See the Movie

On open day of the release of Batman Begins, I ventured to the tiny theatre near the house to watch with anticipation, the event of the summer--a new BATMAN film. Along the way, the local paper ran an article about my obsessive-compulsive nature and my self-proclaimed BATROOM. I was even interview on the local radio station.

I felt good about the film. The action was obvious, yet the story not only followed the comics to a degree, but was sensible. I have always maintained that the film makers do not create comic book movies for comic book geeks. They create them for our wives and loved ones so those people can understand our passions.

With that in mind, I begged my wife to join me for my second viewing--to which she agreed. The film ended, I breathed in a sigh of release and relief as if I too had endured Batman's agony and triumph. I was misty-eyed when his parents were murdered; I thrilled to his costume and the fight scenes. With such fondness I turned to my wife expecting her to say a "That was really good" type of comment.

To my surprise she looked at me and said, "That was really stupid and boring."

I asked for a reason as to why, and she muttered: "The first hour. Dull. And then he finds a villager in Tibet that speaks English--I mean c'mon. I am confused by the Ras Al Ghul, is he a tibetan priest or the guy with the bad moustache or what is this and why does he care about Bruce Wayne? And Katy Holmes character makes no sense (That we agree on). And the Scarecrow just looks dumb. And how does Comissionor Gordon know how to shoot out a bridge? And why does Bruce Wayne's company have all of this stuff lying around and not using it. And why is the CEO such a jerk--no way that would happen. And what is it with the fight scenes, I could not tell what was happening. And who was the bad cop (Flass by the way) and like he could get away with being in with a mob guy." The list went on and on for the brief two minute walk to the car and subsequent ride home.

I was crushed. I did not argue and I did not say much until she said, "I liked the Penquin one much better. Even the Riddler one was better than that. I mean, this was dull." I simply said, "you're wrong."

There you have it: this is one of my philosophies on life. There are two kinds of people in this world--those who think Batman was a TV show first and those who know better.

With all of the positive praise for this film maybe we need my wife to check us back to reality. The harsh criticisms she leveled are from a person who enjoyed the Animated Series (she liked Batgirl) and the second film (it had cats in it).

Go see the movie and enjoy it. Oh and by the way, I saw the Fantastic Four alone--and it will remain that way.