Just the bog standard version (£33 delivered, the DLC doesn't interest me in the slightest), although with the amount of versions floating about, there's probably a chance of inadvertently getting the Robin pack or something

Ah! That's probably why you got it early.

Let us know how you get on in the Gaming section.

Where did you get Year One from? The one from Amazon is Region 1.

My copy is now winging its way to me. Should be here tomorrow.

Amazon are using City Sprint - a company I've never heard of.

2/3rds of the way through Batman Year One.

Just finished watching Year One. Absolutely awesome in terms of storyline/action/graphics. Was never a fan Selina Kyle/Catwoman so don't know much about her history beyond Batman Returns, so Year One's approach was a bit of a surprise for me. Loved the story on Gordon and how there's this game of cat'n'mouse between him and Wayne.

What always seems to peeve me off is Batman's cowl, especially the ears. I've always thought of them being prominent. Some, like the 1960s TV series had them too small IMO. Keaton's Batman had them right in terms of style and length. Batman Returns had them too tapering IMO. BB and TDK had them too short and stubby. Year One has them a bit too stubby too. Just previewed Under The Red Hood, and that seems about right in length but not style.

Just watched Under the Red Hood. OMFG!

It's a mad one, isn't it? I quite liked it (maybe cos I liked the idea), but it isn't as memorable as the rest. One of the good GNs of the last decade

And yes, sometimes the cowl thing annoys me a bit too

Do you have a preference on the cowl?

I thought the pit thing was a bit OTT so ignore that and I love the rest. My fave was the juxtaposition at the end. Batman's actions really honed in on why he is the way he is. It also reminded me of one of the shorts in Gotham Knight where he calls Alfred for help, and Alfred comes to get him out of the pit but Batman says he can't get out. Very symbolic and powerful IMO which is why I hated the bit in Batman Begins where Rachel has to slap him.

Any other animated Batman shows I should watch? Loved Return of the Joker.

Re cowl. It just depends on the overall style of that arc for me, but of course getting the cowl wrong there leads to 'like a sore thumb' territory...

Depending on your tolerance of Superman, there's a couple of team-ups with him that follow their respective GNs. They're certainly watchable for want of a better word, and probably even better if you haven't read the source material:

Superman/Batman: Apocalypse

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies

There's also Justice League: The New Frontier, but I haven't seen it. Oh yeah, if you liked the original animated series, there's a few great films there too

For some reason, I've never been a fan of more than one superhero in one world. For me, it ruins the mythos of that one hero. One superhero is trying to take on evil. Ten or twenty of them and you wonder why there isn't peace and harmony everywhere!

Having said that, I did love the dual thing in Batman of the Future, where Wayne has the only remaining fragment of Kryptonite. Maybe I'll give the two recommended films a look in sometime soon.

They're worth a go, but don't go in thinking along the lines of the animated Batman films you've seen recently - the fundamentals of the character are still there and portrayed really well, just not as gritty.

I have to say, some of my favourite comic book 'moments' of this decade's drought (as I see it) have been the exchanges between Bats and Supes, and the films above capture that. I'm more of a fan of single stories like you though

Bump.

Right. This post will have spoilers for more than just the film.













I think there's a lot of thoughts I've had about this film and will probably go into more detail later. I may need to watch it again.

I recently watched BB, which seemed to draw a lot from Year One - something I really only appreciated after I watched the animation. TDK was near perfection and I struggled to think how it could be improved. This final film reminds me of the Matrix Revolutions ie poorly done in comparison to the rest. In short, too many characters, too much going on and nothing was developed to its fullest extent IMO.

The film starts off okay and they do a bit to remind the world of the good from Harvey Dent. Except you then realise it's been eight years. Eight frikkin' years since the last film. I think this hurt because I always imagined Batman still fighting crime albeit still seen as a criminal. The revelation that Wayne has been a recluse for those eight years make sense but it reminds me a lot of the retired Batman storylines I've read up about eg Batman Beyond, The Dark Knight Returns etc. It's something that could and should have happened as the fourth film. Imagine Rocky 6 happening straight after Rocky 2 - it's just too early. And yet the way the second film went, it was almost inevitable and entirely understandable. Losing the love of your life, losing Harvey Dent and having to take the blame - it took its toll.

I definitely enjoyed Wayne checking in to a hospital and finding out he's a lot older physically but I imagined he'd use a powered suit based on what he used for his knee. It would have given him the edge to defeat Bane if he'd utilised it, even if only after the second round.

I did like Bane though the mask wasn't fully explained. The twists made sense. I just felt the way that Bane basically took control of Gotham was a bit pants. It was nice to see the scarecrow but he didn't do much except judge.

Certainly most of the first act was fine. My qualms came with the way everything else was dealt. I felt catwoman hadn't been adequately explored. I didn't like the costume and felt that Batman Arkham City had the right look for the girl. The pointy ears was just ridiculous. However, I did like the emotion she showed especially when she found out about Batman/Wayne. Going to the Bane/Batman fight - could have been more "theatrical" - it just felt like Bats was going through the motions. What happened to using his gadgets like his wrist gauntlets? Very poor.

The fusion reactor/Fox/Tate stuff was good but I felt there were too many characters for each one to be fully fleshed out. The speech. Oh my god - there's a bomb in the truck, less than two mins and yet they have to listen to her speech and catwoman had to kiss bats. That was something else that wound me up - the Batman/Catwoman relationship. Batman Returns had the right relationship but then it devoted more time to it and the characters.

That Blake chap really annoyed me and I had no idea why he was focussed on so much until the end. I liked him, his characterisation but I wonder whether he should have been younger? I was surprised he'd worked out about Batman's alter ego and it peeved me off that so many knew - Bane, Talia (though I guess they were in cahoots), Catwoman, Blake, Gordon. There's not much point running around in a costume if you're gonna tell everyone who you are.

Bane breaking into the armory was pretty impressive - I was suitably horrified at it all going wrong. "The Bat" - it didn't seem to have any style to it and just looked a blocky mess. I have had to google it to get a good look at it. Unlike the Tumbler and Pod, which were adequately shown off, the Bat didn't seem to have this. No fancy close ups or views. Plus it seemed to do bugger all at some points eg the end chase.

Wayne in the pit was very good but again - it felt like it'd taken him days to recover, not months. I also expected more - I expected Ras Al-Ghul to return (not just as a ghost). I expected more training montages. However, Wayne getting out without a rope was something I spotted on his first try. The fear thing didn't really make sense - Batman has conquered his fear of death and yet has to regain it to get out???!?!?

Alfred leaving was great and I loved the emotion.

The entire last act of "war" IMO was what ruined it. I think it could have been done better, quicker and more effectively. Some scenes dragged on, and I didn't like the way some things were done or portrayed.

I did like some of the ending but for me it was a bit ambiguous. It kind of reminded me of The Dark Knight Returns where Wayne fakes his own death in order to move on. This is what I was expecting, so I'm not sure whether Wayne actually took the cowl off permanently or not. Also whilst Blake found the cave, was he going to take up the cowl? Was he going to create Robin/Nightwing? Given his lack of combat training, how would he be able to take on criminals?

I definitely reckon it was worse than the second and perhaps even the first.












End of spoilers

It's a bit late and I'm still processing the film somewhat ... actually, I might not say anything at all until most of us have seen it, dunno.

I've only just watched it this evening. Went to the 6pm showing.

Just watched Batman Begins, it's still a bit bloated but I enjoyed it more, will watch TDK tomorrow to see if that's improved over time.


Why didn't the microwave emitter fry everyone though?