The Batman

[swordpath]

An even darker and grittier Batman reboot? Count me in. What do y'all think of a Robert Pattinson Batman? Other casted members are Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as the riddler and Colin Farrell as Penguin.

 

[Stigmata]

An even darker and grittier Batman reboot? Count me in. What do y'all think of a Robert Pattinson Batman? Other casted members are Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as the riddler and Colin Farrell as Penguin.

I liked this way more than I thought I would. It seems to be loosely based off Year One. That said, a Batman reboot, albeit soon, was necessary considering Ben Affleck didn't wanna continue after Justice League, but it looks like they're continuing on the same trajectory as his Batman's take in terms of grittiness. I'll have to watch this again when I get home so I can put my headphones on.

 

[JocktheMotie]

I continue to not understand the appeal of Batman, especially in modern times. When there's a batman that updates its understanding of crime and justice to something not out of the 1920s maybe it will be more interesting.

Although I think Batman is a very TJ character so that's probably part of it.

That said I will still see this movie.

 

[Tomb1]

The first two were the best imo...Batman and Batman Returns...only beat by the latter films in special effects, props, costumes

 

[ceecee]

An even darker and grittier Batman reboot? Count me in. What do y'all think of a Robert Pattinson Batman? Other casted members are Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as the riddler and Colin Farrell as Penguin.

Well, I do like Paul Dano (Escape at Dannemora was excellent) and I've been liking much of Robert Pattinson's stuff lately so I'm open to this version.

 

[Stigmata]

Finally was able to watch it on my desktop at 1080p. I gotta say, as of right now I HATE this versions Batsuit. I looks like someone tried to crappily recreate the one from TDKR while held at some ComicCon in a Miluawkee high school gymnastics -- I do not like it on a boat. I do not like it in a moat. I do not like it, Sam I Am.

Also, it seems like while this film is going to recapture the grittiness of the Batfleck, it's going to take a new direction by highlighting just how fractured Bruce's pysche is. I'd also heard it's going to focus more on Batman as the master detective versus the Bale/Affleck versions just bashing on people mindlessly and indiscriminately like they're playing an oldschool Battle Toads beat 'em up SNES game (don't get me wrong, though. I love the Dock fight in Batman Begins/The warehouse scene in Dawn of Justice).

 

[Riva]

First of all guys lets not get to excited about a Trailer. Remember Suicide Squad and how much people were hyped about that? Remember what a shitty movie it was? DC is good at making movie trailers, not so much in making movies.

However, - because I am a sucker - I have high hopes for this one. Because DC do tend to make good stand alone movies. Bale-Batman and Gal-WonderWoman are good examples. The issue of making shitty movies began once they started to cash in from the popularity of Heroes gangs - probably trying to take a leaf from Marvel's Avengers. Which is sad because DC animated movies are top class and the Justice league Animated series was absolute gold.

Finally was able to watch it on my desktop at 1080p. I gotta say, as of right now I HATE this versions Batsuit. I looks like someone tried to crappily recreate the one from TDKR while held at some ComicCon in a Miluawkee high school gymnastics -- I do not like it on a boat. I do not like it in a moat. I do not like it, Sam I Am.

Also, it seems like while this film is going to recapture the grittiness of the Batfleck, it's going to take a new direction by highlighting just how fractured Bruce's pysche is. I'd also heard it's going to focus more on Batman as the master detective versus the Bale/Affleck versions just bashing on people mindlessly and indiscriminately like they're playing an oldschool Battle Toads beat 'em up SNES game (don't get me wrong, though. I love the Dock fight in Batman Begins/The warehouse scene in Dawn of Justice).

I think that is intentional. This is his second year as batman as he is still figuring things out - I think they are trying to imply that.

edit - I am getting the detective vibe from batman more so in this than in any other previous Batman. Him trying to solve the puzzel of Riddler, following clues ......... and yes bashing people.

 

[Riva]

I continue to not understand the appeal of Batman, especially in modern times. When there's a batman that updates its understanding of crime and justice to something not out of the 1920s maybe it will be more interesting.

Although I think Batman is a very TJ character so that's probably part of it.

That said I will still see this movie.

The appeal of Batman is the villain. The character itself is a bit boring. The villains though, they never are.

 

[Totenkindly]

Well, it's Matt Reeves who is running the project. I'm always willing to give Reeves a shot, even if honestly I'm tired of Batman as a franchise -- like, there's tons of other heroes in the DC universe, it would be nice to change things up and do something else.

Reeves did:
- the original Cloverfield
- fairly successful reboot of "Let the Right One In" in english, I still prefer the original but it's a fairly decent remake
- The Planet of the Apes sequels, which considering how awful they might have been were actually decent even if he never got a lot of public attention for them

And yes, depending on the writing and approach, the casting might be appropriate. Like I have said before, Pattinson has done some excellent work in recent years arthouse style films, it's just he's constantly dragged down by the anchor that was Twilight in the broad public mind (just like Kristen Stewart has been, although she's done some amazing acting again in arthouse and foreign films, versus her castings in American franchises and/or tentpole movies)... the general audience seems really unaware of their acting resumes since the Twilight junk.

Anyway, the trailer was great and Reeves seems to be leaning into the grittier, less flashy aspects of the Batman story. IOW, things that might work better with the casts' acting styles.

The thing with Batman is that he's supposed to be part villain himself in the sense he operates outside the law. How different is he from the villains also operating outside the law that he is trying to take down? It's like it takes a dark brutalized persona operating outside the law to take down dark and brutal villains who the law cannot handle.

Also, it seems like while this film is going to recapture the grittiness of the Batfleck, it's going to take a new direction by highlighting just how fractured Bruce's pysche is. I'd also heard it's going to focus more on Batman as the master detective versus the Bale/Affleck versions just bashing on people mindlessly and indiscriminately

Yeah, that last bit sounds interesting...

 

[The Cat]

Well, it's Matt Reeves who is running the project. I'm always willing to give Reeves a shot, even if honestly I'm tired of Batman as a franchise -- like, there's tons of other heroes in the DC universe, it would be nice to change things up and do something else.

Reeves did:
- the original Cloverfield
- fairly successful reboot of "Let the Right One In" in english, I still prefer the original but it's a fairly decent remake
- The Planet of the Apes sequels, which considering how awful they might have been were actually decent even if he never got a lot of public attention for them

And yes, depending on the writing and approach, the casting might be appropriate. Like I have said before, Pattinson has done some excellent work in recent years arthouse style films, it's just he's constantly dragged down by the anchor that was Twilight in the broad public mind (just like Kristen Stewart has been, although she's done some amazing acting again in arthouse and foreign films, versus her castings in American franchises and/or tentpole movies)... the general audience seems really unaware of their acting resumes since the Twilight junk.

Anyway, the trailer was great and Reeves seems to be leaning into the grittier, less flashy aspects of the Batman story. IOW, things that might work better with the casts' acting styles.

The thing with Batman is that he's supposed to be part villain himself in the sense he operates outside the law. How different is he from the villains also operating outside the law that he is trying to take down? It's like it takes a dark brutalized persona operating outside the law to take down dark and brutal villains who the law cannot handle.



Yeah, that last bit sounds interesting...

*cough cough Constantine Matt Ryan cough cough cough* Seriously An R Rated John Constantine movie. Garth Innis Vertigo style seperate from Legends of Tomorrow, Give the warlock his ability to smoke back... Swamp Thing...

 

[anticlimatic]

Dear Hollywood,

Grow an a imagination and make movies that are new and different and interesting and apolitical.

Sincerely,

Empty Theater Seat

 

[Totenkindly]

I should mention casting Paul Dano is probably another sign of the movie's approach and that the studio isn't making huge demands of who the stars need to be. (It's not like casting Jim Carrey, where you want something bombastic and well-known cultural iconography.)

Dano has been in a lot of great films and is a wonderful character actor, who has been in such a range of low-key + commercial films. Maybe the one with the most blatant critical acclaim was "There will be blood" from 2007, with Daniel Day Lewis (Dano plays the preacher / twins, he's kind of overshadowed by Lewis). You might remember him from Swiss Army Man or Little Miss Sunshine or Prisoners. One of the first places I saw him, he was in a throwaway role in the Tom Cruise vehicle "Knight & Day" -- and he actually takes that throwaway role and makes it interesting to watch.

i.e., he's an actor you might not know by name, but you would recognize when you see him and who typically brings value to whatever film he is cast in. (Maybe David Strathairn is another like that, of the previous generation.)

Anyway, typically Dano in a film says something about the director/studio approach to the film...

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Hmm, I feel a little lukewarm on it, even though I think this guy makes a better Batman than Affleck. I guess it's mainly that it's not clear to me that this brings anything to the table that the Nolan movies didn't already do. We're even in similar ground in that it's early in Batman's career (albeit, he is not "beginning"). Also, and I know the comic book purists will take umbrage wit this, but I also think it's because the kind of Batman movie I'm really itching for at the moment is another theatrical, German Expressionist-flavored take a-la Burton. Maybe that's too of it's time, but I was the right age when those came out for it to be my introduction to the character, so maybe that's why I want so badly to see another Fritz Lang comic book movie.

Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon looks good, though. Also, I think Pattinson is much better for the part than Affleck. (It's easy to forget that there was a time when people had doubts about Ledger as the Joker).

More about German Expressionism and why I'm talking about it in a thread about Batman

 

[RavioliAfficianado]

I continue to not understand the appeal of Batman, especially in modern times. When there's a batman that updates its understanding of crime and justice to something not out of the 1920s maybe it will be more interesting.

Although I think Batman is a very TJ character so that's probably part of it.

That said I will still see this movie.

What about Batman do you find outdated?

 

[Totenkindly]

Welp.

Robert Pattinson Tests Positive for COVID-19, ‘The Batman’ Production Is Suspended Immediately

 

[Totenkindly]

Second best pandemic opening, stellar ratings,, 3 hours long...

Seeing it on Weds. Meanwhile, enjoy...!

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

Isn't dark and gritty the minimum bar to achieve for any Batman film? People use those labels all the time now as though they were synonymous with good. "Ohhh it was dark and gritty"

Sometimes dark and gritty doesn't necessarily mean a good film.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Isn't dark and gritty the minimum bar to achieve for any Batman film? People use those labels all the time now as though they were synonymous with good. "Ohhh it was dark and gritty"

Sometimes dark and gritty doesn't necessarily mean a good film.

Yeah, dark and gritty can also be like what happens after your cat just peed.

 

[Totenkindly]

...I like my batman just like I like my coffee... (finish joke here)

 

[Stigmata]

Isn't dark and gritty the minimum bar to achieve for any Batman film? People use those labels all the time now as though they were synonymous with good. "Ohhh it was dark and gritty"

Sometimes dark and gritty doesn't necessarily mean a good film.

When it comes to Batman films, I'll take gritty and dark; last time we attempted to deviate from that formula, the finished product was Batman & Robin. I wonder what out of touch, hack studio executive decided to green light that product -- I just wish I could've been in the meeting to see it.

Joel Schumacher: "So I'm thinking we'll get George Clooney as Batman, and have Arnold Schwarzenegger play Mr. Freeze. Just for laughs we should have him use a whole bunch of intentionally cheese freeze puns"

Studio Executive: *twirling the end of his handle handlebar mustache with one hand while stroking his hairless cat in with the other* ".....Go on....."