Christian Bale came out to a STANDING OVATION. Contrary to Julian McMahon, he's not playing the Hollywood friendly guy thing going on, but rather someone here to please the fans. He really came across as an ACTOR, not a MOVIE STAR. There's a certain seriousness to him and you can really see that he's being humble and respectful to the Batman fans. Everybody swarmed to do the Q&A thing. Lots of good questions were thrown. I'll try to list the good info.
- Bale revealed that he just signed a contract to do 2 MORE SEQUELS!!!!! WHAAAAA HOO! He said that Christopher Nolan didn't though. But it doesn't mean that he won't. It's just not confirmed yet with him. Nolan wants to see how this one turns out first.
- Bale talked about the works of Frank Miller, Jeph Loeb, Tim Sale, etc. and this impressed a lot of people. People around me were whispering how surprised they are at how knowledgeable Bale is on Batman. Applause for him.
- A guy asked Bale if he approached Bruce Wayne and Batman as two characters or one. Bale said the way he approached the character is that Batman is the real person, the real character he had to embody, and Bruce Wayne is a mask he put on to become socially acceptable, so playing Bruce Wayne was something more of a charade. This is the PERFECT way to describe Batman. A lot of fans thought so too. They were so pleased that they started clapping like mad.
- Bale said that the reason they're doing this movie is because they understand the frustration of the fans never getting a satisfying Batman movie. That is the reason that this movie is not a sequel or a prequel. it's a reinvention, something purely made for the hardcore fans who've been waiting all these years for a Batman movie and never gotten one. Bale's aim is for the most loyal Batman fan to come out of the theater satisfied, and for the general public to come out surprised and educated at how deep and great this character is. Bale called Batman an "American Mythology". Another huge round of applause.
- Bale made an interesting theory, saying that Batman really wants to kill, but has to constantly hold himself back. "Because Batman NEVER kills!" I love how he said it in that tone as if he's trying to mock the Burton movies.
- Bale shared with us Christopher Nolan's view on Batman: that he is actually quite naive. According to Nolan, Batman originally thought that this would be a job with an end. That he would become Batman, clean up Gotham, and then stop when restored the peace his father wanted. But then he became trapped in himself when his decision to become Batman jumpstarted a vicious cycle. Supervillains popping up, and Gotham became too dependent on him, something he never intended it to be. And so Batman realize that his job will never end. That he would have to be Batman forever.
- Bale talked about the martial arts "Keysi", how brutal it is, and how it suits Batman's fighting style perfectly.
- Somebody asked what Bale thinks of Adam West. Bale said that Adam did a great job with his thing, but the role he was given was basically a Batman spoof, whereas he himself is playing the real deal. "I'm not doing a spoof. I'm not camping this up."
And after that.... the long-awated moment....
A SIX MINUTE TRAILER OF BATMAN BEGINS!!!!!!!
- The clip opens with young Bruce Wayne and Rachel running around in Wayne Manor's garden, playing. I was stunned at the look of the cinematography. It's grainy, bleached and washed out... looking almost like a foreign art picture. It's really amazing. Anyways, they're playing hide and seek and Bruce falls into an old well.
- Young Bruce discovers a cave. Thousands of bats attack him. A voice calls out "Don't be scared, Bruce." It's his father, descending down the well on a rope. Bruce reaches up for his hand.
- Thomas Wayne tucks little Bruce in, telling him that he should not be afraid, that he should be brave.
- The Wayne family are watching an opera. There are bat-like people dancing onstage, and this reminds Bruce of the bat attack. Bruce gets scared and begs to leave. His parents get embarrassed.
- They're walking outside the theater. Thomas is lecturing Bruce on being brave. Suddenly a mugger with a gun appears and asks Martha Wayne to give him her jewelry. Martha refuses and the mugger shoots at her. Things get blurry as if there's a struggle. Thomas shields Martha with his own body and gets shot. Bruce falls into a shock. Shaky cam close up the gun going off again. This is the part where I gasped and put my hand over my mouth. The scene was played really intensely, and really really horrific, almost something out of a gangster picture.
- The theme from "Requiem For A Dream" starts to play during the funeral scene. Alfred (MICHAEL CAINE!) stands over Bruce, comforting him. Richard Earle (RUTGER HAUER!) comes up to Bruce and says that he'll keep the company safe until Bruce is old enough to take over.
- Back at the Manor, Bruce is crying. "I miss them, Alfred. I miss them so much." Alfred hugs the crying boy. Michael Caine then delivers a heartbreaking "I miss them too, Master Bruce..."
- Fade to black. A speech from mob boss Carmine Falcone (TOM WILKINSON!) starts. It's absolutely FANTASTIC. The speech was good, but I'm talking about Wilkinson's delivery. The screen fades in to Falcone and a ragged looking old Bruce Wayne having a conversation in a seedy looking bar. Bruce just listens as Falcone lectures and insults him. "You're the Prince of Gotham. You're a rich pretty boy, don't come in here acting like you know things. You travel 1000 miles just to meet people who don't recognize you!"
- As he was saying that, it fades to Bruce climbing the Tibet mountains. He discovers a temple and enters. Ra's Al Ghul (KEN WATANABE!) sits on a throne in front of him. Ra's speaks to Bruce in some foreign language. Henri Ducard (LIAM NEESON!) steps out of the shadows to translate. A gang of NINJAS surround them. "What are you looking for?" asks Ducard. Bruce answers "The need for justice." (I think)... Ducard then suddenly attacks Bruce. They trade elbows brutally. This keysi stuff is cool. Ducard beats Bruce down.
- Ducard and Bruce are swordfighting on ice. "Your parent's death was not your fault!" Ducard exclaims. Then he beats Bruce. "It was your father's." This got Bruce mad. Bruce retaliates and beats Ducard. "Yield."
- Bruce is in a ceremony in the temple. Ducard asks him... "Are you ready to begin?"
- Montage of Bruce putting together the Batman costume and putting it on.
- Shot of Batman standing on a rooftop, watching over the city below. His cape blowing in the wind.
- Jonathan Crane (CILLIAN MURPHY!) looking really scared and hiding next to a crate. "He's heeeeeere..." An off screen person asks, "Who?" Crane, terrified, responds... "The Batmaaaan!"
- Shot of Batman walking down a hallway with thousands of BATS following him.
- Shot of Batman jumping down the middle of a staircase.
- Various shots of Batman firing his grappling hook and swinging around.
- Ra's Al Ghul is in a high rise apartment, looking over the Gotham skyline. He delivers his bad guy speech, then smiles wickedly and says "Gotham city must burn to the ground."
- Shot of Wayne Manor burning.
- Quick shots of various action scenes: Batman fighting, Batman swinging around, Gordon looking worried, Monorail cars disengaging, The Batmobile making what seems to be a 30 feet jump, GCPD cars crashing and flying around in the air during a car chase, Monorail getting derailed and smashing into buildings, Batman crashing into things, Batman looking at the camera intently...
- BATMAN BEGINS
- Batman is standing on a rooftop looking down. He jumps down and expands his cape into a glider. He glides through a haze of orange smoke. Batman lands on what seems to be the roof of a construction site or a burned down building. Darkness is around him. Batman looks around... out of the darkness a voice calls out "Boo!". SCARECROW steps out of the darkness and douses a cup of gasoline onto Batman's face. As Batman tries to wipe his eyes, Scarecrow flicks on a lighter (SEE AVATAR) and lights Batman on fire. Scarecrow then kicks Batman out of a window. Batman, with his cape and cowl abalze, falls down the side of the building to his apparent death.
- JUNE 17TH
After the trailer there was a stunned silence, then a collective gasp, and finally a giant round of standing ovation. Christian Bale waves and leaves.
05:45 PM: I walked out of the building. Ladies and gentlemen, I have just been shaken to the very core of my existence. I planned on saving my seat for the Star Wars thing right after it, but I couldn't. It was too much. I was literally shaking from excitement. I had to go out and smoke a cigarette.
