The first time I ever took LSD, I didn’t know I had taken it. A "well-intentioned" friend thought it would be hilarious to dose some beers my boyfriend and I were drinking.
We were all on a beach in Miami, the day after our first year Law exams. What could possibly take the edge off all those horrible weeks spent cramming and sleepless and stressed-out than a lovely day, sipping beers, sunning and swimming?
Suddenly, the sky darkened, the winds intensified and the waves rose up and began furiously crashing on the shore. Overhead, seagulls were frantically whipping about and shrieking. En mass, everyone lying on the beach also began shrieking, as they grabbed at their belongings and stampeded away from the shore.
My boyfriend and I just stood there, frozen by a shared terror. "This is IT?" I asked him rhetorically. "This is IT." He replied. We stood there, for what seemed like a very long time. Utter chaos was happening around us, but we just stood there. "I thought it would be more." I said. "I know." He agreed. "But, this is definitely IT." "Just This?" "Just this." He agreed, solemnly.
What "IT" was… as far as we knew… for, obviously we didn’t know IT was an illusion…or delusion … or whatever you want to call an induced hallucination … was the end of the world. That this was not the case didn’t enter what was left of our minds or sanity until hours later when we finally found our way to a hospital and received a couple of welcomed shots of Thorazine. Because our "well-intentioned" friend had somehow disappeared before he could straighten us out on what was real and what wasn’t, it had been up to us to figure out that we were the only people who believed what we believed to be true. After we had shared our theory with enough people who all had the same reaction…which was basically, "Are you nuts?"…we knew we needed some quick medical attention.
The doctors at the hospital we went to told us what was in our blood. Not only had we been given LSD, but it was heavily laced with Strychnine. In other words, we had been (unintentionally) poisoned. Even the police, who somehow got involved, never charged us with anything because the doctors told them that there was no way that anyone would have reacted like we did if we KNEW we were tripping.
The result was that it took many years before either of us could ever even take a puff of a joint again. We also ended up marrying each other because having experienced the end of the world with someone has a tendency to provide a rather tight bond. It would be very difficult to explain to others, who hadn’t experienced what we had, the emotions one went through in such a state…
…though, obviously, I have just attempted.
The good part of having experienced this event….even if it WAS delusional…was that we went through all the REAL emotions one would go through if that event had REALLY happened. That’s why, when the first World Trade Tower fell & my current husband phoned me in a panic, my reaction was to just go back to sleep. I’d already been THERE. It’s just a dead-zone in my psyche now, I guess.
All of the above…TRUST ME… is central to the plotline of "Batman Begins". However, because I hate when reviewers tell the storyline of a film, I’ll just leave you with the above as a teaser or explanation or..whatever… In other word,s you’ll understand when …IF… you go to see it.
Anyway…
Yes…Christian Bale makes a delicious Batman. He’s probably the best since Michael Keaton, who, in my opinion, no one has ever topped. Oddly, Bale, unlike Keaton, actually loses heat once he dons The Outfit. Maybe it’s because the Bat Mask hides Bale’s pronounced angular bone-structure, which is back to "American Psycho" perfection after his drastic weight loss for some movie that no one saw. However, in his natural state as Bruce Wayne, Bale is one gorgeously troubled, edgy, bitter, anti-social-bordering-on-sociopathic rich guy…as opposed to the gorgeously troubled, edgy, bitter fun-loving-but-definitely-psychopathic rich guy he played in "American Psycho". And of course, here he’s out to avenge evil, as opposed to being the posterboy for it.
The rest of the cast is stellar: Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Linus Roache, and the iconic Replicant pinup from "Blade Runner", Rutger Hauer. Everyone looks great except Oldman, whose last name says it all. A standout is Cillian Murphy, an Irish actor who looks Eurasian and has some of the finest lips I’ve seen in ages. He plays the most obvious of Batman’s enemies, a shared persona named Jonathan Crane and/or Scarecrow.
Oh yeah…and Katie Holmes is in it. Like all females in these sorts of movies, it’s a rather thankless role. She’s no slouch, but her part could have been cut and the movie wouldn’t have fallen apart.
In case you’ve been sleeping, this is the prequel to all the other Batman movies. It explains why he became what he became: What led up to his parents being killed in an alley; the genesis of the costume, the symbol and the skills - remember, Batman is the only Superhero without Superpowers.
Christopher Nolan ("Momento", "Insomnia" – the remake, that is) directs and keeps it nice and dark. Again, it is probably the best interpretation after Tim Burton’s flawless vision.
The special effects are worth a giant screen, the acting is top drawer for a big Summer blockbuster, the gadgets and action sequences are interesting and demented.
See it. It would be a great way to spend a rainy afternoon or a night out.