My Batman, baby
May. 18th, 2004 02:22 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwynI finally caught up on my backlog of Entertainment Weeklys, and they had a nice sneak picture of the new Batman movie, with Christian Bale in the batsuit perched on top of a building. Now we're talking Batman, baby. That picture made me really, really happy, because of the suit. Nothing else, just the suit. That's a total Frank Miller Batman look, and it's what I've wanted to see for a while (instead we got increasingly gay-pornier batsuits and campier Batmans and Robins than the old sixties series, which is not my cup of bats).
Don't get me wrong, I love Christian Bale, but he never seemed like a Bruce Wayne or Batmany guy to me (though, neither did Michael Keaton and I loved him in the first movie, nor did George Clooney, whom I loathed in that incarnation). Val Kilmer always seemed the most Bruce-tastic of the movie guys, yet that whole movie was missing all the crucial elements of the story and the darkest qualities of what Bruce/Batman's psyche is tormented with, so... But I think in this case, the clothes make the batman -- CB's bod is of course pumped up as we know from American Psycho and Equilibrium, so he'll do the suit proud, but in the picture it looked like it fit, not in the physical sense of the word, but the more spiritual sense. I think -- I *hope* -- that this is going to be my true Batman, the one that comes closest to the Year One interpretation, to the past of the Dark Knight series (and maybe some of that future bleakness), to the soul of the comics, Miller or not. CB can do that miserable vigilante quality, I'm sure, and that rich guy about town Wayne schtick, but most important, I think, is that he can convey the sheer dogged determination that embodies Batman to me. That never say die quality that's fueled by rage and fear and more than a little self-absorption and self-hate.
And of course I may be wrong and it will bomb and then I'll be disappointed that so many comics can be turned into works of cinematic success except, of course, my one and only Batman. Here's a prayer to the muse of Miller influencing the filmmakers the way they say he has, and us getting a true Batman for the ages. The suit looks like a great start. And now I wonder if there are any good Batman icons out there, and how to find them...
Don't get me wrong, I love Christian Bale, but he never seemed like a Bruce Wayne or Batmany guy to me (though, neither did Michael Keaton and I loved him in the first movie, nor did George Clooney, whom I loathed in that incarnation). Val Kilmer always seemed the most Bruce-tastic of the movie guys, yet that whole movie was missing all the crucial elements of the story and the darkest qualities of what Bruce/Batman's psyche is tormented with, so... But I think in this case, the clothes make the batman -- CB's bod is of course pumped up as we know from American Psycho and Equilibrium, so he'll do the suit proud, but in the picture it looked like it fit, not in the physical sense of the word, but the more spiritual sense. I think -- I *hope* -- that this is going to be my true Batman, the one that comes closest to the Year One interpretation, to the past of the Dark Knight series (and maybe some of that future bleakness), to the soul of the comics, Miller or not. CB can do that miserable vigilante quality, I'm sure, and that rich guy about town Wayne schtick, but most important, I think, is that he can convey the sheer dogged determination that embodies Batman to me. That never say die quality that's fueled by rage and fear and more than a little self-absorption and self-hate.
And of course I may be wrong and it will bomb and then I'll be disappointed that so many comics can be turned into works of cinematic success except, of course, my one and only Batman. Here's a prayer to the muse of Miller influencing the filmmakers the way they say he has, and us getting a true Batman for the ages. The suit looks like a great start. And now I wonder if there are any good Batman icons out there, and how to find them...
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Date: 2004-05-18 02:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-18 02:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-05-18 02:54 pm (UTC)Faith, I tell you. Faith. And not just because of my complete and total love of Memento. There's just something about this that I think (hopepray) will work.
While I figured he could do Bats, I didn't think Bale had the right look for Bruce until I saw the shots of him *as* Bruce, and decided right then and there that he was, in fact, the Bruciest Bruce that ever did Bruce. (I knew he had the chops, it's the arrangement of his facial features I didn't trust. But he looks... perfect.)
(Huh. I have no Bats icons. I've got Dick, Tim, and Babs, but now a single Bruce. That's an interesting oversight.)
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Date: 2004-05-18 05:28 pm (UTC)Yeah, I know what you mean -- I thought the same thing. But he looks good in that suit, mmmm hhhhmmmm. And slightly less American Psycho than he has before. Which, you know, always helpful. There was always something about his mouth that kind of bothered me, but under the bat mask, it seemed fine -- I think i was afraid his lip line would be overpowered by the mask and such.
I hope it's going to be great. While I love Tim Burton, his take on things did not best please me, I think because the first movie got handed over to The Joker but not in a good, Arkham Asylum way. So it was the best I could get, but not what I wanted. I am keeping fingers crossed that this will be what I wanted.
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Date: 2004-05-19 01:23 am (UTC)So, the way i think is that maybe it can only go up. Get back to the root of the story, get away from the flash and overacting of the costars. And I have hope in CB. I never would have chosen him for the job, but i have hope for him nonetheless.
And, heh, I'll stop now :)