Burton/Keaton Batman movie

[Lance]

The thing that I think *almost* keeps Batman Forever grounded is that it's based on an original Tim Burton concept, Tim Burton was still a producer on the movie (mostly hands-of in the end, it has to be said), and there are still *some* stylistic echoes between it and the previous two movies, especially with the second one.

Sure, it's wackier. But it's a kind of ''controlled'' wacky. It's got a lot more in common with Batman Returns than most people are probably willing to admit. Whenever I've rewatched it, I've often found myself being able to visualise how Tim Burton would've handled the exact same material.

Batman & Robin on the other hand was made entirely out of whole cloth by Schumacher and co, and is therefore in a completely different stratosphere even compared to Batman Forever.

I guess what I'm saying is that Batman Forver has still got some residual Tim Burton going on, whereas Batman & Robin has shed almost every vestige of the Burton movies completely, and cranked the wackiness up to eleven to compensate... it feels like it doesn't even belong in the same series as the three previous movies.

Yeah Forever is a lot less over the top than Batman and Robin, but it's also lacking any of the slightly twisted, off kilter weirdness that made the Burton movies so cool and memorable.

Instead everything suddenly feels really lightweight and superficial, with a couple of incredibly cheesy and ridiculous villains running around that you can't take remotely seriously.

A Burton directed Batman Forever would have been very cool to see, but I don't think Schumacher's version comes even close to being it.

I can imagine Burton having a field day with the ''big top'' sequences. And with making Two-Face be a true 'grotesque'.

On paper at least, it still feels like it carries those parts of the earlier, Tim Burton conceived version of the movie. It's really only in the way it was executed on screen which sees Schumacher make his mark. Some of the ideas in the story itself, at least to me, still feel like Tim Burton had some basis in them. We know for a fact that the scenes of Robin stealing the Batmobile was actually in the early drafts of one of the Burton movies, although I forget now if it was from the first or the second one. Lots of the other scenes do still feel like that too. So at least in conception it still carries over some remnants of Burton's movies.

Batman & Robin was Schumacher's work from the ground up. For better or worse.

 

[TheAlmanac]

Highlander 2. Ugh. Saw that opening night because the trailers looked interesting. Hadn't seen the first one so I decided to rent the VHS on my way home from work that day, watch it during dinner and then catch the 9PM show of Highlander 2. Wow. The people who'd seen the earlier one and had vague memories of the first one were annoyed with no. 2--imagine having watched the first one just before. Most nonsensical movie experience of my life (except for movies intended to be nonsense). Hard to believe they made more (I never watched any of them).

FWIW, Highlander: Endgame is actually a pretty good followup to Highlander: The Series (as it takes place in the continuity of that series), though it has some stylistic directorial choices which now feel very dated and of their time.

Highlander 2 has (rightly) been ignored by every subsequent iteration of the franchise.

 

[Dream]

 

[eyeresist]

^ In the 80s, the internet was all typed or handwritten.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

The Howling 3 played in theaters??

I saw it in a rundown theater in Times Square, pre-Guiliani.

The audience, only a few of whom were actually watching the movie, had no idea what to make of it.

"What the fuck is this shit?"

I know 42nd Street was famous for its grindhouse theaters. The real question is what compelled you to go see Howling 3?

Then again, I saw Highlander II, III AND Endgame in the theater.

 

[martok2112]

^ In the 80s, the internet was all typed or handwritten.

But fanboys never change.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Lulz.

 

[TheAlmanac]

Then again, I saw Highlander II, III AND Endgame in the theater.

For all that people complain about it, Highlander 2 made more money at the box office than any other feature film in the franchise.

Endgame is the only one I saw in a cinema, on opening night.

 

[gblews]

^^
Easy to look back on something like this petition and laugh, but I was one of those aghast at the thought of a stand up comedian (because that is still how I thought of him) playing Batman. One of the things that bothered me most about it was the thought that they were going to continue the buffoonish persona created by the TV show.

What a pleasant surprise Keaton and the movie turned out to be. And boy, did I learn a lesson about jumping to conclusions about casting news.

 

[Timby]

Keaton spent like two months as a stand-up.

 

[gblews]

Keaton spent like two months as a stand-up.

Testament to how talented he is. HE was so good at it, I thought stand up was his main thing.

 

[martok2112]

I've always believed that comic actors make the best dramatic actors.

BTW, I wonder how many of those on that petition had ketchup with their feet and crow for breakfast?

 

[Greg Cox]

I can testify that fandom reacted with utter dread and hostility when Keaton was first announced as Batman.

"Mr. Mom" playing Batman, in a movie directed by the guy who did Pee-Wee's Big Adventure? Fandom took this as "proof" that the movie was going to be another campy comedy spoof like the Adam West series. I remember attending a convention panel shortly after Keaton's casting was announced. Talk about a hostile audience! I thought the poor Warner Bros. publicity guy was going to be tarred and feathered.

People were convinced the movie was going to be an epic bomb. Rolling Stone even ran an article on the controversy.

 

[Lance]

The thing that made Keaton so good, in my view, is the same reason why Christopher Reeve was so good as Superman: you get the feeling the actors have given a lot of thought to how they're going to play both the superhero *and* the 'secret identity'. In Reeves case both Superman and Clark feel like different people despite obviously being the same man; and in Keaton's case I thought he made absolutely the right choice by not playing Bruce Wayne as a ''millionaire playboy'' like we would expect, but instead choosing to internalize his performance and thereby make Bruce as much of a unsociable weirdo as his Batman persona is, but just in a slightly different way. In some ways, it's Keaton's performance as Bruce Wayne which shines even more than his performance as Batman does. And part of the impact of the performance is that he plays 'against type', not choosing to play Bruce as some over-the-top comedic playboy figure, but as a reclusive introvert with a deadpan sense of humor.

 

[martok2112]

I had no doubts whatsoever about Keaton's ability to pull off the role. In fact, I was certain of his contrast with Nicholson's Joker. It was an awesome matchup. As was Bale vs Ledger later in TDK.

 

[davejames]

The thing that made Keaton so good, in my view, is the same reason why Christopher Reeve was so good as Superman: you get the feeling the actors have given a lot of thought to how they're going to play both the superhero *and* the 'secret identity'. In Reeves case both Superman and Clark feel like different people despite obviously being the same man; and in Keaton's case I thought he made absolutely the right choice by not playing Bruce Wayne as a ''millionaire playboy'' like we would expect, but instead choosing to internalize his performance and thereby make Bruce as much of a unsociable weirdo as his Batman persona is, but just in a slightly different way. In some ways, it's Keaton's performance as Bruce Wayne which shines even more than his performance as Batman does. And part of the impact of the performance is that he plays 'against type', not choosing to play Bruce as some over-the-top comedic playboy figure, but as a reclusive introvert with a deadpan sense of humor.

The other thing that I think made it work, was just how unexpected and surprisingly fun it was to watch this kinda goofy comedic actor suddenly playing a dark and badass superhero and kicking all kinds of ass (and doing it all believably).

That was an element that I really missed in the Nolan movies, since you pretty much expected an actor like Christian Bale to pull off a role like this. Which is why watching him play either Bruce or Batman was never half as much fun in my opinion as watching Keaton do it.

 

[publiusr]

Sorry to ressurect this thread--but as I only recently saw this kickstarter film on the tube, I would like to comment on just how this might have worked.

If I had a chance at the film, I would have had Cage in the background. Superman would have been played by the most ripped bodybuilder I could find. Suit would be body paint. The movie starts with a hand grasping a crystal from the fortess however

In terms of giving superman's cloak some volume--you might try something like this:
http://www.3ders.org/articles/20160...oo-pla-pellets-and-giant-baam-3d-printer.html Just soften a bit.

Superman and other characters are in the background. You see Cage commenting on what it is like living in a city with its own god. Superman is seen to rescue a lot of Lexcorps men from oil rigs and such. Cage doesn't like this much. He and Kevin Smith are room-mates.

Superman dies fighting a (now CGI) Doomsday. Cage visits the tomb, and is drawn in. The world needs a Superman. The Voice of Chris and George seem to speak to him, as does the voice of Daly, and Danny Dark. Cage becomes Superman.

We see a little of the Greatest American hero humor.

Cage fights Brainiac and wins.

At the close of the film, we see Kevin hand Cage a crystal. It had been "stolen" from the Fortress. Cages memory was restored.

Kevin says to Cage--in a very meta moment--"you were always Superman." The bodybuilder at the beginning was just a robot. The fortress guardian knew Cage would die if he fought Doomsday, so the robot was sacrificed. People recognize Cage as Clark Kent as last, not just a blog host. The uniform chages one ast time--and now we see Cavil fly off. For a long time

Kevin seems to morph into Jor El, and disappears.

Meanwhile, at Lexcorp, the damaged superman robot is given the brain of Lexcrpt astronaut Henshaw.

The cyborg Superman is born.

 

[JD]

I honestly have no idea what you are talking about.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I think he intended to resurrect The Death of Superman Lives thread.

 

[JD]

Ah, that would make sense.