirt and a bat-a-rang key chain with me
.