Hi Everyone.
There seems to be alot of buzz about the new Batman movie staring Christian Bale as the Bat, and Heath Ledger as the Joker.
Now, I have said this before on other blogs in comments, especially over at John Bierly’s blog.
First, I want to thank John for always making me feel welcome at his blog, and always welcoming my comments, and I want everyone to know that I have alot of respect for John and his opinions. He always seems to have the goods when it comes to the Superhero movie info.
Unfortunately, when it comes to this new Batman movie, I always seem to be in disagreement with him.
I was not that impressed with Batman Begins, although I think Bale and Caine did good ( not fantastic mind you ) jobs respectivly in bringing their characters to life on the big screen, the outing as a whole just was not gangbusters for me.
I have even watched this movie at home several times now, and I just do not feel that this movie holds up to the original Batman, with Keaton and Nicholson.
And in the end for me, that’s what this really comes down to; The first Batman in 89 was the definitive Bat movie ( for me anyway ), and everything that came after has just been a pale imitation in comparison.
Now that’s not to say that Bale doesn’t do a decent job portraying Bruce Wayne/ Batman, I just don’t think he brings that little bit of Duality to the character, nor any of the darker side of Wayne’s personality.
And forget about the Joker.
I have only seen some production pics from John’s and a few other sites, and so far Heath doesn’t even look like the Joker that I am familiar with in the comics, and again I hate to do this, but he does not have the look of Nicholson’s Joker either.
As a matter of fact, if you go to John’s site and take a look at the latest pic of Ledger in his Joker makeup and all, he looks to me like a Johnny Depp/ Captain Jack Sparrow wanna be from the ” Pirates of the Caribbean ” movies.
Sorry, just not impressive enough for me.
And until I see a movie trailer that shows me something to get excited about, I will not be seeing this Batman in a local theater next year.
And just so you all know, I am really excited about Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr as Tony Stark and the man in the Iron mask, okay I should have said Iron Man, and I have seen the trailer for this one, and I say right now that hands down it will be the movie to beat next Summer.
And remember…I told ya so!
Hi, Lew,
Thanks so much for the mention and, as always, for the comments. I know we come from different directions on Batman Begins, but I hope that Ledger’s performance in The Dark Knight comes as a pleasant surprise when you eventually see it. The Nolan/Bale approach isn’t for everyone, but for me it’s the best interpretation of Batman that I’ve seen so far because it values hope and inspiration for the innocent as much as fear and terror against the guilty.
That being said, we are in TOTAL agreement that the Iron Man movie is going to kick 47 kinds of ass in May! Can’t wait to see it and can’t wait to hear what you think about it.