Thursday, July 17, 2008

Damn Am I Jealous of Batman Fans

Unless you've been living in a cave in the outer reaches of Mongolia, you know that tomorrow, July 18th, is the opening of the latest Batman flick, The Dark Knight. Christopher Nolan's sequel to 2005's great Batman Begins is bar none the most anticipated movie of the summer and perhaps the year.

The hype surrounding this movie is unbelievable (Oscar talk for a superhero movie?), and something I haven't seen or felt since the first Spider-man movie was getting set to unspool back in 2002. Reviews for this thing have been pouring in recently, and they're insanely favorable even from the most pretentious of elitist movie err sorry, "film" critics. (Well except for this asshole, but there's always one I suppose...) I know Heath Ledger's untimely passing has something to do with this, but it's only a tiny part of it. The truth is most of the hype around this movie is due the fact that Nolan has created one hell of a franchise that most fans and non-fans want to experience again and they want to immerse themselves in one of the best comic-to-film character representations in a long time. Imagine that.

Granted I really like the character of Batman. I read his comics, watched all of the TV shows, and have seen and own all of the previous films. But I've never considered myself a "Batman fan." When asked, I would always tell people (pre-2006 at least) that I was a Superman fan. The truth is, as much as I'm enjoying all of The Dark Knight hoopla, part of me is really jealous that this can't be for MY hero. I'm jealous that this generation can't experience Superman with the awe and anticipation that I did as a kid in the late 70's and 80's with the Reeve films. I'm pissed that after 19 years the "Superman" we did get was a piss poor, half-hearted attempt that completely missed who the character really is.

Superman deserves better. He deserves his moment in the sun and he deserves to be held in high regard by yet another generation of fans. He doesn't deserve to be put back in production limbo because some egomaniac of a director used him to write a personal love letter that depicted his own personal plight. Nor does he deserve to appear in some ill-conceived teeny bopper Justice League movie.

So when you're in the theaters this weekend watching TDK undoubtedly kick all crazy kinds of ass, remember that this SHOULD be happening for Superman as well, and remember why it isnt. Next summer, we Superman fans SHOULD be getting OUR own Dark Knight. We SHOULD be going bat shit (pun intended) for months on the Net in anticipation. This blog SHOULDN'T even freaking exist. But instead, we never even got our Batman Begins and are left to play the "What if?" and "Maybe" games.

As such, I'm always reminded of this great manip:


Boot Singer. Reboot Superman.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Boot Singer. Reboot Superman."

AMEN

Anonymous said...

We should be getting a teaser trailer to the next installment of the Superman Franchise at the beging of TDK.

Anonymous said...

I am jealous for sure about all the hype. Having seen TDK today i will say it does not quite meet that hype. Damn good movie better than Batman Begins but a tad flat in the final act, short of great for me.

Anonymous said...

The monumental success of The Dark Knight will show WB execs that they need to take Superman away from that faggot Singer.

All the money WB makes will show them the potential of putting Superman in the hands of a straight peron.

Anonymous said...

"The monumental success of The Dark Knight will show WB execs that they need to take Superman away from that faggot Singer."

Or fool them into thinking that a Singerman sequel can be a success since BB made about the same. Lets hope to GOD that doesn't happen.

Anonymous said...

This is from a Washington Post char with DC Comics president Paul Levitz.

Washington, DC: In retrospect, do you think it would have been a better idea to reboot the Superman film franchise, instead of continuing the Donner films?

Paul Levitz: I think Bryan approached "Superman Returns" with a great deal of passion for the character and put what he loved up on the screen, which is the best we can ask of any director.

He was trying to say in a nice way that "Singer is a FAG and Superman Returns was gay".

Anonymous said...

Washington Post chat

Anonymous said...

"Paul Levitz: I think Bryan approached "Superman Returns" with a great deal of passion for the character and put what he loved up on the screen, which is the best we can ask of any director."

What's with all of the PC answers?! Is Levitz spineless also?! Why, oh WHY, can't these guys comprehend that Singerman sucked cocks & call a spade a spade? Is THAT asking TOO MUCH?!

Anonymous said...

Just saw Dark Knight, very good!

Anonymous said...

Anyone else not in love with the last act of TDK? I thought the movie could not be more great with the final battle with the Joker. I didn't care for the 2 face ending.

Anonymous said...

well they had to wrap up Two Face somehow. Sorry to see Bats take the fall on that one, but he had to do it. All in all I thought the film was fantastic.

Anonymous said...

"All in all I thought the film was fantastic."

I did too, i just didn't think it quite met the hype that surrounded it. Ledger was so great as the Joker, did they even need 2 face at all?

S.S.S. said...

I think they did. Dent was pretty integral to the story for Bruce/Bats. Harvey becoming Two Face was the outward manifestation of the Joker "winning" and taking down the city's biggest hope.

ApologistPuncher said...

"I think they did. Dent was pretty integral to the story for Bruce/Bats. Harvey becoming Two Face was the outward manifestation of the Joker "winning" and taking down the city's biggest hope."

I agree. The Joker could care less about being caught. Even by "losing" he STILL won.

I was never really a big Heath Ledger fan. I saw a couple of his movies and thought he was OK. But man, did he CHEW UP the scenery EVERY TIME he was onscreen or what?? It really IS a tragedy that we will never see him do it again. The guy just set the bar HIGH for anyone else looking to play the Joker down the line.

Anonymous said...

Just curious, who did that awesome manip under Thursday's entry?

S.S.S. said...

Don't remember. someone sent that to me back in 2006

Anonymous said...

"I am jealous for sure about all the hype. Having seen TDK today i will say it does not quite meet that hype. Damn good movie better than Batman Begins but a tad flat in the final act, short of great for me."

So if it was a great movie and according to you better than Batman Begins which was a great film, then it
DID live up to the hype. I mean were you expecting any more than this? I mean seriously , Nolan did the genre and character justice and it went past being a mere comic film into just being a great film.

theCOLORSblend said...

"Or fool them into thinking that a Singerman sequel can be a success since BB made about the same. Lets hope to GOD that doesn't happen."
That's the line a lot of Apologists are taking now. "AWESOME, that means WB is definitely going to announce [Madame of Swish]* at Comic Con now, woo hoo, more stalking!!"

* Thanks AP.

"What's with all of the PC answers?! Is Levitz spineless also?! Why, oh WHY, can't these guys comprehend that Singerman sucked cocks & call a spade a spade? Is THAT asking TOO MUCH?!"
He's just a cog in a subsidiary of a much larger company. Unless he leaves his job or something, you'll probably never see Levitz (or Kahn) say something like "Say whatever you want about Tim Burton, at least he never really got the chance to royally fuck things up for Superman in live action. Hiring Bryan Singer was the biggest mistake WB ever made with the franchise. I was against hiring that prick from day one but since when has WB ever listened to us?!" It'll never happen dude.

"I was never really a big Heath Ledger fan. I saw a couple of his movies and thought he was OK. But man, did he CHEW UP the scenery EVERY TIME he was onscreen or what?? It really IS a tragedy that we will never see him do it again. The guy just set the bar HIGH for anyone else looking to play the Joker down the line."
I think the best Ledger scene in that movie was the segment in the kitchen where, among other things, he calls Lao a squealer. He's so good in that scene that you forget just how much Michael Jai White sucks, which is no small accomplishment.

"it went past being a mere comic film into just being a great film."
I really wish people would stop saying pretentious, masturbatory bullshit like this.

Anonymous said...

"So if it was a great movie and according to you better than Batman Begins which was a great film, then it
DID live up to the hype"

I never thought Begins was a great film. I liked it fine but it was not better than Burtons first Batman in my opinion. TDK was great, just not as great as i thought it might be going in.

Anonymous said...

Uh, I wasn't aware that Michael Jai White sucks? Must be some suppressed bitterness about the Spawn movie.