Geekery continueth

[triadruid]

Forgot to notate last week that we watched Mr. & Mrs. Smith - which officially makes it the first movie since Hackers that I've seen with Angelina Jolie in it (and I'm not even certain she was the same person then), that's how little she fascinates me. However she was quite good in this, and things like Gia, Gone in Sixty Seconds, and Girl, Interrupted have been on my list anyway... so maybe I'll get around to it.

Anyway, the movie was quite good, far from the train wreck I feared. She and Brad Pitt do have some real chemistry, and the tango salsa scene is priceless. It's very much an action-comedy in the best sense of both words (think: everything True Lies tried to be and failed). If you're on the fence about it, give it a try.

Last night, however, was Batman Begins, the Christopher Nolan tackling of the Batman mythology. It was pretty good...up there with the original Keaton/Batman movie overall, with a stronger Bruce and weaker enemies (but nowhere near as bad as Mr. Freeze & Poison Ivy, I'm told). Excellent mythologizing/continuity attempts, even things you weren't expecting, which I of course won't tell you about here since most of you probably haven't seen it. Alfred was perfectly cast, and Commish Officer Sgt. Gordon was... stunning. If you don't know who's playing him yet, do yourself a favor and don't look yet. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Couldn't really care about the Katie Holmes pop-up character, but then again, it's Katie Holmes, I haven't really seen her in anything I can remember...

Someone compared this to the original Superman movie, which I think has some merit. It's got similar pacing and painstaking detail, clearly done as a labor of love as much as of box office. And also, Batman's a ninja.

Thus endeth the movie reviews. Time to get my asseth to worketh.

P.S. That movie on TV last night? The Waterdance. Possibly interesting.

Comments

I had to wonder...

[wildnsquirrelly.livejournal.com]

Do you suppose that the "bail" comment before/during "Batman's first fight scene was was a weak attempt at a pun, or am I reading too much into it? Also- I actually had to IMDb the film to find out who played Gordon. Wow! That man is a f**king chameleon! Id there anything he CAN'T play?

Re: I had to wonder...

[fionnabhar.livejournal.com]

No.

Re: I had to wonder...

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

Which fight scene? In China, before he meets Ducard? I don't remember it...

Re: I had to wonder...

[wildnsquirrelly.livejournal.com]

No man, I mean his first (I think) fight as Batman. It took place in the shipyard among a lot of shipping connexes.

I liked that film so much I *may* have to see it again.

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

Oh, that fight. The fat cop says it?

I think it was just dialogue, no pun intended...

I might see it again (the fight scenes were REALLY disorienting), but I think I'll wait to see if they do a second one by Nolan, and if it's also good. Then I could start Collecting the Whole Set!

Yep, and yep...

[wildnsquirrelly.livejournal.com]

That was my only real beef with the movie too, and one I shared for the latest Star Wars. Bruce Lee could move faster then the human eye could detect, but he had enough sense to slow things down to make his fight scenes look good. Things don't have to be a blur, or so filmed with ridiculously tight shots to convey great, heroic combat. Not to mention the fact that it does the choreographers, stunt persons, and the actors themselves a horrible disservice. Let's see those kicks fly! Throw those punches! Sure, I know how muddled actual hand-to-hand combat can seem, but we're looking for more theatrics, less realism there.

I should note that the only truly disappointing fight sequence in Batman Begins was the last one with Ras.

Re: Yep, and yep...

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think it's a downside of modern movie-making that the music video has infiltrated, and our collective attention span has dropped below 1.0 seconds. I liked the older, wider-shot fights, too...Jackie Chan still seems to be following this model. I noticed it in Star Wars too, sometimes you couldn't see who was doing what with a lightsaber until it had already happened.

I did hear a good argument for why this film might be taking that approach, though (especially the fight on the dock): Batman's such a force of mystery and stealth that the criminals can't really tell where he's at, and neither can we...on that level, it worked. But for the fight in China/Tibet at the opening, or at the very end? Completely unnecessary, IMO.