Summer Stock 2005
The Armchair Pundits Summer Stock Series is an evolving short story whereby each contributor is responsible for a section of the tale. Today’s entry marks the beginning of our story. What follows will remain a mystery by design, but feel free to comment on what you think might or should happen as the yarn unfolds. This is a first foray for us, so be gracious and we hope you enjoy this interlude...Part I
Cal blinked hard, trying to prevent the deluge of tears that were brimming in his eyes. He lay motionless in the playground dirt, silently aware of the warmth and stickiness of his blood, as it issued from his nose and mouth.
“You’ll pay for that,” Cal muttered, enduring for the moment, another of Rick’s interminable taunts. The derisive comments from the gathering crowd of onlookers rang in his ears. Cal drew his prostrate arms toward his body, attempting to rise. As his hands slid across the dirt, Cal drew them into a fist, fiercely clutching granules of earth in his fingers.
Rising to his feet with a start, Cal spun quickly toward Rick, flinging fistfuls of dirt into his face. Rick began to sputter and cough, in an attempt to clear his eyes and throat of the dirt.
Sensing an opportunity, Cal pounced with a fury, striking a quick blow on Rick’s stomach. Rick doubled over, if only for the moment, as Cal brought his elbow straight up, violently connecting with Rick’s chin. The blow yielded a forceful wrenching of Rick’s neck, nearly rendering him unconscious.
Rick stumbled, nearly falling. Confused and shocked, he cursed loudly and spat shards of his bloody teeth onto the grass at his feet.
“Did you see that?” exclaimed a bystander.
“That’s gotta hurt!” replied another.
Sensing that he had lost favor with the crowd of jeering onlookers, Rick skulked away in humiliation and great physical agony.
“That’s right! You had better run--you jerk!” Cal angrily shouted, alight in a new sense of confidence. “Don’t mess with me again!”
Feeling emboldened, by the buzz of adrenaline, Cal scanned the crowd for Annie. Finally, Cal’s eyes came to rest on a solitary figure by the seesaw. There stood Annie, glasses in hand, a shocked and bemused look on her face.
Cal had wanted to tell Annie what he had done, but she seemed to have known, seeing the ugliness of the incident unfold, from her vantage point in the crowd, for the motley crew in the school yard failed to sufficiently shield her from the scene.
Upon seeing her brother, Annie ran toward Cal sobbing.
“Why did he say those things about Daddy Cal?” Annie cried. “Why was he so cruel?”
“His parent’s must not love him.” Cal smarmily replied. This was too much for Annie to process and she began to cry harder.
“They don’t love him?’’ Annie’s voice was choking with the tears that were streaming faster now.
“Uh-oh” Cal thought to himself. “I can’t believe she can still feel sorry for that creep.”
“Your too sensitive Annie” replied Cal. “Anyway, if you really understood what Rick was saying, I don’t think you’d be feeling so badly.”
“What to you mean Cal?” Annie queried.
“Oh never mind. You’re too young to understand any way.” Annie’s innocence was an essential part of her charm. It seemed that people were always commenting to the family, on how sweet and tenderhearted their little girl with glasses was.
Feeling that he had already said more than he ought to, Cal quickly changed the subject. “Hey! Did Krissy end up bringing cupcakes to share with your class for her birthday?” Cal asked. The ruse worked for Annie had been anticipating her friend Krissy’s birthday for several days.
“That was too close,” thought Cal as the two walked hand in hand out of the park and onto the sidewalk. “She’s so tender, if she understood what Rick was actually saying, it would probably crush her.”
The afternoon began to wane, and Cal knew, they had better hustle if they were to catch the next ride home. The pair scurried off to the bus stop. The driver glared at Cal, as the two children boarded the bus. Oblivious, Annie followed her brother to the back where they quietly took their seats, gazing out the window at the lazy afternoon sun, as they headed home.
The Evolution Of Terror
Some recent things I’ve read and heard through various media outlets, has me considering the moral equivalency arguments so prevalent today. Seeing as I’ve hashed these through before, let us
take a look at how such thinking has advanced the cause of terror in the world.
Now that you are back take a look at this article from
today’s Wall Street Journal (
HT: Hugh). The author, Ahmed Al-Rahim, calls for a “Million Muslim March” against radical Islamists. This is exactly what we need to see publicized with great fanfare and also what we need see occur globally—Muslims policing their own. In fact, the only voice the Jihadi may understand is that of his brother.
Beef (I'm Not Talkin' About Dinner)
So what is it that’s got me worked up this weekend? Well it really comes at me from two fronts, the first of which will be readily understood in lieu of the second.
I won’t keep you guessing any further. The hot topic this weekend is bumper stickers. Generally, I am a fan, although not one to actually place them on my own vehicles. The witty little tenets of wisdom espoused by such monikers can make a rush hour commute interesting to say the least. For instance, Friday, I was returning to the office from the south metro. I passed a car that was more stickers than paint. Not all that unusual, however, I caught a few new pearls. The latest…“sexism is a social disease.” Is sexism a problem? Hard to argue with that statement a few decades ago, but is it a pressing issue today? I don’t buy it. Why? First, the ease and availability of education and the fact that our education system attempts to present more egalitarian views. Considering the amount of degrees awarded by the colleges and universities in our community, I tend to think many have been sufficiently trained and that there are more pressing issues. For instance,
wealth inequality. Ok, I was just checking to see if you are paying attention.
Second, is sexism a disease? Hardly. If this is the case, then disease means nothing, not to mention the underlying assumption of the word implies a lack of responsibility for the sexist view. If you listen, you can almost hear an offender claim “my views aren’t the problem, it’s the disease. I can’t help but think like this.” Essentially, the term is rendered useless and the bumper sticker colloquial. It gets better. As my friend at
The Writers Blog is fond of saying stereotypes exist for a reason. I had already gotten the social enlightened vibe when I noticed the driver. If you’re guessing tattooed & multi-pierced, you wouldn’t be far off. Additionally, her driver’s side passenger window exuded a picture of a WW2 era, dog-face G.I. decrying that he is shot at every time you put gas in your SUV. It could have been clever if it wasn’t so stupid, and easily refutable.
Next, we have the famed “Jesus was a liberal.” This is just banal. Are they referencing abortion? No. What they mean to say is that Jesus was a compassionate, feminized pacifist. It REALLY irks me when the Lord is so casually used as a political trump card. This tends to stifle thinking and often times people of both camps employ this tactic.
The Lord is merciful. He is full of grace. He is compassionate, loving, AND the Lord possesses other attributes. A careful study of the Holy Scriptures, clearly affirms this fact. For brevity’s sake, let me highlight just one such attribute, namely God’s justice.
God’s justice is different than human justice for He is divine and we are not. Often times we fail to understand God’s will, His timing, His sense of fairness, but by faith we trust that our limited understanding will be illumined and that the Lord’s divine justice will be meted out. After all, this is why God claims “Vengence is Mine.”
Furthermore, the claim is made “I Am the Lord God and I change not.” Simply put, God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. The God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament. Therefore, when God commanded the Israelites, upon entering into the land of Canaan to destroy men, women, children, and livestock, was he not just in decreeing it? When the angel of the Lord (Christ) struck down the first born in Egypt regardless of age, was He being compassionate? Was He being fair? It may not seem fair, but that really isn’t the point. Who is God? The Humble Answer, Not Me Or You.
Jesus should not be used as a political football for He cannot be classified as a Republican or Democrat. Although, certain philosophical positions espoused within platforms may be more consistent with Biblical values. If we are truly honest with ourselves, when we read the words of Jesus, as recorded in the New Testament, we are bound to find something that offends our delicate sensibilities; for at our core, we remain sinners. And unfortunately for you and I, sin hinders.
For the Christian, there exists another perilous problem. This past week, on
Good Morning America, pastor and
best selling author Joel Osteen was being interviewed. In this interview, he described his approach to ministry. What he said reveals much about the spiritual state of those in the church at large and also about his true colors. “People don’t want doctrine, they want encouragement.”
This is absolutely horrifying. I cannot say this more plainly. Doctrine is essential to understanding the mind of God. It is life-giving and encouraging. It comforts
the widow, who along with her two children; buries her 33 year old husband. It brings peace, enables perseverance in the face of immense suffering and persecution. Doctrine matters. Unfortunately, many in the church have departed from teaching the authoritative Word of God; hence the shallow, fluffy
Krispy Kreme religion of pop-psychology that is passing muster for Christianity. And parents wonder why so many of their children go off to college or university and abandon their faith! This is a counterfeit Gospel that provides no discernment in the present world. The peddlers of this message are wonderful as motivational speakers, I suspect they would be great life-coaches or business consultants, but as pastors they have forsaken there calling to teach God’s word. It is impossible to faithfully discharge this office without teaching doctrine. Those who claim the name of Christian, who do not crave the nourishment of the whole counsel of God, need to ask themselves the harder questions of “why not?” And “What does that say about me?”
Fortunately, many pastors have remained faithful, and I thank God for their ministries. Lastly, I can appreciate seeing a humorous anecdote adoring another’s bumper, now and again; but prefer that matters for serious consideration (such as doctrine) not be prostituted with such carelessness or non-sensical whimsy in a cheap attempt at being provocative.
The Strategy
As Schummer has tipped the hand of the hard-core lefties,
J.T. Jorgensen provides the blue-print that will insure Robert's confirmation as the next SCOTUS Justice. Check it out.
And So It Starts
I don't have a lot of time to do an indepth discussion of Judge Roberts' nomination to the SCOTUS. But, over the next few days, I hope to do some short posts discussing various aspects of his nomination.
It was great fun to watch the left's reaction to yesterday's White House "head fake." First it was "We don't like Judge Clement." Then it was "We don't like Judge Brown." Then it was "We don't like Judge Luddig." In the end it was just funny to watch them. "We don't like [insert name here]."
It is also interesting to see the left's reaction today. I looked at the subject lines (there were over 180 when I checked) on a leftie bulletin board. You had the angry liberals, who vowed to fight. You also had the wimpy liberals, who were ready to throw in the towel. They lacked any type of focus.
Last night as I listed to some of the talking heads on the left, I felt that I was experiencing de ja vu as they were expressing their disappointment in the nomination. It seemed that I had heard this all before, but in a religious context. The left could not understand how the Catholic church could elect a Catholic Pope. Now, they can not understand how a conservative President could nominate a conservative judge to the SCOTUS. Once again the far left just does not get it.
Call me an optomist, but at this early stage, I am hoping that dignity will prevail and that the nomination process will not become the partisan circus that it potentially could become. I hope that the Senate will conduct itself honorably. We shall see.
Not A Leg To Stand On
Karl Rove--the evil genius leftists love to scorn with surreptious admiration. All last week, whenever I obtained snippets of news, all I heard about was the conspiritorial "Rove leak." What a flippin' joke.
I hope Americans get their collective dander up regarding the nonsense that passes for news in this country. Several of the national media networks, in an
amicus brief filed this past March indicated that
no crime had been committed. There could have been no wrong doing from the current administration as Plame's status as an operative had been compromised years ago. In fact, on two distinct occasions. For example, a closer look at the facts regarding Plume, indicates that she was outed in the early 1990's, by the CIA itself. Check out the full report at
National Review by Andrew McCarthy. A fine piece of reporting that will leave you scratching your head as to what MSM is spoon feeding you on the nightly news.
When coupling this with the moronic assertions of Franken, et. al, that the London bombings are to serve as distraction from the Rove debacle, is it any wonder I refer to the left as the lunatic fringe? I suppose if I fantasize enough, maybe Air America will actually find someone who can make a logical argument
like this, as opposed to the hyberbolic nonsense that foams rabidly from their hosts' mouths.
Coming Soon
This weekend proves to be eventful. Sunday morning, I'm competing in a triatholon. As if that race isn't enough, I need to race to the airport to catch a flight afterward. The fam and I are travelling to the coast for a little vacation. Should be interesting having to spend all that time in the airport with three children. Prayers are welcomed!
Upon our return mid-July, I will post the first installment of Summer Stock 2005. Tell your friends. It looks to be a blast. See you in about 10 days or so.
Stark, Raving, Mad
The banality of leftist punditry is infuriating and pitiful. Consider, a day in the life of your friendly neighborhood Jihadi.
"Woke up at 5am and had a box of twinkies with whole milk (skim is for the capitalist whores). Hopped in German auto and raced to train station. Listened to Infidel Swine BBC to catch traffic report of capitalist whores on way to work. After all can't be late today. 5:45am arrived at Kings Cross and rolled up sleeves of Ralph Lauren shirt. Need to make sure that the arms are unfettered for bomb planting. 6am the charges are set. Curse western infidels for the poverty I live in and the fact that the education received was poor. After all, training occurred at an Infidel saturated university graduate school.
Thank Allah for my Mullah. Pronounce special curse on Infidels Bush & Blair for their descecration of sacred lands and hideous torture via Brittany Spears music at Gitmo. Quick fantasy of the virgins that await, if the sufficient motivation can be found to blow self up with these bombs." Yeah right.
Once again
Hewitt proves why he is the go-to guy for the latest updates. After wading through his prolific postings I would like to highlight a few key items. Essentially, I feel a screed coming on, as my mind is consistently entering headache-ville in considering the inane theories promulagated by the left concerning why jihadis terrorize.
First, check out what
their saying on the
lunatic fringe. Now that your blood pressure's up let's visit the ever erudite
Belmont Club and
Mark Steyn to once again prove the absurdity of the left's assertions and their squalid attempts at cogency. Since the barbarism of July seventh was aimed at our greatest ally in the GWOT, let's end with some more
Steyn AND Churchill.
In a nutshell, the United States and her allies, namely Britain, Australia, etc. have captured or killed over 3000+ Al-Qaida operatives in over 102 different countries. There has been no terrorism to date within our borders since 9/11. The GWOT has a global reach as is clearly seen by this fact and those asserted in the links above. The President has not been distracted by going to Iraq. Rather, he has been of singular purpose seeing that wasteland as the essential front on terrorism. Is it good reason to think that jihadis won't attempt maximum destruction in each attack? Things could have been much worse yesterday. And the fact that Iraq is a mangnet for jihadis, coupled with the operatives/cells captured and destroyed indicates that they are in fact on the run and the deplorable acts yesterday were a desperate attempt in a cause misunderstood by the social elites of our time, but one that is no less destined to fail.
Our prayers for our friends across the pond.
229 Years Ago Today
IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. --Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refuted his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred. to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. --And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
--John Hancock
New Hampshire: Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple, Matthew Thornton
Massachusetts: John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut: Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
New York: William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey: Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
Pennsylvania: Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware: Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
Maryland: Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia: George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
North Carolina: William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina: Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Georgia: Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
An Armchair Movie Review
Batman Begins
What would the summer be without a big budget action movie? Well, Batman Begins fills the need for this summer. For all of you “bat-fans” out there, who follow every comic book line, I’m sure you will be pleased. For those lesser fans who enjoyed previous Batman movies or even occasionally watched the old television show, I think you will like this movie. Finally, for those of you who have spent your entire lives living under a rock and haven’t the faintest idea who this Batman person that I keep talking about is, this would actually be a good movie to introduce you to the Caped Crusader. That is after all, what this movie does.
As the title hints, this is the story of the beginning of Batman. Where did he come from? Why does he do what he does? Well, those questions are answered in this movie. The story begins with the introduction of Bruce Wayne as a child and we discover, surprisingly that he suffers from Chiraptophobia (the fear of bats). We, of course, witness the murder of young Bruce’s father and mother at the hands of a common street criminal. For those of you comparing this movie to the 1989 Batman movie, it is not the Joker who murders the Waynes (“Have you ever danced with the Devil in the pale moon light?”). Actually there is no attempt to connect this movie to any of the prior movies, which I believe is a big plus. This movie is meant to stand on its own, which it does.
For those of you who have wondered how Batman learned to do all the neat stuff that he does, we learn about his training. We discover that after traveling around the world as a pouty, depressed, trust fund kid. He is plucked from his prodigal existence and trained in the martial arts in order that he may return to society and dispense Star Chamber style justice. But Bruce has his father’s compassion for society and therefore he desires to dispense a somewhat kinder and gentler form of justice, in the form of Batman.
From there on out it is a typical comic book story. Villains running amuck. (amuck, amuck, amuck) Batman dispensing justice with the occasional Bond-esque one-liners thrown in for good measure. For those of you waiting for a repeat of the 1989 line, “I’m Batman” or its Veggie-tale parody, ”I’m Larry-Boy,” you’ll be disappointed. They seem to go to great lengths to avoid using it. This movie’s great line, in response to the frightened question “Where are you?” is the line “right here.” Of course the fact that it is said as he is hanging upside down behind the criminal gives it a little more punch.
Overall, the story is quite well done, considering the fact that they had to cover a vast amount of ground in a short period of time. In the first, half-hour, or so, of the movie, I got the feeling at times that things were getting rushed a bit. But that could have been just me.
For those of you who are looking for more than just gun play and a car chase, the movie provides a good amount of material to think about. About half way though the movie, I had to consciously stop myself from thinking about the socio-political aspects of the movie and just enjoy it for the entertaining piece of film that it was. But, if your interested in more, there is a pretty good internal debate between vigilantism and justice. I also saw some tension between the high crime problems and the socio-economic problems. I kept looking for the intellectual battles. They even cover private funding of public transportation (note the appearance of the monorail when it had just been built by the Wayne family versus its appearance later in the movie after Bruce’s dad has been killed).
For those of you who are interested, I provide the following descriptions of my take on some of the main characters:
I was actually glad that a so-called “unknown” was playing the role of Batman. This causes you not to focus on the actor but rather the character. Christian Bale does an excellent job of portraying both the caped crusader and a young Bruce Wayne.
Where would Batman/Bruce Wayne be with out Alfred. And who better to play an English butler than Michael Caine.
When I saw in the trailers that Liam Neeson would be starring in this movie, I wonder how they would be killing him off. Maybe its just me, but it seems that Neeson has been dieing in a lot of movies lately (and I’m not talking about bad acting). Michael Collins, Star Wars Episode I, and Kingdom of Heaven all see Neeson’s character being killed off. He had better be careful that he is not type-cast.
Katie Holmes did a good job playing Rachel Dawes. A little overly preachy and do-goody, but that was the character. Let’s just be thankful that there was no Tom Cruise cameo.
Cillian Murphy played an excellent villain. The weasely little psychiatrist (no offense intended Grisby) had you squirming.
I was having a mental block when it came to the actor playing Earle. Then it came to me. Of course, its Rutger Hauer. I haven’t seen him in anything in quite some time. He plays an excellent side villain. I was waiting for his character to be pulled into the main evil plot. But, it was probably good that he wasn’t. Instead he is just a stereotypical evil CEO-type.
One thing I really enjoyed about the movie was the new look of Gotham. In the first four movies, Gotham is this dark forboding city where it appears that the sun never shines. In this movie, however, we finally see Gotham in the day light. The city appears “futuristic” in an art deco kind of way. Multi-level monorails whisk the citizens to their shiny glass office buildings. We also see Wayne Manor in the daylight. Even with the vast amounts of sunshine, there is still a “darkness” to the scenery. The city is modern, well lit, but somehow still dark. Christopher Nolan’s lighting and use of rain reminded me of Ridley Scott (Blade Runner and Black Rain).
One thing that I did find annoying was the final action scene. For my taste, there was too much going on and it was all going on too fast. I didn’t catch half of the fight between Batman and the head villain. This was a good martial arts duel and I could catch half of their moves. There was too much fast camera work and too many quick shifts to outside scenes and back again. I know I must be getting old and I’m sure today’s X-box and PS2 fed minds enjoy that Mortal Kombat style action. But I don’t. There is a point where the senses start to overload. Like I said though, maybe its just me getting old.
Batman Begins is a good solid summer action movie. It delivers what it promises. So if you are in the mood for some action, you won’t be disappointed. Leave the little kiddies at home. This is PG-13 for a reason (dark suspense and violent action scenes).
