By: Dennis O'Neil Publisher: Del Rey Average Rating: Binding: Mass Market Paperback Label: Del Rey Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 320 Publication Date: June 17, 2005 Release Date: June 14, 2005
Product Description: Based on the eagerly awaited new feature film–the exciting origins of the ultimate crime fighter!
Bruce Wayne is dead. The young heir to the Wayne empire disappeared seven years ago. His vast fortune has been given away, and the crime wave that began with the brutal murder of his parents has turned Gotham City into a living hell. The last holdouts against corruption–the cops who can’t be bought, the D.A.s who can’t be intimidated–are outnumbered and outgunned. They need help . . . fast.
A world away, in a dank Himalayan prison, a nameless, hardened man fights every day to survive. He has spent seven years scouring the globe, studying the criminal mind, looking for an answer to the ugly riddle of his childhood. But something has been looking for him, too. Here, in the darkest places of his own anger, Bruce Wayne will discover his destiny–and an ordinary man will become a legend.
Well... if you're a Ra's al Ghul fan... Honestly, the only reason I was super excited about this movie was for Scarecrow. Batman's nice but I'm more of a fan of his main Rogue's Gallery. When I bought this book after watching the movie I'd hoped they'd go more into Scarecrow's detail. Not only did they avoid it but they left out a few quotes I really liked from the movie. Besides that they did the other characters alright but I would have liked something different.
Copy And Paste, My Work Here Is Done Before I begin, let me say that I knew full well that O'Neil's characterizations were considered 'flat' by others, but I figured I could overlook it since I originally bought this book because I was interested to see how O'Neil would delve into the seven year gap of Bruce Wayne's life.
With that said, I'll now say that it wasn't worth the .65 cents I paid. I could have just as easily looked it up online or made something up myself. O'Neil's characterizations are much worse than the previous reviews will lead you to believe, especially when his idea of 'indepth' is adding another sentence to describe the scene. Consequently, as another reviewer pointed out, the whole book reads like a screenplay. I can count on one hand the number of times I absolutely knew for sure what one character was feeling at any point in time and that was usually when O'Neil went out of his way to point it out to us (I suppose subtly is overrated nowadays anyway).
It was like the whole book was just copied and pasted from the actual script itself with a few extra scenes to give it something the movie didn't have. It gets to the point where you frankly just don't care what happens to anyone or, if you're like me and/or you've seem the film, you really just want someone to write something better.
Perhaps the only upsides to this book are that we're given a brief look into the seven years of Bruce's "disappearance", what Bruce did when he got back, the few paragraphs of Ra's journals, and a brief peek into the heads of Gordon and a few other people. But as I pointed out before, all of which are flat and all could have just as easily been looked up online.
Let's just say I've read fanfiction with more substance than this.
I give it one star, but only because I can't give it a 0.
Better than the film Normally, I don't bother with novelizations, but since this and Transformers have novels that go along with them, not based on anything, I decided to give them a shot, and I'm glad I did. While the Batman Begins movie seemed to rush through some parts, and drag on through others, this novel seemed perfect. It goes into far greater detail about the League of Shadows, and Ra's Al Ghul's history, and in doing so, solidifying his long life, by having explicit references to the Lazarus Pit and his HIGH number of daughters. I felt in the movie, the pre-Batman stuff was boring, not because of a lack of cowl, but because it all seemed to move to fast, and was too hard to follow. In the novel, though, it all seemed to fit well, it was clear what was going on at all times. It also goes into the minds Ra's, Rachel, Gordon, and Crane far more, giving more insight into everyone's motives. It feels less like a novelization, and more like the movie was an adaption of it.
Super Reader Solidly done.
O'Neill again does not disappoint with a Batman story, as he follows the young Bruce Wayne in his wanderings and violent confrontation that leads him to the mysterious al Ghul and his training, and back to Gotham to become a legend.
Most of the time the author stays with Batman, but occasionally the viewpoing character is Gordon, Alfred, or Rachel, as far as that side of the law goes.
He conveys the tone rather well, and has a lot of fun with Lucius Fox, too.
Definitely worth reading.
3.5 out of 5
What a SWEET addition to the film!!!
I love this book! The scenes that are not featured in the movie are done here flawlessly. It talks more about Ras Al Ghul, who is a very complex character and hard to understand. You will love reading this book to complement the movie, whether you're seeing Batman Begins for the first time or the thousandth, like me.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
