Batman Begins

Batman Begins (2005) starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy, and Ken Watanabe.

Before...a reboot of one of the most legendary comics that had long been languishing in ignimony and comedic failure. I was very excited about this film. Especially as it was going to be a complete reboot. GO BATMAN...that was my thought...:D...let's see if it is unchanged.

As a boy a young Bruce Wayne (Bale) watched in horror as his millionaire parents were slain in front of his eyes, a trauma which led him to become obsessed with revenge but his chance is cruelly taken away from him by fate. After disappearing to the East where he seeks counsel with the dangerous ninja cult leader known as Ra's Al-Ghul (Watanabe), he returns to his now decaying Gotham City overrun by organized crime and dangerous individuals manipulating the system whilst the company he inherited is slowly being pulled out from under him. The discovery of a cave under his mansion, and a prototype armored suit leads him to take on a new persona, one which will strike fear into the hearts of men who do wrong - he becomes, Batman with the help of his Butler Alfred (Caine). In the new guise, and with the help of rising cop Jim Gordon (Oldman), Batman sets out to take down the various nefarious schemes in motion by individuals such as mafia don Falcone (Wilkinson), the twisted doctor/drug dealer Jonathan 'The Scarecrow' Crane (Murphy), and a mysterious third party that is quite familiar with Wayne and waiting to strike when the time is right.

The wife's view..."Scary Scarecrow definitely requires a pillow to hide behind. I really liked it. The characters are better and just generally a classy movie. ★★★★☆"

Where to start...This film sets the Batman films up for an awesome reboot of movies. They are darker, and even more sinister. Nolan has created a universe that no longer is comedic, instead it is a dark and sinister world that has no room for jokes. In watching this film I realised that actually Batman shouldn't be the guy who makes the jokey remarks, which is why Christian Bales version of Batman is so brilliant. Ruthless and brooding his Batman is man out to save Gotham from itself and along the way brings a true tragic side to the character.

The surrounding cast don't simply just act as a supporting cast. Each character plays a key role in this from Oldman, the new Gordon, to Holmes, Wayne's childhood friend Rachel. Each character has a key role to play in the film, there are no cameo'sby famous actors that do not have a role to play.

The brilliant thing about this film is that it does not shy away from the scary and psychological nature of Batman and all the people around him. It is brilliantly done and sets the scene for the new dark and horrible Gotham City that is created for this reboot. This film is what made me so excited about The Dark Knight. All in all the only problem I have with this film is the fact that it is an origin story and it takes a while to get going, though that is a good thing as there is so much background for future films there. All of this leads me to give this film...

★★★★☆

Batman Returns

Batman Returns (1992) starring Michael Keaton, Danny DeVito, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Christopher Walken.

Before...again like the first I cannot remember what I thought of this film before watching it, as I don't think I was old enough to appreciate Tim Burton in all his glory. However, watching it now has made me feel nervous about what I would think about it, especially after my review of Batman. So into the rabbit hole I go...

In this, the second Batman movie, megalomaniac businessman Max Shreck (Walken) sets a plot against Gotham City in motion. He is joined by Penguin (DeVito), a deformed and rather deranged man abandoned at birth by respectable parents. Penguin, backed by hoodlums and real penguins, runs for mayor. The plot is further complicated by Selena, a wronged secretary who transforms into Catwoman (Pfeiffer), a villain with mixed motives. How will Bruce Wayne (Keaton) pit his wits against two new villainous minds?

My wife's view..."Really obviously old, you wouldn't make a film like that now. If you know the Batman series already watch it, but people new to Batman don't need to bother. ★★★☆☆"

Where to start...Keaton again is back on form in this film, wonderfully brooding and the few jokey quips in the film make it all worthwhile. Not only that but this time the villains are darker and more sinister.

Penguin is played brilliantly by the diminuitive Danny DeVito. Grim gruesome and ghoulish in appearence this for me is one of his best roles. Then we have Max Shrek played by always excellent Christopher Walken. In every role he plays he always brings his A game! :) Finally Catwoman, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, is another complexly constructed character. Brilliant and wonderful, this film and Stardust are my two favourite films of hers.

The issue that brings this films stars down is, as Laura said, its completely UN-timeless feel to the film. It has aged badly, both in way of CGI and everything else. It has not aged well this film, and yet it is still a favourite of mine, which is why I am giving this film...

★★★★☆

Batman

Batman (1989) starring Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, and Kim Basinger.

Before...I cannot remember I time before watching this movie in all honesty. It feels like it was one of the first films I ever watched. It was one of those films that made me really excited about films!:) So all in all this film has legendary status in my mind...though I haven't seen it since I watched The Dark Knight....this may change things....

In Gotham City, a dark knight known as Batman (Keaton) helps to defeat evil and keep the city's citizens safe. By day he is Gothams favourite bachelor, Bruce Wayne. Wayne soon falls for new girl in town, Vicky Vale (Basinger). When Jack Napier (Nicholson) is transformed into the evil, Joker, he promises to take over Gotham City and have Vale for his own, it is up to Batman to stop him in his tracks before it is too late.

My wife's view..."A classic that everyone should see. It just didn't match up to the later ones. Jack Nicholson's Joker is completely wrong and bizarre. Kim Basinger is a bit pathetic, but Michael Keaton is quite a genuine nice Bruce. As always Alfred makes it for me. Not too much gadgetry, but it just fails to match up to the later ones. ★★★☆☆"

Where to start...first things first...Keaton is a legend. Even Bale has not lived up to the awesomeness that Keaton delivers in Batman and Batman Returns. His role, his brooding darkness combined with comedy help to make this film great, my issue with the film comes not with Batman, but instead with the Joker...

"HERESY" I hear you say, but ultimately it comes down to this, Keaton has created a Batman which is pretty similar and close to the comics, whereas Jack Nicholson, on the otherhand, has created a camp and ultimately comedic version of Joker. For me, the only actor who has come close to the comic version of Joker is the late Heath Ledger, but I digress...

Batman is a film with a confused feel about it. It's director screams gothic, Tim Burton is one of the most intelligent and brilliant gothic directors out there at the moment. However I feel he lost his way with this film. The feel of this movie is not so much gothic, but instead humouress. The scripts play on the Joker was a far more jokey look at the character, which if you have read the comics is just not right.

Although a classic this film is not Batman as it should be, for which I am sure I will be condemned and damned for by most of you. Due to these reasons I cannot give the film more than...

★★★☆☆

Basic

Basic (2003) starring John Travolta, Connie Nielsen, and Samuel L. Jackson.

Before...considering before I looked at it on the shelf and thought it was a different film altogether, there is nothing much I can really write in this box, as watching it on Wednesday night, seemed to me like the first time I had watched it. It was brilliant, this barely ever happens and so I was looking forward to the film. Travolta and Jackson, back together after 8 years!! AWESOME!:D

Tom Hardy (Travolta), an ex-Army Ranger turned DEA agent, is drawn into an ever-widening mystery surrounding the disappearance of the feared and often hated Sgt. Nathan West (Jackson), as well as several of his elite Special Forces trainees on what appears, at first, to have been a routine training exercise during a hurricane in the jungles of Panama. Capt. Julia Osborne (Nielsen) struggles with her investigation. So base commander Col. Bill Styles calls in ex-Ranger Hardy, an old friend and a persuasive interrogator. What happened to West and his Ranger team? And what were they really doing out there in the jungle? As each layer reveals more lies and greater deceptions, Hardy and Osborne inch towards the horrible truth about the fate of the missing Rangers.

My wife's view..."A puzzle of a movie. Cryptic and clever, without giving too much away it keeps you thinking till the end. Poirot without the moustache. Probably will love it even more the second time, when I will have forgotten how it all ends up anyway. Don't watch it with a hangover...not that we did! ★★★★☆"

Where to start...clever, complex and intelligent, this movie gripped me immediately the credits started to role. Jackson plays a crazed army sergeant and does it brilliantly. You immediately want to hate him, and that is the point. Travolta plays an equally uneven and slightly off the wall DEA interogator, who immediately rubs Nielsen's Osborne up the wrong way. The cast of this film gels together really well and are all utterly believable for me.

The plot is highly complex and to some might seem convoluted, however to them I say all you need to do is concentrate. As my wife says, trying to watch this hungover or drunk is not the way to go with this film, your complete concentration is needed in order to fully appreciate this film. The twists are turns it makes might need multiple watchings in order to appreciate them, but I think it is well worth it.

Deep down this is a murder mystery whodunnit type film, and I am a sucker for these types of films, I love to watch them play out before my eyes, and with this one it is no different. Clever twisty and very enjoyable. It is a thinker but definitely worth it, which is why I am giving this film...

★★★★☆

Bad Boys II

Bad Boys 2 (2003) starring Martin Lawrence, Will Smith, Gabrielle Union, Jordi Mollà and Joe Pantoliano.

Before...I honestly can't remember what I felt about it before watching it. This time, however, I was hoping for the same kind of fun and enjoyment I expect from Michael Bay films, I was hoping that it wouldn't be one of those films that I would watch again and be disappointed about re-watching!

Mike Lowrey (Smith) and Marcus Burnett (Lawrence), who are part of the Miami PD's Tactical Narcotics Team (TNT), still don't always get along, and now they're keeping secrets from each other. Mike's secret is that he's been seeing Marcus' sister, Sydney "Syd" Burnett (Union), a reported paper pusher for the DEA's New York office. Marcus's secret is that he has asked for a transfer, because he wants to spend more time with his family, and less time with Mike. That's all set aside when their boss, Captain Howard (Pantoliano), assigns them to stop the flow of record amounts of ecstasy into the city. This puts Mike and Marcus on the trail of the most dangerous enemy that they have ever faced...Cuban drug kingpin Hector Juan Carlos "Johnny" Tapia (Molia), who wants to take control of the entire ecstasy trade in the USA, and is working with local dealers and club owners such as Russian mafia boss Alexei. Every time the Miami PD has ever arrested Tapia, Tapia has sued the Miami PD for false arrest, and won millions of dollars. This has caused the department to back off and not go after Tapia. Well, everyone has backed off except for Mike and Marcus, who have never faced Tapia before. Now, it seems that Tapia is using a mortuary as a cover for his operations, smuggling ecstacy hidden inside dead bodies, while sending his money to Cuba in hidden compartments in the coffins. While Mike and Marcus try to bring Tapia down, they also deal with the discovery that Syd is actually working undercover for the DEA to bring down a money laundering operation run by Alexei, and as part of her undercover job, Syd is in deep with Tapia. When Haitian gangsters try to steal Tapia's money and kill Syd, the two investigations cross paths. Syd's cover is later blown, and she is kidnapped by Tapia, who takes her to his compound in Cuba. With the unofficial help of people from the CIA, the Miami PD, and anti-Castro forces in Cuba, Mike and Marcus head out to rescue Syd, and bring Tapia down. How far will Tapia go to keep his drug empire? And how far will Marcus and Mike go to rescue Syd?

My wife says "Thrills and spills. It was designed for boys but that doesn't mean girls can't enjoy it too. A bit complicated for a film that is essentially car chases, gun fights and pretty women. There was some very silly boyish jokes. Generally enjoyable. Probably more enjoyable next time as I will know what the plot is and who the characters are. ★★★☆☆"

Where to start...The film, even after all these many action films, still manages, for me, to stand the test of time and be one of the most enjoyable and ridiculously fun movies out there. Mindless fun is how to describe it really. No the film has no definitive aim, other than wanting to blow things up really and that is what we get, especially from the first car chase. The first car chase is utterly stunning, the way it is filmed and the construct of it all is brilliant.

For me Smith and Lawrence are a perfect partnership. They both play off each other brilliantly and their comic backgrounds are evident from watching this film, especially when it comes to the guys interogating Lawrences' onscreen daughter. The issues for me come up when the film starts to go down a slightly sicker route, e.g. corpse tossing.

The issues really come to a head when the film passed the 2 hour mark...a good action movie, unless it has a fantastic plot, should not under any circumstances pass the 2 hour mark. Bay has created a film that has all elements of a perfect action, the problem is that he has added a bit too many explosions, a few too many car chases and a few too many bad gags (and if you know me the fact that I think there are too many is definitely saying something)!! So all in all there is a bit of a mixed bag here. Great in some parts, awful in others! Which leads me to give this film...

★★★☆☆