DC Cinematic Universe

[OCH]

Speaking of The Flash. A bit of a spoiler for his upcoming film:

 

Spoiler

Keaton first played Batman in Tim Burton's 1989 film. He later reprised his role for 1992's Batman Returns. While Keaton stepped away from the role following that movie, Keaton was officially confirmed as returning for The Flash in April 2021. Keaton's Batman will also play a role in the upcoming Batgirl movie. In terms of continuity, the two Joel Schumacher-helmed Dark Knight films, 1995's Batman Forever and 1997's Batman & Robin, will not be considered canon.

 

[Maf]

The Batman is out on Amazon Prime Video today and it’s £15 to RENT. 
 

When they were pulling that shit in the pandemic I understood. I didn’t rent/buy any of the premium VoD stuff but because of the state of things I understood. This I understand a lot less.

 

But I might cough up anyway because I do want to see it and I’ve barely bought anything luxury this month. But man that’s too much money for a rental

[OCH]

I coughed up that price tag for Kong vs. Godzilla and Mortal Kombat, due to the restrictions. I wouldn't do so again.

[DisturbedSwan]

£10 a month my Cineworld Unlimited...just saying 😏

[Nag]

4 hours ago, DisturbedSwan said:

£10 a month my Cineworld Unlimited...just saying 😏

 

That means leaving the house...😂

[Maf]

2 hours ago, Nag said:

 

That means leaving the house...😂

The only time I go through this torture is when I’m getting money, never to spend it 

[mmmark]

On 19/04/2022 at 18:12, Maf said:

The Batman is out on Amazon Prime Video today and it’s £15 to RENT. 

No it’s not, it’s £15.99 😅

[one-armed dwarf]

I saw The Batman, it was ace. My favourite comic movie thing since Dark Knight I think, better than Rises but that was shite IMO so not saying a ton.

 

It's not a DC universe film so technically off topic but there's too much comic stuff elsewhere so it belongs here I reckon.  I did not think the villain was that good, Paul Dano was massively wasted in this kind of role. I really enjoyed Colin Farrell as the Penguin tho, and you've got a lot of other great actors in here like Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro. Gollum plays Alfred but doesn't get a lot to do. Whole thing had a kind of Seven thing going on and put the detective sleuthing front and center. It's a bit too long I think, and some parts are a bit dragged out, but for a 3hr film without a ton of action (by the standards of a comic book film anyway, by any other standard it has a ton of action) I thought it progressed pretty well and I'm looking forward to whatever they do next.

 

My favorite thing about it is despite it escalating the stakes madly towards the end it felt pretty low key and built a convincing enough world. They just need to fill it with better villains though, eg that video I posted on the last page doesn't build confidence going forward. I found the run of the mill gangsters crime family stuff more interesting than the outlandish comic book style villains. I also like that Pattinson is kind of a messy Batman here, it doesn't bother with the origin story stuff but you can see he's still rough around the edges while being able to scare some of these guys shitless 

Spoiler

Batmobile scene and Penguin's reaction to it, just great stuff

 

Another complaint, I spent way too much money to get this in 4k HDR on apple TV. Usually they have pretty good quality, but this had very elevated black levels. I'm allowed to complain about this cause that's the point in this TV I have here and so much of the movie is dark, and there's a few scenes where it is supposed to be pitch black that was just elevated grey. A shame, didn't seem like a good conversion. 

 

Anyway I think they have something good here. Ditch the stupid DC universe thing and just stick to the tried and true Batman trilogy every 12 years or so, that's the stuff

[OCH]

12 hours ago, one-armed dwarf said:

Ditch the stupid DC universe thing

I think from all the "reboot" rumours lately, that is exactly what WB are going to do. I'd 100% agree with it. They won't, but I hope Marvel Studios does the same. When the X-Men and FF arrive.

[one-armed dwarf]

They are apparently doing a HBO Max show with Colin Farrell reprising Penguin, which I think is a weird idea for a show unless it's not specifically about Penguin. But makes some of the film make a bit more sense, like it's an elaborate backdoor pilot for all these other series they have in mind. Get people on board with your stylish Fincher-esque take on Bats then reboot all the Gotham stuff on the side. Works as a content strategy, probably will be more effective for them. 

 

I think also they're cornering a slightly different part of the market, unlke with with DC universe stuff where it was like they wanted to overlap with the MCU stuff and compete directly. I don't think what they're doing here has as broad appeal as that, but it might appeal to people who are fatigued by what marvel are doing. At least I think it's decent anyway

[OCH]

It could be fun to see more of Farrell giving his best De Niro impression😄

Never would have thought that the Penguin of all Batman characters, would get such a profile boost in recent times. He isn't exactly one of the more seriously taken of the Batman rogues gallery. 

 

Spoiler

 

[Maf]

I watched The Batman tonight. Maybe I watched it too late or need to digest it, but I don’t really get it, and am struggling to feel strongly about it either way.

 

Quick fire positives

• Beautiful movie
• Soundtrack is amazing(Catwoman’s theme - wow)

Spoiler

 

• Great atmosphere 
• The best Gotham has ever looked. Sometimes, particularly at the end looks too much like a normal city. But through out the first 2 acts interiors and some exteriors are perfectly slummy and noir. Loved this, actually
• First act or so is very good and moody
• A very different Batman movie. Focusing on the detective angle gives a different feel to the movie and to a big screen Batman
• No killing!

But it’s not all good. Here are my quick fire negatives

• The story isn’t very good. None of the big moments land and no reveals are surprising
• The supporting characters are not interesting
• The end action sequence is super lame
• Batman being bulletproof looks cool but is boring
• There’s nothing really new with Batman explored here. I don’t know what their take on Batman is.
• Only new thing is an interesting take on the Riddler, but he doesn’t do enough
• The film feels like it stops about half way through. Great style and world building but the film never feels like it’s going anywhere

So, yeah. This is not final thoughts or anything this is straight up reaction. I think I have quiet disappointment. Not because the film is bad, but more it just doesn’t make me feel anything either way. With the Nolan Batman films it was like a Batman that has never been seen before. Even with Batman vs Superman, a film I think is very much worse than this movie, at least I left it with opinions.
 

The Batman, I dunno. I’m struggling to write anything. I’m so unstimulated by the film. I’m trying to think of what the film was about, but I’m not actually sure. Kind of feels like it wasn’t really about anything. 

[one-armed dwarf]

I think with distance from watching it I would say it's pretty unfocused and is in a hurry to build a world it's eager to spin off into a bunch of other properties. I think for me I ended up really liking it cause of the Fincher homages (eg it reminded me of Seven and Zodiac) but it's also not as good as those films. It'd probably be a 3.5 for me but a film where I'm eager for more, which I can't really say about any comic book property to film for a good while. It's better than Rises but not better than the other 2.

 

The only really major complaint I have in terms of story though (cause I did enjoy the story) is the weird back and forth between 

Spoiler

carmine falcone: Oh, I bet it was {crime family I forget the name of} who had your dad done in 

pattsman 5 mins later: smeagol why did you lie to me

gollum: i didn't, you cheeky cunt, it was falcone what did it probably 

pattsman: oh yeah, you're right

Kinda weird and clunky

 

The thing for me with Nolan batman is tho I think those films can largely be better than this they are very hard to rewatch due to the quick fire editing and very perfunctory use of exposition. Inception has it too, some characters in those films just exist to quickly exposit and insert plot into people's heads. 3 hours is way too long but I kind of enjoy how self indulged the film will be sometimes in setting up the pieces, even though it ultimately doesn't do a whole lot with them in this installment

[Maf]

I was thinking more about the film today and I think the film is obviously about truth and justice, but the way in which it tackles and shows this didn’t really land for me

 

Spoiler

From a city level Riddler is trying to “unmask” and bring liars in to the light. All 3 main characters are orphans and are trying to either find the truth or reconcile with the truth of their parents. I suppose at a stretch you could say the city drowning is like washing away the dirt and leaving only the truth? I dunno.

 

I dunno what the film is about. 
 

But none of it feels material to the action or consequences of the film because no great truth is really uncovered. Unless I missed it.

 

I also didn’t like that everyone keeps mocking Batman by calling him vengeance. Maybe part of the point of the movie, and Batman realised this at the end of the film, that he isn’t vengeance he is hope. He isn’t making a difference by punching people, he’s making a difference by saving people. So he leads a crowd of people out of the water with a flare. I like that idea, but it didn’t really hit

 

The final action scene is so dumb. Firstly that water didn’t look threatening at all. Disastrous for property, sure, but how badly do you need to swim to drown from that? Also the situation could have easily been handled by the police. What’s cool about Batman is he can do what others can’t. It never felt like a Batman level problem.

 

I thought what they did with Batman in the film was really good. One thing I loved was right at the start when he returns to his cave. Where he is reviewing the footage of the fight and writing it down in a journal. I loved that insight in to how far he is submerged in violence. It’s disturbed behaviour which is good.

 

One thing I really didn’t like is when he needs to inject himself with some adrenaline shot to get back up on his feet. No, dude. It’s Batman. He should have got back up on his own.

 

Overall I didn’t really get their Batman. I don’t know what version of the character they’re going for. Clearly it’s a realistic take with moments of abandonment or reality. But if I had to nail what differentiates this Batman from any other, I can’t find it. I don’t know.  

 

[mmmark]

The only result for a peacemaker search is maf seeing the trailer so idk if anyone watched it without wading through the pages but I saw 2 episodes last night.

 

It’s ok. Seemed like a very by the numbers safe show. I’m not itching to watch more and may never do. The intro is better than the show deserves. 

[OCH]

 

[OCH]

One of these was doing the rounds again...

 

 

 

I'd have watched this. 100%.

[Nag]

Just to see how absolutely terrible it would've been...

[OCH]

52 minutes ago, Nag said:

Just to see how absolutely terrible it would've been...

During that era, it definitely would have been a guilty pleasure movie. Outside of Burton Batman, DC had a terrible track record in that era ala Superman 4, Return of Swamp Thing, Steel...

[OCH]