the joker looks cool, but the magazine layout makes it look like he's auditioning for a job in the sex pistols reunion or something...

the joker looks cool, but the magazine layout makes it look like he's auditioning for a job in the sex pistols reunion or something...

As much as I liked Batman Begins, a big drawback, for me, were its villains—they were fine, sure, but they just never clicked like the rest of the film did.

I actually liked the way Batman Begins handled its villains. They were important to the plot without BEING the plot. Maybe it's just that you've grown used to the last few Batman movies, which tended to focus ENTIRELY on the villains -- to the point where Bats himself was almost relegated to supporting character status.

I appreciate that Nolan wanted to make a Batman movie that was, for once, actually about Batman.

Dude, no one can ever "grow used" to stuff as shitty as Batman Forever and Batman and Robin. C'mon. Agreed, those films totally screwed up their villains (and everything else), and Begins is a huge step up from Schwarzenegger monotoning "In this universe, there is only one absolute.. EVERYTHING FREEZES!" But that doesn't mean that Begins' villains work as well as they should.

Plot-wise, you're right: The villains in Begins fit in really well in terms of story, and thematically, they play off of Wayne/Batman nicely. In practice, though, I think both fall fairly flat; both Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy seem uncomfortable and slight in their roles, they never have quite enough to do, and they never feel like a legit threat to Batman. Granted, they're a big step up from the who-the-fuck-cares clusterfuck of the previous two (or even three) Batman films, but considering how well the rest of Begins works (esp. the film's killer first half, where Nolan and Goyer really DO focus on Bruce Wayne/Batman), they don't quite cut it.

Yeah, sorry about the "used to" comment. I didn't mean to suggest you were anything but righteously indignant.

It's the thematic stuff more than anything else that makes me inclined to defend the villains in Begins. It really seemed like they were there for a reason other than "Which ones have we not used yet?" (even though that was obviously a factor).

Frankly I have a hard time finding fault with the movie, just because I remember walking out of the theater completely elated, thinking "My God! Somebody actually got Batman right!"