I was a comic book geek. In the '80s they played a huge role in my life and for a while I seriously wanted to be a comic book artist. Back then it was a smaller industry -- my first Chicago comic convention was held in 2 banquet rooms of a hotel near O'Hare, a far cry from the airplane hangar-sized rooms it occupies now -- and there was nothing cool to outsiders about reading comics. Sure, books like The Dark Knight and Watchmen were groundbreaking, but the mainstream had yet to embrace comics.
And then the Tim Burton Batman movie came out. At the time I had never wanted to see anything so badly. I had read every scrap of press during the film's making, and had devoured every single tidbit. I was a little upset they went with Jack Nicholson over Ray Liotta as the Joker, and admit Prince's soundtrack initially confused me, but I loved it when I finally saw it at midnight on opening day. It was dark, slightly scary, and when it was funny the humor had a bite. It was awesome.
Over time I realize I had made allowances for the film. It was uneven, the Joker wasn't really scary, Batman seemed more detached than disturbed, and what was up with Lando Calrissian as Harvey Dent ... and while I still think it's a terrific movie, it's never been the Batman movie I wanted it to be. The sequel was a move in the right direction, but then they took the reins away from Burton and the franchise immediately went to hell.
So when I saw Batman Begins, it was with a hopeful air. I believed Christopher Nolan could be the man for the job, Christian Bale could make a convincing Batman, and choosing Scarecrow and Ras A Guhl as the villains was gutsy. I walked out of the theater with all those initial hopes validated and then some. Finally, someone made a movie about Batman the way I saw him.
So I have an odd feeling of deja vu today. At midnight I will again be seeing the opening of a new Batman movie, with much of the same anticipation and excitement as when I was 16, sitting in a darkening theater, waiting for the previews to give way to the main attraction. Only this time the result looks like it'll get just about everything right; the Joker is scarily psychotic, Batman is just scary, and Two-Face looks to be appropriately gruesome.
I can't wait.
CHRISTIAN BALE RELATED: The teaser for the new Terminator movie is up, including a first look at Bale as John Connor.
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