by Ryan Higgins and the Your Mom's Basement staff

Anakin who?. Every good geek knows the big geek movie event this year isn't Star Wars, it's Batman Begins. Did they finally get it right? Is it finally Batman and not some director's interpretaion of Batman? We had a group of mullet-wearing fanboys ask Fan Favorite Retailer Ryan Higgins 20-odd questions about the soon-to-be released Movie Event of the Year.

1) Does a pre-costume Catwoman play into this, like she did in Year One? Any other overt Year One elements in this?

I think after the piss-poor Catwoman movie featuring Halle Berry, they decided to give Catwoman a rest, which is good. This movie isn't about Batman kicking Scarecrow's ass. Batman Begins is about Bruce Wayne, and too many main characters would take away from that. Sure, we have Batman, Scarecrow, "Ra's al Ghul", Ducard, Gordon, and more, but they don't have as much screen time as Bruce Wayne combined.

There were a few Year One elements, but the best has to be the last scene in the movie. I won't spoil it for you, but, well, anyone who's read Year One should know what I'm talking about.

2) WHERE IS TALIA?!?!?!?! She's the best part of the Ra's al Ghul character: the fact that he wants his daughter to mate with Batman.

See, the thing about Ra's is...well...naw, I can't give it away.

Anyway, no Talia. See Question #1.

3) How much of a role does Gary Oldman have as Lt. Gordon?

Sgt. Gordon doesn’t get the short shrift here… he’s not the fat bumbling guy from the other movies, but rather the integral character he is in the comics. Gordon is Batman’s confidante, friend, and ass-kicker. He even gives Batman a nice speech at the end, that justifies the future super-villain population, in a way. Paraphrasing here, "We use semi-automatics, the criminals use automatics. We wear kevlar, they use armor-piercing bullets. You wear a mask… what do you think they’re gonna do?" The relationship between Gordon and Batman is much stronger here than any of the previous movies.

Gary Oldman might have been the best actor in the movie, besides Michael Caine.

4) Who is the worst actor/character in the film? And who gets shortchanged the most for screen time?

Seriously? No one. There was not a bad or cheesy actor in the entire film. I'm sure some people will fault Ken Watanabe, but they really shouldn't.

Ken Watanabe defiantly gets the least screen time. Huh, that's funny, because Ra's al Ghul is the big villain in this movie, isn't he? Strange how that works...

5) Do they reference the DC universe at all? Does anyone ever inform Mr. Wayne about his factory in Opal City, for example?

Nope, Dick Grayson's circus isn't half-way to Metropolis by now.

6) Bat-mite?

7) Cool fight scenes or Keaton-era-standing-there-and-waiting-for-people-to-come- to-him-to-hit fight scenes?

It will make more sense once you see it, but you hardly see Batman fight. He's like a ninja in this. And not the kind that flips out all the time, but the total ass-kicking, stealthy, disappears into the darkness, old school type of ninja. The fight scenes are almost like a horror movie, shot from the criminals’ perspective, with Batman stalking them.

8) What movie do the Waynes go to see in the flashback to his parents’ death? Is it still Zorro?

No, and FOR GOD SAKES EVERYONE SHUT UP ABOUT THIS. Yeah, big friggin' deal, he doesn’t go see Zorro. Really, his parents take him to an opera, which is a bit more realistic than the richest people in Gotham taking their son to a sleazy movie theater to see Zorro.

9) Is Harvey Dent in it? Billy Dee Williams needs work.

I feel that Billy Dee Williams best job is as the “malt liquor guy” from those old TV commercials. Screw Harvey Dent! Screw Lando! Bring back the malt liquor guy!

10) Are there any nods at all to the previous movies? Perhaps a newspaper with photos by a "V. Vale" or reference to a web-footed circus freak?

Holy rusted metal, Batman!

No, this is a fresh start.

11) How long does it take for Bruce Wayne to evolve into Batman? The movie is supposed to focus on how Wayne becomes the Batman. Conceivably, that could mean that Batman doesn't appear in costume until the climactic scene, towards the end. Which would suck.

Trust me, you have nothing to worry about. Batman shows up about an hour into it, but the journey of Bruce Wayne to Batman, the discovery of the cave beneath Wayne Manor, his training in Asia…these are all very important and very interesting scenes. Like I said earlier, Bruce Wayne is the major character in this movie, and it doesn’t suffer for it.

12) So is Batman Bruce Wayne or is Bruce Wayne Batman in it?

Bruce Wayne is Bruce Wayne for a good chunk of the movie. Once he dawns that cape and cowl though, he's Batman for good. There are some [i]genius[/i] scenes of "Bruce Wayne" bumbling things up and being all aloof and goofy. Some great moments. There’s also a great moment at the end where it’s definitively stated that Bruce Wayne is “the mask.”

13) Does Batman fight cops at all like he did in Year One? Is the city government corrupt like it was in Year One?

Isn’t Gotham City corrupt even these days? Yes, when the Waynes are murdered, Gotham is a beautiful city that is just feeling the first waves of crime, but by the time Bruce comes back from his days of training, Gotham City has completely fell apart. The police are owned by the Falcone crime family, and there’s nothing that anyone can do about it. No person of flesh and blood can stop the crime bosses, but maybe a symbol, something incorruptible…

14) Is it "Batman" or is it "The Batman"?

No, it's Batman because "The Batman" only makes me think of that crappy cartoon.

15) How is Ken Watanabe as Ra's al Ghul? Do they mention the Lazarus Pit?

Nope… no Lazarus Pits.

As for Ra’s himself… here’s the big spoiler for the movie. Are you ready for this? C’mon, if you’re going to highlight the white text below, you’re going to ruin everything, so don’t do it unless you really, really want to. Ok?

This is your last warning.

Ok, here it is (swipe below):

Ken Watanabe isn’t Ra’s al Ghul.

16) Where does Christian Bale rate on a buffness scale compared to his appearances in American Psycho and Reign of Fire?

Having never seen either of those movies, I’m not sure, but Bale isn’t super buff or real scrawny, either. He comes across as a good Batman, but more importantly, a good Bruce Wayne.

17) Do chicks really dig the Batmobile?

I’ve been told that chicks dig really big, long, hard, black things.

So I’ve been told.

18) Is Morgan Freeman really in this? Why?

What do you mean, why? Morgan Freeman is a great actor! Just because he plays the exact same role in every single movie he’s in isn’t his fault. He gets typecast as the ex-cop/retiring cop who’s the only one that can stop the crazy madman from cutting up some blonde chick.

In Batman Begins, Freeman plays ex-Wayne Industries board member Lucius Fox, who has been stuck in the cancelled R&D department, watching over lots of expensive forms of armor and weapons that the government couldn’t afford to mass produce for the army. Just the thing for a crazy orphan that wants to dress up like a bat…

19) Do they make the Scarecrow actually menacing in this?

Oh, do they ever! Batman Begins has the best use of Scarecrow's fear gas that I've ever seen. It's not totally over the top where the person it seeing all sorts of crazy stuff that isn't there; instead, it just alters whatever you're looking at to make it just “off” enough to be really disturbing. And when he gets a taste of his own fear gas, well, let's just say Man-Bat might be a bit more accurate than Batman...

20) Will theoretical fanboys who have filled their homes with Bat-stuffs, dressed as Batman during most non-school hours as a child, and given entirely too much thought to men in rubber capes be pleased with this film? And by “pleased,” I mean, will I...uh, I mean they, THEY....will THEY come away satisfied, fully ass-kicked?

I will personally come over to your house and kick your ass if you have any complaints about this movie. Really. Seriously. It’s that good. Look, fanboys love to complain about everything, and I’m sure some will find some problems with this movie (like the Zorro thing, or the fact that Joe Chill is in it, and all sorts of other small changes they made) but THIS IS A MOVIE. This is not a comic book on film. This is a movie. There need to be changes when translating comics to movies, and Christopher Nolan and David Goyer do a terrific job of keeping the feel of the comics intact, but at the same time adapting it for the movie audience unfamiliar with Batman beyond the lame third and fourth movies. A friend who saw Batman Begins with me commented after the movie was over that every “problem” he had with the movie (and trust me, I threw my hands up in the air when they brought up Joe Chill) was fixed by the end of the film. This movie a huge accomplishment for Warner Bros. and Nolan, and hopefully will continue into next summer’s Superman, and 2007’s Wonder Woman movie.

I say this with no remorse: Batman Begins is better than Spider-Man 1 & 2. Better than either of the Tim Burton Batman movies. Better than Superman 1 & 2. Better than X-Men 1 & 2. Not only is this the single best comic book movie ever made, it’s a damn fine film, one that will hopefully draw lots of new fans to the original source material and comic books in general.



Thanks to my good friend Ryan Scott, and check out his kick-ass Batman Begins review.



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