Batman Begins and the Dark Knight
First though, a little love letter to Christopher Nolan.
I remember being wowed by Batman Begins when it came out at the cinema. It's the film that got me interested in Christopher Nolan, and made me go back and watch Memento and Insomnia and love them both. It got me booking tickets to every new film he makes and getting all his films to watch at home.
His films feel crafted by people who know what they are doing. He doesn't treat you as if you're the lowest common denominator and need every little thing explained or that you will only be able to maintain your attention level with lashings of unnecessary cgi blood and gore.
This approach to film making revitalised the Batman franchise big style and super hero movies in general. The film is populated with believable people acting on their beliefs and emotions.
And people call this and the follow ups grim... this is the mistake eg DC makes now when they go "dark". There is plenty of wit and humour, but no puns. Characters say funny things, because that's what people do. Not because someone has counted the number of dark things happening and inserted a bad joke into the script every 5th bad thing.
And people also accuse him of making cold emotionless films. It's true that generally he doesn't go in for melodramatics or over theatrical performances. He doesn't tell you how you should feel every single minute. He tells the story and relies on quality actors and relatable characters to convey it to you so that you feel how you want.
How can you not feel devastated for poor young Bruce watching his parents get murdered? Or be horrified by the Joker and his corruption of Harvey Dent.
Anyway I love these films and all of his others so don't be too surprised if I allocate some top marks!
Batman Begins 4.5/5
Terrific origin story well told, turning Batman into a relatable symbol and legend that you can really root for. Mostly quality supporting cast (with the only one not making as much impact as maybe you'd hope for being Katie Holmes... she's not bad exactly just outclassed by everyone else). Great baddie in Liam Neeson, nice simple plot, mission firmly accomplished.
The Dark Knight 5/5
Genius level film making. Astounding acting from Heath Ledger, excellent plot that massively raised the stakes in what you could expect from a blockbuster movie, quality supporting cast. I forgot to mention Christian Bale before... excellent at both Bruce Wayne and Batman, really sells the commitment to the symbol and to Gotham and the struggle to balance that with real life. Extraordinary.
Can't wait to watch Dark Knight Rises tomorrow... night!
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