DC Movies - To Infinity and Beyond
- Thread starter dahj
- Start date
First off, the issue was whether the Burton Batman was dark or not. My list is supposed to show that the movie certainly was dark, and I didn't even mention the hero being depicted as a deeply troubled sociopath or the gothic imagery.
Second, those reviews are over twenty years removed. Sure, in hindsight the Burton movies appear campy, but at the time the mainstream image of Batman were the Adam West series and assorted similarly harmless cartoons, and the idea of a big superhero blockbuster was that of the Chris Reeve Superman movies. With all that in mind, yes, at the time the movie seemed very dark and, relatively speaking, non-campy.
As a side note, one of the people in that review dialogue said about the first movie:
Now, that might have been true for Batman Returns, but at the time of the first film, Burton was still at a point in his career where he had to prove himself.ComicsAlliance said:
On the surface, obviously. The question is whether that supposed "darkness" holds up to a deeper examination or is just a surface veneer.
And that is exactly my point -- that at the time, it seemed more serious by contrast, but with more perspective, we can now see how superficial that perception was, and how pretentious it was to pretend the Burton films were somehow smarter or more legitimate than the Adam West series. I fail to see how having better perspective and experience with which to reassess our judgments is a bad thing.
Your reference to the Superman movies is itself an example of the same phenomenon. At the time the Donner film came out, it was seen as a more serious and grounded take on Superman than we'd gotten before, with Richard Donner making a big deal about its "verisimilitude." But now, or even by 1989, we'd seen how much Silver Age silliness is in it despite the veneer of naturalism. And the same thing happened with the Burton movies. It's all relative.
Both Batman '89 and Superman '78 remain the most influential superhero movies of all time. Honestly, if Lester didn't ruin Superman 2, the superhero movie revolution probably would have happened 15 years earlier than it did.
Or not... CGI is what really made modern superhero movies possible.
Or not... CGI is what really made modern superhero movies possible.
I didn't really mean to compare The Batman to the Burton movies, I just meant that Keaton Batman coexists with an alien and a speedster, but we won't be seeing that kind of thing in The Batman, and probably not any sequels we get. Although Reeves was asked about Superman in future sequels, and he didn't totally rule out an appearance, so that kind of thing could still happen eventually.
I rewatched Batman Begins yesterday, I would put it narrowly/generously ahead of MotP, behind BR and just behind Spider-Man 2.
The 7-year gap with declared dead is a bit excessive or more specifically I didn't really like that combined with that he's initially so lost and lacking in purpose and direction before Ra's gives it to him, that he benefits so much from both Ra's and Fox rather than being more self-developed. But with the film being about Batman beginning it's understandable and by the end he does seem to have become the Batman we know and love.
Some of Ra's dialogue is a little awkwardly overly expository but Neeson makes it convincing, compelling even pretty natural, he's got so much range and effectiveness. Murphy and Wilkinson also made their villains convincing and great and suggestive of a lot more than immediately apparent.
I love that the story and tone were both grand and grounded.
The visuals were amazing.
Katie Holmes as Rachel was not great but I liked her and thought she did at least OK.
I do think it's a shame that Katie didn't return in TDK (though there the problem with Rachel was more the writing) and that it also didn't have a bigger and better role for returning Scarecrow.
The 7-year gap with declared dead is a bit excessive or more specifically I didn't really like that combined with that he's initially so lost and lacking in purpose and direction before Ra's gives it to him, that he benefits so much from both Ra's and Fox rather than being more self-developed. But with the film being about Batman beginning it's understandable and by the end he does seem to have become the Batman we know and love.
Some of Ra's dialogue is a little awkwardly overly expository but Neeson makes it convincing, compelling even pretty natural, he's got so much range and effectiveness. Murphy and Wilkinson also made their villains convincing and great and suggestive of a lot more than immediately apparent.
I love that the story and tone were both grand and grounded.
The visuals were amazing.
Katie Holmes as Rachel was not great but I liked her and thought she did at least OK.
I do think it's a shame that Katie didn't return in TDK (though there the problem with Rachel was more the writing) and that it also didn't have a bigger and better role for returning Scarecrow.
Saw that when waiting for the movie to start. I don't usually watch animated stuff, but that does look intriguing.
The Gotham PD series has evolved to.....ARKHAM! (Pokemon reference)
https://www.slashfilm.com/789760/th...ff-is-on-hold-has-evolved-to-focus-on-arkham/
https://www.slashfilm.com/789760/th...ff-is-on-hold-has-evolved-to-focus-on-arkham/
So it's not set early in Batman's career anymore? Cuz Arkham with "Batman's rogues" only GETS HIS ROGUES after he puts them there. So they have to go through their origin stories and get taken down by Batman. It's not like at some point during year one Batman has already come into conflict with a whole slew of rogues and put them into Arkham week after week.
Of course that didn't really stop Gotham from finding ways to introduce them early so who knows.
Well, maybe they realized that we JUST HAD a series that, well, in theory, was SUPPOSED to center on the Gotham PD, pre-Batman. (And i fully expect THAT show to be revived, either on TV or as a movie, with the original cast in 15 years. The Young people (Bruce & Selina) should be adults ready to take on the challenge of veterans), while our villains don't look too old.
And this new concept could lend very easily to an anthology format, giving them the freedom to do all kinds of stories and time periods.
Theone thing , though... did i hear it right in ht emovie, that Arkham wasn't called that until Bruce's mom went there (due to the the Arkham family)?
The building itself looks ancient, but could have been renamed anythime in the last century.
And the Penguin series? I thought they did a decent job in Gotham... do we need to rehash this like Martha's Pearls (tm) ?
And this new concept could lend very easily to an anthology format, giving them the freedom to do all kinds of stories and time periods.
Theone thing , though... did i hear it right in ht emovie, that Arkham wasn't called that until Bruce's mom went there (due to the the Arkham family)?
The building itself looks ancient, but could have been renamed anythime in the last century.
And the Penguin series? I thought they did a decent job in Gotham... do we need to rehash this like Martha's Pearls (tm) ?
Every live action series around Batman EXCEPT for Batman since 1968.
This is the way.
This is the way.
WB has delayed a few films, including some of its DC slate:
https://variety.com/2022/film/news/black-adam-release-date-delay-dwayne-johnson-1235200196/
https://variety.com/2022/film/news/black-adam-release-date-delay-dwayne-johnson-1235200196/
It’s confusing because some of those changes were announced at different times today.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is actually being released earlier now. This December instead of next year.
No word on Batgirl. But it’s certainly delayed because Michael Keaton’s appearance is tied to his reintroduction in The Flash.
Shazam! Fury of the Gods is actually being released earlier now. This December instead of next year.
No word on Batgirl. But it’s certainly delayed because Michael Keaton’s appearance is tied to his reintroduction in The Flash.
Also means Aquaman 2 won't go up against Avatar 2, after all. Instead, SHAZAM 2 has to.
It was always strange that Shazam 2 was scheduled for 2023 when it begin filming around the time of the Flash and Aquaman. Maybe even before. I wonder if this always their backup plan?
Black Adam and Shazam 2 were always connected. How much setup we see in these specific movies remains to be seen. But smarter to release closer to the other.
Black Adam and Shazam 2 were always connected. How much setup we see in these specific movies remains to be seen. But smarter to release closer to the other.
Meanwhile the Penguin spinoff from The Batman has been ordered to series https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/t...wWbYF9N7Z9VAaNciBVDgrfADTAjp5JFxlNkveOy8h5zmE
I always felt like Black Adam was supposed to be the villain for the first Shazam but switched it last minute to give the Rock his own Scorpion King movie without the minor appearance.
COVID sure didn't help, but the delay will have Darla graduating college before they have Shazam fight Black Adam.
And Cyborg was supposed to have his own movie (by 2020, as opposed to disappearing completely)
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The WB and the DC Film Universe is a complete mess. There is practically no momentum from movie to movie...no culture...(with few minor exceptions).
I grew up loving DC more, but Marvel is just killing it for me