The Antipodean

OK, not to crap all over a movie before it even films... but suddenly I was gripped with fear after reading a report about Graham Nolan's "Batman" flick. What if it turns out like Ang Lee's "Hulk"? There's all this talk about going back to basics, finding the drama again, less hokiness, etc., which sounds fine and dandy, but what if it just turns into pretentious boring gunk that also bombs commercialy like "Hulk" did? What if Batman doesn't put on his costume until the final five minutes and the movie becomes "Bruce Wayne"? What if they decide Batman was abused by his father using bat serum or somesuch and that inspired him to become Batman?

Don't get me wrong. I'm hoping it will be amazing, if "Insomnia" (which I loved) and "Memento" are any indication. But I was totally psyched for Lee's "Hulk" too, and had my hopes cruelly dashed with a talky, halting, schizo psychodrama with poor acting, lousy effects and that completely missed the point of the original comics and was a real train wreck (all IMHO, if that wasn't obvious).

(And I know we've debated the "Hulk suck/Hulk not suck" question a hundred times already in this forum, so let's not get on it again, OK? Let's just all agree that "Hulk" was not the mega-billion-grossing popular and critical hit the studio hoped for.)

Anyone else equally concerned? Nolan hasn't steered wrong so far, and the cast is freakin' great, but.. there's still that nagging voice in my head.... What if there's "Bat Dogs"?


Anyway, this article from www.darkhorizons.com got me wondering....

Some Official "Batman" Details
Posted: Monday Feb. 9, 2004 7:35pm (Au-EST)

Variety ran an article today with heaps of new details on the upcoming "Batman" movie set to begin shooting at the end of the month in Iceland.
First off expect this Bats to be grounded more in reality which is why there's no costumed villains, little focus on gadgets, and a bigger role for Bruce Wayne - Director Chris Nolan says "I felt like doing the origins story of the character, which is a story that's never been told before. The world of Batman is that of grounded reality, ours will be a recognizable, contemporary reality against which an extraordinary heroic figure arises".
Helping that reality is Gotham City which won't be the stylised version we've seen in the Burton/Schumacher films, rather most of it will be on-location work in New York & London which will be assembled together to reinvent Gotham as a modern day metropolis - "Gotham will seem like this great city in a contemporary world and will be created through various cities, we are trying to avoid a villagey feel for Gotham, as it starts to get claustrophobic".
Expect the marketing angle to call this a re-imagining of the Batman franchise - WB Production Pres Jeff Robinov says "It's almost impossible to reinvent Batman, Chris is reintroducing Batman, and it feels smart and cool and fresh. That's no
disrespect to the other movies, but it's really Chris' vision of Batman, and that's what we're supporting".
Nolan's vision as such sounds interesting - "Few superheroes have the sense of purpose and destiny that Batman has. He is driven by an incredible sense of rage, sadness and grief because of the tragedy of his parents' murder at an early age. To me, Batman is the most interesting superhero because he doesn't haveany superpowers. He is very human".
Backed with a $150 million budget, and a new musical theme, expect this psychologically deep and conflicted movie not to be too dark thankfully.

jaeufraser

You know, I'd rather take this approach than a mega budget, doomed to fail hollywood idiot extravaganza ala most big budget comic book movies.

Of course I have my concerns...but I would have my concerns no matter what they were doing. I do know that a lot of hte movie will have Batman, all the way to including a Batmobile and some action set pieces.

Will it be good? We shall see, but Nolan is not Ang Lee, and if anything I appreciated Ang's take on the Hulk, a far more interesting film than most summer blockbusters (though I do concede that in general, it didn't work).

So I'm glad they're taking a little risk. Would you rather have the typical approach to these big films?

QuiGonJosh

Well...considering I thought Hulk was the best comic movie since Superman...then its fine by me...I'd rather see a serious and honest-to-god truly original comic movie than some lame attempt at making the same movie over again which ruined the Bats franchise...

Michael Corvin

Umm. Memento and Insomnia were directed by Christopher Nolan. Who is Graham?

Sessa17

I see your point Sierra but I'm not worried about it at all. To me, the difference is that approach works for Batman, it doesn't work for Hulk. The Hulk is a gigantic, green monster & for me should have been given more of the over the top comic book approach as oppose the real world scenario.

Batman is a human, & I think to most true Batman fans, it's the human elements of the character & the story that are the appeal & the main focus of the character. That's why Dark Night Returns is considered the greatest Batman story ever told, it focuses on the human elements.

With so many over the top villians appearing the the movie franchise, I think it would be overkill to make another movie like that. Plus, you have an actor that can really shine with the heavy emotional story & unlike every actor thats played the character to date, he can really kick ass on screen.

Fielding Mellish

One thing is for sure. It's bound to turn out better thn McG's Superman.

The Antipodean

His possibly imaginary twin brother who also wrote the classic 'The Three'?

Peep

With no costumed bad guys, a back-to-basics approach, few gadgets and location shootings why do they need a budget of 150 million dollars?!?!

Pants

I think we could only be so lucky as to have it be as good as Hulk

Supermallet

And I also worry that the new Batman will turn out as fantastically as The Hulk. I mean, if this Batman is good, what will I think of the old Batman?

LivingINClip

Am I worried? Not really. I would love to see a film that focus on Bruce's mission to become Batman, but I also have faced the reality that if they do this, most of the audience simply won't "get it", thus killing the chance of a sequel.


With that said - I really doubt Nolan will wait until the final five mintue's to show the Bat-suit. Or the batmobile. I am guessing about half-way through the movie.

RyoHazuki

I'll take Hulk over Batman and Robin anyday.

Dr. DVD

Liked Hulk, just for the record, until the last ten minutes anyway.

I have faith in Nolan, as he really seems to want to deliver the whole "Batman as a detective" angle in lieu of the fancy stunts and FX showcase. While many may not like this, this might be the most realistic comic book movie made to date, with the possible exception of Unbreakable.

chente

I hope so.

DGibFen

That's what I'm hoping. The Batman of the comic books was always much more interesting of a character than the half-cocked smart aleck that the movies/TV show turned him into.

Trigger

I thought Hulk was an okay movie - not good and not bad - terrible ending though. However, I thought Hulk was 1000x better than any of the batman movies or Xmen movies (which should tell you how I felt about the xmen and batman movies). I'm hoping this will be refreshing.

Lara Means

What the hell is up with all this Hulk bashing? HULK was a good movie. You know what happened? Idiotic marketing and a poor judgement on its release date. It wasn't a mindless summer action movie.

Scot1458

I hope it is as good as the hulk. If you need explosions, wire-fu and alot of T*A, wait til Superman comes out.

fumanstan

Actually most of the posts so far have said the Hulk wasn't that bad. Where were you in June with the real Hulk bashing?

Anyway... i'm with Dr. DVD about liking the Hulk up until the last 10 minutes. I've been pumped about the new Batman movie ever since Nolan got attached. Every casting decision and rumor i've heard so far makes sense, unlike Superman... which is another story. So no... not worried.

Drop

I myself liked the Hulk, it was a much better movie than I thought it would be. It had some great action, and a pretty cool story. I myself like slow movies, so i was pretty pleased with all the story set up. I think it delivered.

With that said, Batman and Hulk are two different kinds of stories. So I wouldn't want it to be like Hulk. I would like it to be more of a human story than the other Batman movies, though. I did enjoy Burton's vision, but I'm ready for a new one.

costanza

is there any mention of robin being in the movie? because i really don't want to see him there.

RocShemp

So far the word on Robin has been "no". This is a strictly Batman affair and apparently they took their coda from Batman: Year One by Frank Miller. BTW why was the Miller/Arronofsky Year One movie cancelled?

mookiemeister

I have a wait and see attitude. Let's hope that the new Batman turn out good.

Squidhead

The only thing I learned from Hulk was if you give people a smart comic book movie, they throw it back in your face bitching and moaning all the way.

My favorite overheard quote had to be: "All they had to do was have Hulk get pissed and smash shit up for the whole movie! How the hell could they "F" that up??"

I'm pretty sure common idiots will call the new Batman movie boring and "unfun". I guess that's how low the film medium has become. If you don't cater to the lowest common denominator, you lose and become a failure.


And for the record, I also felt Hulk was great till the last 10 minutes.

clarkkent

Did I get spun into a parallel universe here? Did I read that McG will be directing the next Superman? Is there no justice!

The Hulk was not great, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it wasn't horrible. Most were upset that it didn't live up to what it could have been.

Batman 1 is the second best comic movie yet, behind of course the original Supes, and Jack Nicholson should have gotten an Academy Award nomination for his Riddler.

Everyone is going to go and watch the new one no matter how it turns out.