Christian Bale Calls it Quits After Dark Knight Rises

Art Andrews

Really? You guys are fighting for the 300lb steroid circus (Arkham City) Batman as the ideal?!? Maybe I am missing something but in my mind Batman was always more about the mental game, combined with some very clever accessories to help him out when things became physical. He was never a bruiser.

Arkham Batman would make Bane wee himself in fright.

Master Dahark

Well I can only speak for myself but I was talking about the look of the costume. I'd love to see something like that in the next film. Not spandex (of course), it's armor, yet still black (dark blue?) and gray. Perfection.

Solo4114

First thing I thought of, actually. Oh, the....ok, I'm not gonna say "irony" since I got jumped on the last time I did that...let's just go with "huge manatee" and leave it at that.

Nexus6

K, I'm about to wax long-winded.

I am anticipating this flick. I like Tom Hardy's work, but he isn't remotely who I would've imagined playing that part; NOR is Bane the villain I necessarily would've liked to have seen in the final installment. But I'll reserve judgment.

First let me say that, I'm a HUGE fan of the Batman character. He's easily in my top three DC heroes list. Consequently, I have some very strong feelings about how he should look/behave. He should suspect everyone. He should show himself in daylight as little as possible. He should keep kryptonite on his person at all times. One of my favorite comic-book renditions of him is in: Superman-Batman Vol 2. I also really like the character in Miller's: All Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder. When he confronts the Green Lantern in a room where they have painted every single surface yellow (to include himself), I was seriously ROFLing. Another good one is: Batman: Hush.

I've seen all of the Batman films, & I actually think ALL of them have some redeeming qualities, & I'll try to address them in order of film release. PERSONALLY, I NEVER "bought" Michael Keaton as Wayne/Batman. As mentioned earlier in the thread, Bruce Wayne is a billionaire playboy, not some quirky, five-foot-nothing, hundred-&-nothing, turtle-neck/glasses-wearing, balding guy who doesn't know how to talk to women (Kilmer was better suited for the role in that regard). I felt like casting Keaton in the role was Tim Burton's way of saying: "LOOK, ANYONE COULD BE BATMAN, EVEN MEEEEEE!!!!!1*fapfapfap*" Heck, in that: "YOU WANNA GET NUTS?!? COME ON!!!" scene, I thought Keaton had suddenly been possessed by Beetlejuice. I liked the Joker, HOWEVER, I didn't feel like I was watching the Joker, as much as I was watching Jack Nicholson (cuz let's face it, Nicholson has one character, it's just that it's a helluva character). Kim Basinger was awesome to look at, cuz, well, she IS. Mmmm, lips.

Next one, more quirky Keaton-Wayne, Christopher Walken is always fun for me (another "one character" actor, but hey...), Penguin was done (IMO) in one of the only ways he could have been done & not turn out laughably like the 'Burgess-Meredith-Monopoly-guy-WERRRRRRRRR-WERR-WERR-WERR-WERRRRR!!!' thing. Don't know why they had Billy Dee Williams in the film as Harvey Dent. They literally could have named that character anything & it wouldn't have affected the movie at all. NOW, Michelle Pfeiffer made the film for me. I wasn't overly excited about the zombie aspect of the character (no offense Error <3), or the fact that they eliminated her whole cat burglar persona; but for what she had to work with, the costume, her acting style, & her PHENOMENAL whip-work that I can watch over-&-over, made her the bright spot of that film. AFTER-GRIPE: I heavily lolled at the scene where Batman tears off his cowl, & we're not supposed to notice that Keaton's eye-blacking paint suddenly disappeared from one second to the next. +1 LOL for giant rocket-shooting penguins.

Next, I liked Val Kilmer in both roles. I never liked the Robin character in ANY of these films. I did not like Jim Carrey as Riddler, because I felt like I was watching Ace Ventura play the part; which was frustrating because Carrey is actually a fine actor. He just put too much comedian into it. I also REALLY love Tommy Lee Jones. He's one of my top five favorite male actors. I didn't like his character in this film though. It almost seemed like someone pointed at Jim Carrey & told Jones: "act just like HIM". AFTER-GRIPE: NEON-LIGHTED MACHINE GUNS???

Next, I thought Clooney's Wayne was good, but NOT the Bat. I just didn't like the way he played it; too indecisive & talky. *shrugs* For Robin, see above. Silverstone looked hot-&-sassy in the costume. Mr. Freeze is my favorite Bat-universe villain. I actually liked how his "look" was visualized, but I got tired of Arnold & his <I-"cleverly"-interject-cold-associated-quips-in-EVERYTHING-I-say> shtick in about 4.7 seconds. Poison Ivy was 'meh' & Bane was stupid. AFTER-GRIPE: I'm supposed to find gang members & street thugs adorned in froot-loop (yes, I know how to spell fruit) neon clothes/make-up, MENACING & ZOMG SCARY DANGEROUS in some way?

Now then. I REALLY loved Batman Begins. LOVED, I says. Maybe not everything about it, but enough. I like Christian Bale in the role. Bale is the first actor to play this part who had the physical conditioning that made me believe he could get dropped into a group of thugs & dispense a properly swift/brutal beat-down. I liked how he played Wayne as sort of spoiled/entitled at first, & more worldly/mature later on. I loved the origin stuff; the training scenes with Liam Neeson were EPIC, in both action & dialogue. Cillian Murphy was uber-creepifying as Crane/Scarecrow. I like Gary Oldman in ANYTHING. Freeman's Lucius Fox role was SOLID. Michael Caine was awesome as Alfred. Katie Holmes was - - - hot. I liked the Batman's costume/gadgets (& back-story of them). And being a fan of the Miller novels, I liked the Tumbler (I like the idea that Batman's vehicle has a pseudo-military design, & is fast & more importantly TOUGH). AFTER-THOUGHTS: the gravelly voice might be my closest thing to a complaint, but I understand the reasoning behind it. Wayne is a fairly public figure, & even as a child, I always wondered why no one ever said: "Anyone ever tell you you sound exactly like Bruce Wayne?"/ "Anyone ever tell you you sound exactly like Batman?" AND Finally, the musical score in this film is SO INEXPLICABLY great, it has become one of my top five favorites. Certain parts are so beautiful, it makes my eyes well-up with tears when I hear it.

Lastly, I have similar feelings about this one as I did the previous film. Again, I liked the actors that continued over from 'Begins'. I liked Eckhart's take on Harvey Dent/Two-Face; solid work, that. I've never been a huge fan of Maggie Gyllenhaal. She's not nearly as attractive as Holmes (IMO), but I thought she did a good job mimicking Holmes' acting quirks (sideways-squinty glances, sweeping her hair behind her ear, etc). Within two minutes of her appearing on screen, I thought: "that's a pretty great impression of Katie Holmes". Again, I like the Batman's new costume/gadgetry. As for the Joker [& I'll state up front, that Ledger's untimely death has no bearing in anything I say], when I first saw glimpses (before the film release) of the character, I did NOTNOTNOT like it. But once I started watching, I was like: "That Joker is SCARILY AMAZING!"; the performance literally gives me goosebumps. AFTER-THOUGHTS: the closest thing I have to complaints for this installment are: 1) they went overboard with the Bat-growling (but I've taken the stance that maybe Batman's new costume contains some sort of audio system that digitally alters his voice to help with villain-menacing/identity protection), 2) Bale lost some of the muscle-mass he was carrying so successfully in the last film, 3) Maggie Gyllenhaal, 4) killing off Two-face after only being on-screen for a few minutes, 5) that madness-inducing, high-pitched whine they played in the background every time Joker was speaking on-screen (although I've come to appreciate WHY they did it), & finally 5) I'd have preferred a different outcome than the Batman-is-now-the-bad-guy plotline.

And in closing, I will add on my usual disclaimer of: Not interested in debating any of ^this^ stuff, & not calling differing opinions 'wrong'. (But be aware that I'm thinking it! )

CSMacLaren

Da-na-na-na-na-na-na-na FAT MAN!

Larry Young

Why'd you post in public on the Internet, then?

nickytea

You read my mind.
I felt offended that I had actually taken the time to read the entire novel posted only to be sent off with that message. Talk about spitting on respectful discourse. (Not that most of this thread has been any better.)

"I expect you to read everything of what I say, removed from the ramifications of the situation in which I say it."

Nexus6

Cuz that's what people do, man! POST stuff on the INTERNETS!!1

micdavis

I never read anything that long winded anyway.

Nexus6

Well, you're, of course, free to respond with anything you want. And I don't mind "discussing" anything. I'm just saying, don't anyone expect me to ARGUE about anything (which seems to be the more modern definition of "debate").

Larry Young

Hydra Nazi bastards!

cboath

The key word is 'suit'. No one is advocating the size of batman in the game or in a comic - just that the suit is gray with a really dark blue cowl/cape/etc. The point is that EVERY incarnation since 89 has had him in a black suit. 7 movies so far, with an 8th on the way.

I gotta say, though, if they can give as good a story as AC and use a steroid freak in the process, i'd watch. People paid to see Arnie as Mr. Freeze which is basically the same thing. Granted that one sucked big time, but still.

I'd still like to see more of a comic approach in the vane of the 89 movie. Seeing Chicago pulled me right out of TDK. You can use actual cities without using blatantly obvious shots that say 'hey, this is chicago' or whatever city you're in. I'm wondering if i'll be able to easily spot Pittsburgh (outside the stadium shots) in TDKR. I actually thought they did a better job of making a Gotham comic/real world version in BB. It was a compilation of many things with FX additions to make it unique. That worked. Flat out using chicago did not.

oujala

I guess it's different strokes and all. I do not want to see a Batman movie where Clayface or Killer Croc can be the villain. Not in the comic book sense anyway. Actually, I don't want to see the comics on the screen, I want them translated to it.

In that respect, I really like the Nolan films "realism"...excluding this flying Bat-whatever.

Hopefully that pans out.

CessnaDriver

I'd like them to try a modern era very comics derived version.
I appreciate Nolan's efforts deeply and it's been the closest yet.

But there is still plenty of room to get right up in that source material.

jarvis

Slap some tights on Jon Hamm, call it a day.

KorrickUSCM

I've read a few places that it is actually a helicopter with the blades being put in with cgi. I think it will work.

He would be an amazing Kingdom Come Superman!

darthslick

I was only 9 years old when I saw Michael Keaton as Batman/Bruce Wayne and Jack Nicholson as Jack Napier/The Joker on the big screen. In my mind that's how it will always be. I agree... After that it's like watching the Jame's Bond series.

JMChladek

The way I see it, most every movie franchise tends to only be able to maintain itself for three films at most. After that, it begins to run out of gas or goes off on a different tangent and it has been this way for many years. The Superman films only effectively lasted that long (and 3 was not the same high standard as 1 and 2). The last Batman arc was the same way (with the quality kind of going down hill for the last two films and only Alfred staying in all four). Star Wars only survived three parts before Lucas did the prequel trilogy after two decades. Spiderman only lasted three, Ironman I don't see going much past three unless the third one (which won't have the director from the first two) is REALLY good.

About the ONLY franchise that seemed to last longer than three films was Star Trek with the TOS cast. But still, the best story arc of that whole series IMHO was 2, 3 and 4. ST5 was meh and 6 was much better because it was the final chapter. TNG's cast only lasted three films. Bond kind of was successful at that as well since although the actors playing 007 may have changed, the production crew remained together and kept doing it because they knew it was their livelyhood.

I think part of the problem why you almost never see a breakout of the three film arc has to do with the time involved from all parties. On average it takes about two or three years between films before the sequels come out. So at the end of three films, we are talking about cast and crew putting anywhere from six to nine years of their time into the production. At the end of that, they want to move on to other things for various reasons. If they stick at it longer, it is almost like the career kiss of death as then they get pigeonholed into ONLY doing those films and don't get signed onto other projects UNLESS for some reason the quality and standards continues to remain high and the box office returns remain good. Plus, a good looking star at age 30 might begin to look a bit different at age 40 and it can be hard to maintain a high level of fitness if the role demands it and look EXACTLY the same for a story that might take place only a few months after the previous one (Arnie began to run into that problem when he did T3, which was about 15 years after the first Terminator film).

As such, I am not surprised that the Nolan Batman arc is coming to an end after three films.

Master Dahark

I'm glad you mentioned Bond, because one day I'd love for the Batman movies to take a note from that series. Batman has been spitting out comics and stories since 1939 and if they wanted to, they could make Batman movies FOREVER (no rebooting) and just get new actors every few years. That would be something.

terryr

But movies are supposed to go somewhere. Character development, story arc,...and stuff. Comic books and TV shows just repeat again and again. The people don't change. Villains don't die. It's the wrestling match of the week, or month.

So in that way James Bond is a comic. Most of them anyway.

Batman has never had the correct comic book suit. Unless you go back to the 1940s serials. Adam West had purple. Keaton black rubber.

I like the gray color. It's urban camo. But light blue? And a bright yellow belt?!

Strange for a guy that wants to create fear.

Krull

There's one thing about the newest version of Bats,since the '89 film anyway,that a lot of people ether forget or haven't noticed:with all the armor and gadgets Batman is kinda becoming Iron Man......

And it gray and BLACK not BLUE fer gawd's sake the blue was to make him easier to color back in the 30's!

Big thing is the films all want action,action,action but really Batman is less violence and more fear/thinking/stalking around he's a detective and to my mind a Batman who is less forceful and more likely to swoop in on a guy in the dark and take him out fast is a bit more interesting.

terryr

Looks kind of blue to me.



http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_b_LLegHgbs...es-box-set.jpg

sirbrad

Good I could not stand his stupid voice. Bring back Keaton!

Royal Dump

Not sure why you guys expect a 4th batman film.

Movies should never go beyond 3 films anways.