Pre or post-The Killing Joke? "
I went out Friday night and saw the movie with my girlfriend. I have to say the movie is almost my favorite Batman movie ever - Burton's first Batman movie still wins for nostalgic reasons - and it does get a lot of things right, not just in comic book to movie transition, but as a standalone Batman movie. I particularly enjoyed the elements taken from the Batman: Year One and Batman: The Long Halloween graphic novels. The cast did a great job, I didn't find the special effects to be over the top, and it was a thrilling ride.
I was only dissappointed with a handful of things, though they were mostly due to my own expectations.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS:
To finalize, I think Bale was the best Bruce Wayne until now. He gets the careless, carefree playboy attitude very well. But something is off when he plays Batman. Either the attitude or the excessively rispid voice. I'm undecided between Bale and Michael Keaton as Batmen.
Note: Did anyone else noticed Rutger Hauer popping up lately in comic book to movie adaptations? First his role as Cardinal Roark in Sin City, then in Batman Begins as Earle. I hope he's coming back with some good roles, I've always liked him and haven't seen him in quite a bit.
Sequel? I wasn't too sure if the end of the movie hinted at a sequel or if it was more of an attempt at a continuity reference to the first Batman, but considering the talk that BB is meant to be a reboost of the entire series it might just get one. The Joker would be the obvious choice but I'm hoping they lay off the thought of having Robin. If they do include Robin, then they might as well go with the Batman: A Death in the Family novel as inspiration, if not full out canon.
There's no shortage of villains to use. Mr. Zsaz, the Black Mask, Killer Croc, Hugo Strange, (a proper) Bane, the Mad Hatter, or Clayface (all four of them) come to mind, and I'm very much forgetting several others.