Yes, it's been floating around in grotty, hand held bootleg form for a few days now but I simply couldn't bring myself to look at anything from Christopher Nolan's second Batman film in anything less that the best possible quality. Well, it has arrived now as it was intended to be seen and confirms only that Nolan is apparently genetically wired in a way that prevents him absolutely from making anything even remotely approaching a bad film. The casting of Heath Ledger as The Joker raised some eyebrows when it was announced but you get lots of him in this and it's HUGELY obvious that Nolan knew exactly what he was doing when he made that choice ... the Ledger Joker is immediately distinctive, believable and - most importantly - legitimately threatening. A perfect foil, in other words, to the perfectly cast Christian Bale. Yum.
??? I'm not seeing what people are seeing. This looks Robocop cheap. Burton's Batman was far better.
Much as I love the Burton Batman I'll take the realistic approach of Nolan over Burton's take any day. In a heartbeat.
I have no love for Tim Burton's BATMAN. Nice production design. Terrible movie. I went to see it opening night with a friend, we both left the theater distinctly unimpressed after all the hype - and there was a HUGE amount of hype. Burton's BATMAN RETURNS was still not much of a Batman movie, but it was at least enjoyable on its own terms - a real improvement. The less said about the Joel Schumacher Batman films, the better.
I think people's opinions of the Burton BATMAN are largely dependent on your opinion of Jack Nicholson's Joker. While lots of people loved him in it, and I guess I ought to respect that... I thought Nicholson sucked in BATMAN, big time. And even though I liked Prince, and I guess I still do even though he took "Let's Go Crazy" a little bit too seriously, Prince music has no place in BATMAN. None. Nice production design, though, in a bad movie that's gotten worse with time. It is better than either version of FANTASTIC FOUR, at least.
... "too" ...
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I think Burton's films aren't that bad. BATMAN RETURNS worked the best of his two. But I also prefer Nolan's BATMAN BEGINS. He basically turned a superhero film into a drama/action, and it kicked ass.
But I don't think we should ignore Schumacher's films. BATMAN FOREVER is crap, but I personally think BATMAN & ROBIN fits into the so-bad-it's-deliciously-good variety. I mean, Ahnuld yelling out classic, subtle lines like "Cool party!" and "Chill out!" And why? Because he's Mr. Freeze, damn it! Oh, now I get it! And who can resist a Batman with nipples? I certainly can't.
In any case, I'm looking forward to another Nolan/Bale Batman flick.
I liked Nolan's film because of it's realistic approach and that it was hugely influenced by Batman Year One.
Heath Ledger's joker sounds exactly like Tom Waits in his song 'What's He Building in There', from the album Mule Variations. It's wonderfully creepy in a scary clown kind of way.