![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miss_ytI finally saw Batman Begins today, and yes, it was as cool as I've heard. It took some liberties with the mythos, but mostly for the best. And since I'm a sucker for moral conflicts, this take on Batman really appealed to me. Although there was a "doomsday device" involved in the plot (would that make it a "doomsday plot device?"), there were enough twists and surprises to keep it fresh. Yes, I liked it a lot.
One thing I also liked was that the movie mentioned a depression. It was obviously not the Great Depression of the 1930s - the styles and technology weren't right - but it still helped tie the movie to its comic-book roots. After all, the comics started in the Depression.
I had a couple of minor quibbles about the movie, though. The biggest, which I think others will share, is the portrayal of Alfred. He is very much his own character, which is okay, but he's not true to the original. The Alfred of the comic books and the animated series was a dapper, high-class Jeeves-style butler with a dry sense of humor. Alfred as he is in the movie isn't as he should be. He's got an almost Cockney accent, for one thing. I wonder if the producers and directors and what-all did that on purpose or whether they can't tell the difference between one British accent and another.
My second and third quibbles, which are tied together, were the introduction of not just a love interest but a "true love" interest, and the fact that Batman reveals his identity to her. The story would have been just as good, even better, had Rachel not been a childhood sweetheart or anything like that, just the idealistic assistant to the D.A. And Bruce would never have told her, or even hinted to her, that he was Batman (or vice versa), first because he's paranoid and second because he'd want to protect her. The whole thing was too sappy for this movie.
Otherwise I really enjoyed this movie, since it didn't contain most of the stupid cliches that the other ones have. Except for the love interest.
One thing I also liked was that the movie mentioned a depression. It was obviously not the Great Depression of the 1930s - the styles and technology weren't right - but it still helped tie the movie to its comic-book roots. After all, the comics started in the Depression.
I had a couple of minor quibbles about the movie, though. The biggest, which I think others will share, is the portrayal of Alfred. He is very much his own character, which is okay, but he's not true to the original. The Alfred of the comic books and the animated series was a dapper, high-class Jeeves-style butler with a dry sense of humor. Alfred as he is in the movie isn't as he should be. He's got an almost Cockney accent, for one thing. I wonder if the producers and directors and what-all did that on purpose or whether they can't tell the difference between one British accent and another.
My second and third quibbles, which are tied together, were the introduction of not just a love interest but a "true love" interest, and the fact that Batman reveals his identity to her. The story would have been just as good, even better, had Rachel not been a childhood sweetheart or anything like that, just the idealistic assistant to the D.A. And Bruce would never have told her, or even hinted to her, that he was Batman (or vice versa), first because he's paranoid and second because he'd want to protect her. The whole thing was too sappy for this movie.
Otherwise I really enjoyed this movie, since it didn't contain most of the stupid cliches that the other ones have. Except for the love interest.
