He was great in Batman Begins and I think his voice was digitally altered in TDK.
Leaving aside the voice, he did an excellent job in all three films.
the story in bb was all about Bruce and Batman. He was perfect in all scenes, especially as playboy, showing the tormented side of Bruce, scary as Batman.
In TDK you have not seen it because Nolan had to develop other characters, but he was very good, especially in the interrogation scene. You forgot the anger in his eyes when Joker was laughing?
In TDKR, he and Hardy were the best thing in the movie.And for me, the movie was good thanks to them both.
The only thing that can be blamed is the writing.
Truth is, sometimes I miss you so bad I can hardly stand it. - Jack Twist
stanley wrote:
I could never connect with Bruce in any of the 3 movies. His motivations were never believable to me, and they didn't do a good enough job making he feel tangible, and relatable. I attribute that partly to the way Nolan writes his stories - and the Batman character himself which, really as a human being we've learned very little about, apart from the fact that his parents died and he's afraid of bats. (But it's up to the writer to fill in those blanks. )
Though in the 3rd I felt the weight and emotion of what he was going through.
Guess his loving parents being murdered in front of him isn't good motivation to want to make a difference, eh?
I thought they could have ironed out those motivations better and made it more believable. Nolan chose to ground Batman in reality , so Bruce needed to feel human and we had to relate to him on some level. I never really felt that, except in TDKR, which to me was arguably the most profound / human story of the three. The movie was about a man's struggle, with nothing left, no hope and everything he loved taken away from him, and having to fight his way out of the darkness. That's a real, human story right there, and a relatable one.
The story in BB of Bruce's transformation to Batman didn't hit all the right notes for me - which isn't to say I don't like that movie. I love all these movies, just so you know.
TehBatGetsBraked wrote:
Guess his loving parents being murdered in front of him isn't good motivation to want to make a difference, eh?
I thought they could have ironed out those motivations better and made it more believable. Nolan chose to ground Batman in reality , so Bruce needed to feel human and we had to relate to him on some level. I never really felt that, except in TDKR, which to me was arguably the most profound / human story of the three. The movie was about a man's struggle, with nothing left, no hope and everything he loved taken away from him, and having to fight his way out of the darkness. That's a real, human story right there, and a relatable one.
The story in BB of Bruce's transformation to Batman didn't hit all the right notes for me - which isn't to say I don't like that movie. I love all these movies, just so you know.
Just look at young Bruce and Alfred's relationship in the early part of the film. Look at the scene on the ice with Ducard. It's all there.
TehBatGetsBraked wrote:
Guess his loving parents being murdered in front of him isn't good motivation to want to make a difference, eh?
I thought they could have ironed out those motivations better and made it more believable. Nolan chose to ground Batman in reality , so Bruce needed to feel human and we had to relate to him on some level. I never really felt that, except in TDKR, which to me was arguably the most profound / human story of the three. The movie was about a man's struggle, with nothing left, no hope and everything he loved taken away from him, and having to fight his way out of the darkness. That's a real, human story right there, and a relatable one.
The story in BB of Bruce's transformation to Batman didn't hit all the right notes for me - which isn't to say I don't like that movie. I love all these movies, just so you know.
I respect your POV and completely understand it. I just wanted to point out that batman wasn't meant to be FULLY HUMANLY UNDERSTOOD in terms of motivations, I mean.. what makes him different then? The point, as I think, was that not just the tragedy in his life but also his ego, his concepts ... most important the city he lives in... HIGHLY IMPORTANT the way he seek "League of shadows" and what he' have learned about real criminal and justice. I mean, it's pretty weird how he turned out this to this... and that's the whole point, isn't it? If he have got the same motives as many other can have.. then what's the difference? That was the real trick. The reality immersed in alter and strange mixed motives. ... That was all part of the batman creature... and it's not USUAL. Not human as cynical as it can be.. he's just batman, bruce wayne.. who we all loved to watch his marvelous story!
There will probably never be any more Batman movies of this magnitude that tried to make Bruce Wayne/Batman a human being as much as these did. Nolan spend a whole lotta time trying to humanize Bruce, and not just make it another action super hero. The fact that Bruce got over his parents death and anger in Rises is a testimony to that.
I'm telling you, the next Batman movies won't even bother with these scenes let alone get away with them(WB suits won't like it, Nolan somehow got away with them). The fact that Nolan got away with putting such emotional and touching scenes in such a big billion dollar film is crazy and something you don't see very much in Hollywood anymore these days.
Now if he actually did these scenes WELL and portrait Bruce as an actual human/relatable character is up for debate. Although you can't deny Nolan and co tried REALLY hard, and no one will probably ever be able to replicate the amount of effort they've put into it.
*I* think they succeeded in making Batman/Bruce Wayne a REAL character, an actual person with feelings, doubt, regret, and sorrow. :JGLface:
I couldn't even disagree more, Christian Bale is my favorite in the trilogy.
I thought he was great in TDK. Am I the only one not bothered by his Batman voice?? And I think he showed emotion perfectly in that movie. Specific examples I can think of are:
When Harvey says "Why was it me who's the only one who lost everything?" and Batman says "It wasn't..." Even behind the mask he conveyed his sadness and regret of what happened to Rachel with the look in his eyes.
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For me personally, the first time I saw it was that line and his delivery, combined with the fact that if you look closely it seems like he is holding back tears, that impacted me the most. Bale does a great job showing emotion I completely disagree with you there. You can just see Bruce wanting to say so much that Harvey is not alone, that Bruce has lost his love too, but he has to hold it back.
Speaking of which, another moment Bale shines for me is after Rachel's death. Holding his mask, "I was meant to inspire good. Not madness, not death."
It also makes me so sad every time Bruce lightly places Harvey's coin on the table and says "I'm sorry Harvey..."
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And Bale does the perfect balance of the playboy, arrogant, billionaire and the dark, menacing crime fighter. I never really understand when people knock his performances in these movies, I think he is great and he has definitely held his own with his performance as Bruce.
I think the closest he ever got to being a perfect Bruce Wayne and Batman was in the first movie, Batman Begins. In TDK Bale was almost lifeless as Bruce Wayne. His performance improved in TDKR but his Batman portrayal was still as stiff as it was in TDK. It might be the new suit, I don't know. He never looked right in it. He always did that mouth pout thing which was off putting. And his so called 'throat cancer' voice is well documented though I think the jury is still out on whether it WAS actually altered in post production or not.
Going back to my original question, Batman even on a character based level never ever made anywhere near as big of an impact as the villains. At times he was even overshadowed by the likes of Gordon and John Blake. Whatever is great about this trilogy, whether it's from fantastic cinematography to great action set pieces and iconic villains, Batman just didn't feel right.
