Reply to Topic
The following is from aint it cool news
WARNING: "Batman Begins" spoilers below
We begin, as the screeching of bats and the darkness of wings gives way to sunlight, in a garden. A girl, RACHEL, is running from a boy, BRUCE WAYNE. As they hide from the Wayne Manor staff, they are two children at play, until Bruce falls through an abandoned well in the back kitchen garden. Bruce falls into blackness.
His eyes open in a Bhutanese prison, as Bruce (Christian Bale), now 28, serves his time. He spends his days fighting the other prisoners. He is drifting through his life. Six prisoners start a fight, and Bruce methodically takes them down, until the guards put Bruce in solitary confinement for the other prisoners's protection. In his cell, a voice speaks out. It is DUCARD (Liam Neeson), a servant of RA'S AL GHUL (Ken Watanabe), offering to teach Bruce the skills of the League of Shadows, if he passes their tests. He offers him something he has been looking for for a long time: purpose.
We all know the story of Batman - Bruce Wayne fights crime to avenge his parents' death - but David Goyer puts us right in the middle of it this time. No mere flashback for us - we are taken through the ordeal that Bruce suffers and feels guilty over. If Bruce hadn't been frightened at the play they went to see that night, if he hadn't begged his parents to leave, their deaths by Joe Chill (yes, NOT the Joker, but the original killer of the comics, and I'm thankful that got remedied) might have been avoided. He feels responsible to a fault, and he travels the world, in self-destructive behavior.
Bruce travels to the Himalayas to train with Ducard and Ra's Al Ghul's League of Shadows. Imagine a ninja sword duel with Batman versus Qui-Gon Jinn. Yes, I sense the fanboy stiffies sprouting now. It's a kickass fight as written, and I'm confident that Nolan will make it pop on screen. Through out the training ordeals that Bruce goes through, he learns to live with his fears - his fears of bats due to his fall in his youth, his fear of loss, his fear of the knowledge that he may have been responsible for his parents' death. He learns the value of masks. And at the end, he is offered membership... for a price. The League of Shadows isn't some altruistic group out to save the world, but to destroy it. Ra's Al Ghul tells Bruce that he wants to destroy Gotham, and through what they have taught him, he will be the one to do it. Bruce refuses, and there is a fight with many ninjas (!!!). Ra's Al Ghul is killed in an explosion, but Bruce saves Ducard's life. With that act, he is ready to begin. He calls ALFRED (Michael Caine) to have him picked up, and Bruce starts to pick up the pieces of his life.
When Bruce returns to Gotham, Wayne Enterprises is in shambles. Its not his father's company anymore. It's all about the profits, about defense contracts, and the board of the company is trying to have Bruce Wayne declared dead so they can complete the takeover of the company. Unfortunately for them Bruce shows up and defeats their plans, and meets LUCIUS FOX (Morgan Freeman), who heads the Applied Science Division after he refused to go with the board and was booted off. It's here that we see the development of many of the iconic Batman symbols - the suit, the Batmobile, the grappling hook. When Bruce reaches his 30th birthday, he inherits all of it.
Bruce learns that Joe Chill, the man who killed his parents, is being offered parole in exchange for testimony against local crime lord Carmine Falcone, and Bruce decides to take revenge. However, Rachel (Katie Holmes), now an assistant district attorney, prevents him from acting. Later, Chill is killed by one of Falcone's cronies, and Bruce realizes that the corruption of Gotham City goes much deeper than his own petty revenge fantasies. The corruption, in fact, goes much further than Bruce knows, all the way back to China, where the REAL villain bides his time...
Gotham City needs a symbol. A symbol of fear, yes, the fear of his childhood, but turned into a force for good. In a mask, Bruce contacts JIM GORDON (Gary Oldman), one of the few honest cops in the city, and tells him to look for a sign.
The first time we see Batman in the script isn't until page 58 of the script, almost an hour in, if the axiom of one minute a page is true. As in SPIDER-MAN, we are so invested in the character that by the time Batman actually shows up it all has a sense of context. The first Batman fight has the feel of someone who really is new at this sort of thing, but it feels exciting and I'm looking forward to seeing it on screen.
There's a lot of ground for the film to cover, but it never feels rushed. It feels well-paced, and introduces characters at leisure. It never feels dull. It's fresh.
What about the other villain, the SCARECROW (Cillian Murphy)? He has a terrific entrance, and isn't just a throwaway baddie for Batman to fight, but figures into the larger story. And Goyer does something really cool that more superhero movies need to pay attention to - the Scarecrow's not disposable. Ra's Al Ghul is also used very well. He feels a little like how Dracula is introduced in the Bram Stoker novel. He's a villain that isn't onscreen a lot of the time, but you continuously feel his presence. This movie really has three villains. Ducard, as written, is just as much an equal for Bruce as the others. With all the crime in Gotham, Batman is never at a loss of bad guys.
Am I leaving anything out? Oh hell yeah. A lot more than you realize. The script's 128 pages long, and I'm only to page 58. And I really can't go any further without really ruining it. There's some twists, including one that I really didn't see coming until it was right on me. But the script has confidence in the characters, and everyone's well written, including Alfred, who I can't wait to see Michael Caine play. He really is Bruce's moral center, the one that keeps him grounded, and Bruce and Alfred have a nice banter and a warm relationship that should translate well on screen. The only character that may get a little short shrift is Rachel, but this is a superhero movie, and sadly, historically, the women in superhero movies aren't exactly given the best lines.
This feels like a film written for Batman fans. The introduction of all the iconic symbols that make Batman the hero we know and love is done particularly well, including the Batmobile, which I can't wait to see (think THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, rather than the skinny car the films are used to). They even make an effort to explain how Bruce can afford all this stuff, and lay a scientific foundation that actually gives "all those wonderful toys" a sense of reality.
His eyes open in a Bhutanese prison, as Bruce (Christian Bale), now 28, serves his time. He spends his days fighting the other prisoners. He is drifting through his life. Six prisoners start a fight, and Bruce methodically takes them down, until the guards put Bruce in solitary confinement for the other prisoners's protection. In his cell, a voice speaks out. It is DUCARD (Liam Neeson), a servant of RA'S AL GHUL (Ken Watanabe), offering to teach Bruce the skills of the League of Shadows, if he passes their tests. He offers him something he has been looking for for a long time: purpose.
We all know the story of Batman - Bruce Wayne fights crime to avenge his parents' death - but David Goyer puts us right in the middle of it this time. No mere flashback for us - we are taken through the ordeal that Bruce suffers and feels guilty over. If Bruce hadn't been frightened at the play they went to see that night, if he hadn't begged his parents to leave, their deaths by Joe Chill (yes, NOT the Joker, but the original killer of the comics, and I'm thankful that got remedied) might have been avoided. He feels responsible to a fault, and he travels the world, in self-destructive behavior.
Bruce travels to the Himalayas to train with Ducard and Ra's Al Ghul's League of Shadows. Imagine a ninja sword duel with Batman versus Qui-Gon Jinn. Yes, I sense the fanboy stiffies sprouting now. It's a kickass fight as written, and I'm confident that Nolan will make it pop on screen. Through out the training ordeals that Bruce goes through, he learns to live with his fears - his fears of bats due to his fall in his youth, his fear of loss, his fear of the knowledge that he may have been responsible for his parents' death. He learns the value of masks. And at the end, he is offered membership... for a price. The League of Shadows isn't some altruistic group out to save the world, but to destroy it. Ra's Al Ghul tells Bruce that he wants to destroy Gotham, and through what they have taught him, he will be the one to do it. Bruce refuses, and there is a fight with many ninjas (!!!). Ra's Al Ghul is killed in an explosion, but Bruce saves Ducard's life. With that act, he is ready to begin. He calls ALFRED (Michael Caine) to have him picked up, and Bruce starts to pick up the pieces of his life.
When Bruce returns to Gotham, Wayne Enterprises is in shambles. Its not his father's company anymore. It's all about the profits, about defense contracts, and the board of the company is trying to have Bruce Wayne declared dead so they can complete the takeover of the company. Unfortunately for them Bruce shows up and defeats their plans, and meets LUCIUS FOX (Morgan Freeman), who heads the Applied Science Division after he refused to go with the board and was booted off. It's here that we see the development of many of the iconic Batman symbols - the suit, the Batmobile, the grappling hook. When Bruce reaches his 30th birthday, he inherits all of it.
Bruce learns that Joe Chill, the man who killed his parents, is being offered parole in exchange for testimony against local crime lord Carmine Falcone, and Bruce decides to take revenge. However, Rachel (Katie Holmes), now an assistant district attorney, prevents him from acting. Later, Chill is killed by one of Falcone's cronies, and Bruce realizes that the corruption of Gotham City goes much deeper than his own petty revenge fantasies. The corruption, in fact, goes much further than Bruce knows, all the way back to China, where the REAL villain bides his time...
Gotham City needs a symbol. A symbol of fear, yes, the fear of his childhood, but turned into a force for good. In a mask, Bruce contacts JIM GORDON (Gary Oldman), one of the few honest cops in the city, and tells him to look for a sign.
The first time we see Batman in the script isn't until page 58 of the script, almost an hour in, if the axiom of one minute a page is true. As in SPIDER-MAN, we are so invested in the character that by the time Batman actually shows up it all has a sense of context. The first Batman fight has the feel of someone who really is new at this sort of thing, but it feels exciting and I'm looking forward to seeing it on screen.
There's a lot of ground for the film to cover, but it never feels rushed. It feels well-paced, and introduces characters at leisure. It never feels dull. It's fresh.
What about the other villain, the SCARECROW (Cillian Murphy)? He has a terrific entrance, and isn't just a throwaway baddie for Batman to fight, but figures into the larger story. And Goyer does something really cool that more superhero movies need to pay attention to - the Scarecrow's not disposable. Ra's Al Ghul is also used very well. He feels a little like how Dracula is introduced in the Bram Stoker novel. He's a villain that isn't onscreen a lot of the time, but you continuously feel his presence. This movie really has three villains. Ducard, as written, is just as much an equal for Bruce as the others. With all the crime in Gotham, Batman is never at a loss of bad guys.
Am I leaving anything out? Oh hell yeah. A lot more than you realize. The script's 128 pages long, and I'm only to page 58. And I really can't go any further without really ruining it. There's some twists, including one that I really didn't see coming until it was right on me. But the script has confidence in the characters, and everyone's well written, including Alfred, who I can't wait to see Michael Caine play. He really is Bruce's moral center, the one that keeps him grounded, and Bruce and Alfred have a nice banter and a warm relationship that should translate well on screen. The only character that may get a little short shrift is Rachel, but this is a superhero movie, and sadly, historically, the women in superhero movies aren't exactly given the best lines.
This feels like a film written for Batman fans. The introduction of all the iconic symbols that make Batman the hero we know and love is done particularly well, including the Batmobile, which I can't wait to see (think THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, rather than the skinny car the films are used to). They even make an effort to explain how Bruce can afford all this stuff, and lay a scientific foundation that actually gives "all those wonderful toys" a sense of reality.
I could go on and on about each character, and how well they fit into the overall picture, but the truth is, most of the credit literally goes to Christopher Nolan. 
