It was 17 years ago today that Batman Begins, after a May 31 world premiere in Tokyo, Japan, made its U.S. debut. And fans on Twitter are celebrating, helping to prove that comic book movies — still three years before Iron Man and the dawn of Marvel Studios — were already viable as an artform for adults.
Christopher Nolan’s reimagining of the tale of the Dark Knight became a box office hit and laid the groundwork for the The Dark Knight, which made a billion dollars at the box office and earned Heath Ledger a posthumous Oscar as the Batman’s archenemy The Joker. It also proved a successful reboot of the 1990s Batman film series, itself launching what was considered, in 1989, a dark and gritty reboot of the franchise, and which ended in 1997 with Arnold Schwarzenegger, as Mr. Freeze, firing off groan-worthy cold weather puns like, “Ice to meet you.”
It also served as a precursor to Matt Reeves’ recent pitch black reboot, The Batman, which crossed the billion dollar box office line early into its release.
Double O’Kevin reminds us that the past almost-two decades has made us all feel like we survived a major World War and the subsequent reconstruction of Western Europe:
Jesabel reminds us that Batman Begins remains the gold standard of superhero origin stories:
Zx Ninja had his entire worldview changed by the tale of the Dark Knight:
Suvam Shruv is blown away by the poetry of the screenplay:
Meanwhile, the Video Game Anniversary feed puts everything into perspective by reminding us that Tetris came out on the original Game Boy 33 years ago.
