Tag Archives: Batman

Jul 4 2013

Mounting Pressure For A Justice League Film

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Now that Man Of Steel has proven to be a hit at the box office, demand has increased even more for a Justice League film. It’s unfair to Man Of Steel because the natural thing would’ve been for a sequel to that Superman film. It’s also unfair for the Batman franchise being that Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy concluded last year. Normally, the focus on the franchise would have been on rebooting it not taking part in a team film.

What is driving the pressure for a Justice League film is the phenomenal success of Disney/Marvel’s film The Avengers. To say that The Avengers was a game changer isn’t a small statement. That film proved that it is feasible to present an entertaining, well crafted film that utilizes many characters from a shared cinematic universe. But it’s not unprecedented. Remember Universal Studios decades ago did this with their horror movie monsters fighting each other in films.

Lost Opportunities

Warner Bros. and DC should’ve gotten the ball rolling years ago and put references of the larger DC Comics universe into their DC films.

satelliteThey did put in very minor references in Batman & Robin (where Batman mentions Superman) and in Superman Returns (a PA announcement could be heard about a Gotham City train), but that was it. Christopher Nolan refused to have any mention of the other DC characters in his Batman films, so that opportunity was lost. Ditto with 2011’s Green Lantern. In Man Of Steel, Superman and Zod battle by a satellite that belongs to Bruce Wayne’s company, so that is a Batman reference. Plus, some there’s a blink-and-you-miss-it Booster Gold reference during a fight scene. Yet all this pales to Nick Fury’s surprise, substantial cameo at the end of Iron Man, which led to more Marvel Comics universe references in other Marvel films that culminated with The Avengers.

DC could go the same route but they don’t have the time. Fans want a Justice League film now. They’ve grown impatient with the studio’s glacial progress. Besides many higher ups in DC and Warner Bros. have stated that they don’t want to copy Disney/Marvel’s formula. Frankly, it would be the best thing to do, but with Disney/Marvel charging ahead and greenlighting films, Warner Bros./DC can’t afford to do that. It becomes a game of catch up and they’re way behind.

Nonetheless, many fans are going insane with the lack of communication from Warner Bros./DC on the status of the Justice League film.

This proves that they are taking this matter seriously and want to put out the best possible film. While there is pressure to make the film already, they don’t just want to rush out and slap something together. Given the failure of Green Lantern, Warner Bros./DC know they cannot alienate fans. Continue reading →

Jun 7 2013

Which Are Worse, Superman III & IV Or The Schumacher Batman Movies?

 

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The title says it all. While many comic book fans are salivating over the upcoming Man Of Steel movie, many of them want to forget not just Superman Returns but those horrendously awful Superman sequels from the ’80s, Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest For Peace.

On the flip side of that notion there are the Batman movies. Sure Christopher Nolan singlehandedly reinvented and salvaged the Bat franchise with his own take of Batman, but the sting of Joel Schumacher’s version of Batman in the ’90s is still felt.

Altogether these flicks nearly derailed each franchise and forced years-long moratoriums where no new Superman or Batman movies were available. With the Superman train wrecks it took nearly twenty years until a new Superman movie came out. But Superman Returns was a huge letdown and brought upon another drought of Superman flicks until this year. Batman recovered much quicker, his sabbatical from the movies only lasted seven years and his comeback flick Batman Begins set fandom on fire, culminating with The Dark Knight.

Still the nagging question remains, which of those films are worse? Let’s take a look, and start with Superman.

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Super Duds

Before Superman III, Superman was riding high in popularity. Superman II was a huge success in the movies with its action-packed story about Kryptonian supervillains coming to Earth and Superman having to confront them. The end of the movie promised a Superman III, which excited many people. Unfortunately, the second sequel was doomed from the start. See, Richard Donner, who deserves credit for his masterful work on Superman and parts of Superman II had no input in the third Superman movie. Executive producers Alexander and Ilya Salkind had a feud with Donner and even fired him during production of Superman II. They turned to their buddy Richard Lester to complete that movie.

Now that they were running the show completely without Donner, they proceeded to ruin Superman by turning Superman III a comedy. It wouldn’t be as bad as it sounded if the movie was funny. Quite the opposite, it was moronic and embarrassing to watch. How bad was it? I put it on a few weeks ago when it was on cable to watch with my seven-year-old nephew. After a few minutes (right around that stupid scene where the traffic light figurines fight with each other), he told me to change the channel because “Superman III is dumb!”

supes gus gormanWhat is hard to believe is that there are actually defenders of this film who hail its dumb comedic bits, including Richard Pryor’s casting! Talk about misfires! Superman III heralded the downfall of Pryor’s reputation in the movies. Once the guy was seen as a comedic genius and had several hit movies under his belt. Then the poor comedian made a comment in a talk show about how he loved Superman II. Fate turned out to be cruel because the filmmakers behind the Superman films got wind of this comment and decided to put him in Superman III. It was a ballsy move, but it didn’t work. Pryor was known for his racy humor, which had to be toned down for the kid-friendly Superman film and instead he became a bumbling, unfunny buffoon in the movie. His character wasn’t much of a villain, just a misguided dupe forced to help an evil tycoon (Robert Vaughn), and of course, he helps Superman in the end. Ho hum.

Superman (and actor Christopher Reeve) took a break and didn’t appear again until the abysmal Superman IV: The Quest For Peace. By this time, the Salkinds washed their hands of the Man of Steel and sold him off to the schlocky film studio Cannon Films, famous for the zero-quality Chuck Norris and Charles Bronson action flicks.

The fourth film, the new filmmakers promised, was supposed to be bigger and better. Instead, the budget for it was severely slashed leaving an extremely cheesy mess. But the worst part was the script where Reeve supposedly had input on. Lord almighty. Superman gets rid of all the nuclear weapons without thinking of the consequences. But the movie doesn’t even cover that or have any serious discussions superman 4about that idea. The only thing that happens is that Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) schemes with some generals and creates a sort of Superman clone called Nuclear Man (Mark Pillow). The two superhumans fight and talk in space(!) and Superman pushes the moon to create a solar eclipse to defeat him. It was strictly for kids. Alright I’m stopping. Let’s just say this wasn’t one of Superman’s better films and as much as people like to riff on director Bryan Singer for Superman Returns, at least that movie didn’t have gross scientific inaccuracies.

Continue reading →

Jan 4 2013

Dark Knight Exhibit

photofourBatman fans living in the L.A. area were very lucky recently when Warner Bros. held a free Batman exhibit to coincide with last month’s Blu-ray and DVD release of The Dark Knight Rises.

It was called The Dark Knight Legend Exhibit and was held in L.A. LIVE from November 30, 2012 until December 14th, 2012. The exhibit was held under a humongous tent on a parking lot and thanks to all the props, displays, murals and vehicles it had a very moody atmosphere. It was like being in a Batcave of sorts.

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Visitors were greeted to large murals of Gotham City as seen in the Christopher Nolan Batman films along with Hans Zimmer iconic music. The first thing to see was beautiful artwork from various artists displayed as if in an art gallery.

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Moving past the art came real eye openers; several mannequins adorned with the costumes from The Dark Knight Rises and Nolan’s other Batman films. Moving deeper into the exhibit revealed assorted props in display cases and costumes worn by other characters in the Batman films. It was a thrill to see outfits worn by Bane, the Scarecrow and, of course, the Joker (the Heath Ledger version). One of the best parts was examining the cool gadgets from Batman’s utility belt and intricate maquettes.

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But any Batman fan would say that the highlight of The Dark Knight Legend Exhibit were the prominently displayed vehicles seen in all the Batman films and the 1960s TV show as well. It was great seeing all the different Batmobiles which started off with the 1960s, Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher versions to the tumbler vehicles. They even had a realistic mockup of the neutron bomb seen in The Dark Knight Rises and the Bat Signal too. The only thing missing was the Bat flying vehicle from The Dark Knight Rises. Maybe they didn’t have enough space for it.

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There were also videos along the walls featuring interviews with actors and production personnel that could be listened to via headphones. It was a nice way to experience the exhibit, which took about an hour to walk through leisurely.

It’s such a great exhibit that would’ve been enjoyed by more fans who don’t live in L.A. There isn’t any information as to whether or not Warner Bros. will have The Dark Knight Legend Exhibit elsewhere, but it’s something to be considered.

Article & photos by GEO

Jul 21 2012

The Dark Knight Rises And Falls

Acclaimed director Christopher Nolan concludes his Batman film trilogy with an absolute triumph. Needless to say, I loved The Dark Knight Rises. It’s simply one of the best superhero movies ever made and more importantly a satisfying way to finish a Batman film series.

By this, what is meant is that The Dark Knight Rises gives a finality to the Batman story  that has not been seen in comics except perhaps for certain aspects of Frank Miller’s classic The Dark Knight Returns. In fact, Batfans will notice many similarities to The Dark Knight Returns at least in broader sense. That includes the idea of a retired Batman/Bruce Wayne (played by Christian Bale) making a comeback when his beloved city of Gotham is imperiled, then he gets defeated the first time out before regrouping and coming back to take out the foe that pummeled him the first time out.

Christopher Nolan’s film also utilizes aspects of the great “Knightfall” storyline where the villain Bane defeats Batman by wearing him out then crippling him. Bane may not seem an imposing or interesting foe to the larger public because the only film exposure non-comic book fans had of him was that awful Batman And Robin movie. But true fans will see the spirit of who Bane is in The Dark Knight Rises. Tom Hardy who plays the masked villain deserves a lot of credit for the way he made Bane such a distinct villain. Not only did he physically pump up his body impressively to resemble the muscle-bound foe but because parts of his face are covered, Hardy created a memorable voice villain. Bane’s voice has a deep cadence that makes him sound like an older man or officer used to ordering troops around. How does he compare to Heath Ledger’s Joker from The Dark Knight? Well, as great as Hardy is in Nolan’s third Batman film, Ledger created not only one of the greatest comic book villains on film but one of the greatest film villains of all time. Plus, viewers were able to see Ledger’s face and see more emotion than with Hardy.

As with all comic book adaptations, changes were made in The Dark Knight Rises. This was done with Bane regarding his origin. In this film, his background is tied to Batman, Ra’s al Ghul (Liam Neeson from Batman Begins returns to play him) and Ra’s’ daughter Talia (Marion Cotillard). Viewers will see a link between all four characters and see how their shared experiences transformed them into separate ways.

But Bane isn’t the only standout in The Dark Knight Rises. Other memorable characters include Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway), John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Lucious Fox (Morgan Freeman) and Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine).

Although Selina isn’t called Catwoman and her feline aspects aren’t as exaggerated as with previous film incarnations of Catwoman, the character works in context of the film. Some may wonder during the film why so much screen time is spent on Blake, a young cop and ally of Batman, but he provides the film’s most pleasant surprise at the end; his arc was a real crowd pleaser. Fox is in many ways the head or brains of the Batman franchise. It should be pointed out that Alfred, Bruce’s loyal butler, is the heart and soul of the Batman franchise. He warns Bruce not to confront Bane simply because Alfred fears Bane. He knows that Bruce isn’t a match for the hulking villain. This leads to a very emotional argument where Alfred tells him that Bruce has another option in his life that doesn’t have anything to do with darkness. Bruce can have a shot at a happy life, but the superhero won’t hear of it since he feels bound to fight Bane. At that point, having a happy life is an abstract notion. It isn’t until Selina comes into the picture that having a happy life seems possible, so she serves as a sort of catalyst. Sure Marvel’s The Avengers was the greatest and most exciting superhero movie ever made, but The Dark Knight Rises has a deeper emotional core.

And what great battles are featured in the film! Nolan pulls out everything here. The Gotham police, the National Guard, and even the air force come out to confront Bane and his army. It was all thrilling to watch. As were all the cool gadgets and vehicles Batman uses like The Bat, the new interpretation of the batwing flying craft. The Bat was an amazing sight, sort of like a flying tank with VTOL capability and well armed. Batman also uses a type of EMP gun which helped him travel stealthily throughout Gotham, it was ingenious!

Christopher Nolan created an effective bookend to his Batman movies. Whereas The Dark Knight seemed like a crime thriller, his third film feels more like a superhero film.  The end of Batman in this film means so many things in the context of Nolan’s Batman world, and The Dark Knight Returns provides multiple, satisfying resolutions. Anyone who is worrying about the third film curse can relax because he doesn’t let the fans down with this sendoff.

GEO

Jul 18 2012

2013 Hallmark Sci-Fi Ornaments

The Hallmark ornaments for this year just made their debut yet the company already announced some of 2013’s ornaments in the San Diego Comic-Con. Many of them look like must-haves for collectors and fans.

Star Trek

The U.S.S. Kelvin seen in the 2009 Star Trek reboot is the latest in Hallmark’s long line of Star Trek ship ornaments. It looks well detailed as their ship ornaments often are, but no details have been revealed on any special features. As with the other Star Trek ship ornaments, the Kelvin will light up.

After years of demands from vocal fans, Hallmark will finally produce a Scotty ornament. This one will be the fourth in the series “Legends Of Star Trek“. Reportedly, the ornaments in this series can be placed together to make up a scene from the show.

The coolest looking ornament is a mini diorama featuring Captain Kirk fighting with the reptilian Gorn (seen in the classic Star Trek episode “Arena”). It will feature dialogue from that episode and that exciting vintage Star Trek fight music (hopefully they pick the right score!). If only they included those iconic mountain formations too or Kirk’s handmade cannon!

Star Wars

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Star Wars Episode VI: The Return Of The Jedi, Hallmark will produce several Star Wars ornaments that reflect that film. 2013’s Star Wars ship ornament will actually be of the two-legged scout walker that was shown prominently in Return Of The Jedi.

Additionally, a set of two Ewok ornaments will be available next year, one of which is Wicket who, of course, appeared in Return Of The Jedi. A limited editon ornament coming out in July will be of Boushh, but a super rare ornament of the rancor will be available in the 2013 Comic-Con.

 

The highlight of the Star Wars ornaments will be Jabba the Hutt. On the base of the sluggish gangster is C-3PO. Other ornaments in the series will include a Lego Yoda and Jango Fett in flight mode.

Superheroes

The usual superhero ornaments were announced at the convention. Look for a Spider-Man ornament that plays the ’60s theme song, an Iron Patriot ornament based on Iron Man 3 and several based on Batman. One of which will be the Adam West version of the Caped Crusader which could be the surprise hit of 2013. Other Batman ornaments will have him on the IP and spideybatpod as seen in The Dark Knight films, which will be limited, and the deadly flying batwing aircraft seen in The Dark Knight Rises. There will also be a Joker ornament based on Heath Ledger’s interpretation in The Dark Knight. The only other superhero shown in their display was Superman in a wimpy flying pose, based on Man Of Steel. Also look for ornaments based on The Hobbit, Harry Potter and believe it or not K.I.T.T the car from Knight Rider.

Waldermann Rivera

UPDATE **** We just learned that the Bat ornament from The Dark Knight Rises will be a limited edition ornament to be released for the 2012 Holiday season. Happy hunting! Also, some sad news for some but the Adam West Batman ornament has been pulled from this year’s offerings.