Are you ready for DARK KNIGHT?
As the hype builds to a fever pitch, I personally am basically now to the point of Dark Knight overload. I almost don't want to think about it until Saturday, when I will see it in glorious IMAX at Universal Citywalk. But I'm a Batman fan through and through, what can I say. I loved the Adam West show as a kid, later fell in love with the Animated Series, and somewhere in between I became a regular reader of the comics, during that magical year when Superman died and Bruce Wayne got owned by a jacked-up supervillain named Bane. I became enthralled with the monthly adventures of Batman, Robin, and Nightwing, and eventually caught myself up on the classic Bat-stories of all time - The Dark Knight Returns, Year One, A Death In the Family, and The Killing Joke.
So over the last 20-odd years, I've seen and read countless interpretations of the Batman, from campy avenger to dark knight detective to all-powerful uber-Bat. I've had my favorite runs on the character: Paul Dini and Bruce Timm's brilliant Animated work, the Knightfall era of Denny O'Neil, Chuck Dixon, and Doug Moench, the gritty, 2000-era runs by Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker are just a few that fueled my fondness for all things Dark Knight.
With that being said ... Christopher Nolan's BATMAN BEGINS to me really captured the essence of many of the Batman comics I had enjoyed over the years. The tortured soul of Bruce Wayne, his quest to become a self-made avenger, the beginnings of his one-man war on crime in Gotham. Even if the details weren't always spot-on (ie the somewhat re-imagined version of Ra's Al Ghul), the spirit felt dead-on. Still, there are a few things that I'd love to see retooled for THE DARK KNIGHT - some I suspect will be, and some that just will not happen this generation of Batman films. But that being said ...
- THREE THINGS I'D LOVE TO SEE IN A BATMAN FILM (and probably WILL see in DARK KNIGHT):
1.) Batman - The Dark Knight DETECTIVE
- A lot of people gave me funny looks after seeing Batman Begins when I said it was great, but that I wish Batman had done more detective work in the film. A lot of people sometimes forget that Batman is, of course, the world's greatest detective. And that's something I want to see reflected in the movies - especially Nolan's which tend to take a more realistic, as well as darker and grittier view of Batman's world. I hear that in Dark Knight we finally see a Batman who is not just badass, but also really smart, who uses his brains and intuition. I want the Batman who is the man with a plan, who is always five steps ahead of his enemies (well, except the Joker), who heads into battle knowing every detail, every weakness, everything there is to know about his adversary. Bring it on.
2.) A Batman who does NOT kill, ever.
- There was really only one scene I really disliked in Batman Begins - and that was when Ra's Al Ghul is falling to his presumed death and Batman says "I won't kill you, but I don't have to save you" or something like that. Whaaaat? The Batman from the comics would never say that, as throughout the years Batman has gone out of his way numerous times to save even his worst enemies from an untimely death, even the Joker. Now, the issue of whether or not Batman would or should kill is a worthy debate topic, but I think it should at least be addressed, along with Batman's moral code in general. It sounds like this very issue will be front and center of Dark Knight (as it usually is in stories involving the Joker), so that makes me very excited.
3.) A Joker with no definitive origin, and with no personal connection to Batman
- I hate when movies try to awkwardly wrap everything up in a tidy bow. I never liked that in Tim Burton's Batman, for example, the Joker had some kind of connection to the Wayne murders. Just lame in my book - the whole point of the Joker is that his violence is random and chaotic and nonsensical to everyone but him - how does it enhance his character to tie him in so directly to Batman's origin? Similarly, one other thing that annoyed me in Batman Begins was that Jim Gordon seemed to have had a personal involvment in the Wayne Murders - again, WTF. Gordon is supposed to be a Chicago transplant who, because he starts out as an outsider, stands as the one good cop in a corruption-filled GCPD. That being said, I really like where they're going with DARK KNIGHT. The Joker as a mystery, as a random force of evil and destructiveness - no tacked-on origin. Remember: even the definitive Joker origin story, The Killing Joke, makes it clear that this backstory is only one of MANY possible origins for the Joker - even he can't keep them straight.
- THREE THINGS I'D LOVE TO TO SEE IN A BATMAN FILM (and very much doubt I will see in Dark Knight)
1.) The Blue and Gray Costume
- Man, if there's one thing that, aesthetically, I've disliked about every Batman movie to date, it's Batman's costume. I hate the rubber / leather / sculpted chest muscles look (and better for everyone if we just don't even mention Schumaker-era Bat-nipples debacle) , and I find the all-black look to be, well, boring. I'm not quite sure exactly what my ideal Batman-on-film costume would look like, but I'd love to see the dark-yet-heroic blue/gray scheme of the comics find its way onto film. I'd like to see a more practical outfit, one where, finally, it seems like Batman could nimbly swing across the Gotham rooftops, nail badguys with spinning judo kicks, and yes, TURN HIS HEAD while wearing it. Am I advocating spandex? Hells no. But would I like something more akin the straight-from-the-comics Spiderman outfit? Yes indeed.
2.) Batman as part of the DC Universe
- A year or two ago, this one would not have been on my list. Even in the comics, many of the best Batman stories are self-contained, with little to no reminders that Batman exists in a DC Universe filled with flying men and aliens and the like. BUT ... ever since Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, I am dying to see the DC properties receive a similar interconnected, shared-universe treatment on the big-screen. I want to see Clark Kent do an expose on Gotham's protector, Bruce Wayne go to a meeting at LexCorp, and see J'onn J'onzz attempt to recruit Batman into a fledgeling Justice League. As much as Christopher Nolan has created a realistic, self-contained universe with his Batman films - how cool would it be to see the beginnings of a larger DC Universe on film begin to take shape?
3.) Alfred with a mustache
- Good lord, everyone knows that Batman's trusty butler, Alfred Pennyworth, is supposed to be a lanky dude with thinning black hair and a FREAKING MUSTACHE. Look, I'm not one to criticize the great Michael Cain, but will someone tell the man to go the distance here, do his duty as an actor and at the very least sport the 'stache?!?! And while I'm on this little mini-rant, I'd like to reitirate one very important constant in the Batman universe ... Alfred does not call Batman "Master Wayne," ever. Dammit, Nolan, it's "Master Bruce", beyotch.
- And that's all for now - stay tuned for even more DARK KNIGHT goodness very, very soon.
Oh ...
One more thing ...
What was it again ...?
Oh, yeah ...
... THE WATCHMEN TRAILER IS UP, and it KICKS THIRTY-FIVE KINDS OF ASS! OH MY GOD, there is life after The Dark Knight and it is called WATCHMEN.
Witness the glory: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/37504
WOW.
I caught Dark Knight on IMAX tonight, and it was definitely worth every minute and every penny, even bearing the fact that I had to settle for sitting on the stairs in a theater bursting at the seams.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't dig this movie, there's something clearly wrong. That's all I have to say.