All About Movies

There were high expectations for this film before its release as if would it be as good as Burton's films, the truth is, there are no points to compare, Nolan and Burton visions are quite different from each other, but both respect the origins and essence of who the character is.

Goyer took some liberties in the storytelling that could be considered as unforgivable by many fans (Bruce's parents are originally killed after seeing "Mark of Zorro" at the movie theater, a fact that marks Bruce's mind with the idea of a masked vigilante) but also hints at stuff that the previous versions let pass unnoticed, the main focus of this film are the origins of Batman and his training to become what he ultimately is. Even though the detective part of Bruce's training is not even mentioned, the twist in which Ra's Al Ghul (Liam Neeson) is the one who trained him in the ninja arts and theatricality just makes their conflict more delightful and interesting. Cameos and appearances of characters from the comic book are also well used, justified and important to the story (Carmine Falcone and killer Zsaz)

The story uses the two villains exactly as they would act in the comic book, Ra's Al Ghul with his constant desire to set thing right his way and Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy) working and experimenting with the thing he enjoys the most: fear. Even though the Scarecrow is totally the opposite of the comic book (in the comic Jonathan Crane is an old and ugly doctor who was fired from Gotham University for experimenting on the students with his gas of fear), the character presented keeps the essence and motives that the original character has, unlike the Riddler, Mr Freeze, Two Face or Poison Ivy in Schumacher's awful versions.

A new Gotham city is presented, much more like a NY city style, a new Batmobile (not as fancy as the previous ones but quite impressive) and a whole set of characters we expect to see in future releases, James Gordon (Gary Oldman who amazingly looks exactly as Jim in the comic), Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine), Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), Jonathan Crane, Carmine Falcone and Ra's Al Ghul.

Masterfully executed by the whole cast and brilliantly directed by Nolan, there are many of us looking forward for a sequel to this film.

The extras

Disc one contains Mtv's "Tankman Begins", a spoof we could have lived without but without any doubt a collector's piece for all Mtv fans.

Disc two contains a set of documentaries related to all aspects of production and shooting of the film, from the early beginnings in Nolan's washing room until the shooting of some of the most difficult sequences of the film. The disc 2 is organized in a comic book-like format which makes it a little difficult to follow as many things are like hidden, but if you go until the end of the short and pointless story, you will find a list with all documentaries available. One of the documentaries called "Genesis of the bat" presents comic book artist related to Batman talking about the character and film, from Dennis O'Neil to Jim Lee. I am sure this will be a piece fans of the comic book will enjoy. All extras are worthy of watching and I strongly recommend the 2 disc set, it is a 5 o 6 dollar difference that will compensate with all the facts and items found in the bonus materials.

***BluRay review***

I had already written a review for this film when the two-disc special edition was released on DVD, so I will not get into any details about how great the movie is.

The treatment they gave to this release is incredible, image looks great and colors are stunning, the high definition definitely makes a difference and 'Batman Begins' looks better than ever (simply check out the ice sequence between Bruce and Ducard)

I have seen threads with questions as to what exactly does the limited edition set contains versus the regular single disc, so here are what I think are the most important ones:

The Disc

The disc included here is the same disc they released separately:
* All the extras from the 2-disc DVD are included, the documentaries and the awful 'Tankman Begins'
* The prologue to 'The Dark Knight' in high definition (are we in for a treat when released on Bluray!) This is basically the bank robbery scene that opens the sequel.

The Extras

The USB with 18 the stills from 'The Dark Knight' included in the DVD version of the gift set IS NOT INCLUDED in the Bluray gift set; don't know what the reason is but it would have made sense to include it in both versions.

The postcards included are selections from the art created to promote 'Batman Begins', in my opinion some of the images look simple and overall they are not that great.

The two comic books included are a joke! One is a comic book adaptation of the same 6 minutes prologue included in this edition (the bank robbery), the other one is the script with pictures of the same 6 minute prologue! I am a collector and big fan of Batman and even I find this ridiculous and overpriced.

The $7.50 coupon to see 'The Dark Knight' in theaters.

Bottom-line, I would give 3 stars to the BluRay release, not to the movie itself (which is great and looks superb in HD) but to the release. I am having buyer's remorse, don't be fooled by what the product description says, it may sound interesting but had I known the extras would be as they are, I would have gone for the cheaper single disc edition.