Batman Forever

Yeah, this was the movie that made me the Batman fan I am today.

I may view this movie through rose tinted nostalgia but I love this movie. When you see a movie at such a young age it always leaves an impression on you. It went from the dark and disturbing previous film to a more mainstream, safe and marketable version of the Batman. But hell even in a kinda cheesy, fun, and all around good time several things have always stuck in my mind above the rest. And that's something since I can pretty much quote the whole movie from beginning to end. First is the casting of Jim Carrey as The Riddler, and most people have a problem with that but honestly I think he is perfect for it. Yes, it's more of a homage to Frank Gorshin's Riddler from the 60's TV series but there is one scene right at the end that cements that even a fun superhero movie like this can be very dark and kinda scary. Second is the music, specifically the soundtrack and not the original composed score. Now everyone and their mother remembers that Kiss From A Rose by Seal was the hit song from this album but Bad Days by The Flaming Lips is perfect, it hits that sweet spot right when Nigma snaps and I love it! Did you know that Bob Kane, the creator of Batman actually said Val Kilmer was the best choice to play Batman so far? And I think he does a really good job! He's a great Batman! In fact, most of the cast is pretty great. Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face is a sight to behold and I just love the scene chewing, it's marvellous. Chris O'Donnel is a bitter, angry, and haunted Dick Grayson who rises through the movie to become Robin. Like I said, Jim Carrey is terrific as The Riddler and except for like maybe two other people, he is the only actor worthy of potraying him in a live action film. Also major big props to the art director, taking a dark gothic city and bringing such color and grandeur to it all! The plot is still a little busy, with some interesting ideas behind it so I'll see if I can properly recount it to you. Batman must now face two of his most memorable foes, Two-Face who has sworn vengeance against the Bat for failing to save him, and the subsequent birth of The Riddler who teams up with Two-Face to amass wealth and power to answer the greatest riddle of all: Who is Batman? Meanwhile, Bruce takes in an orphaned trapeze artist after Two-Face kills his family, who soon learns of his secret night life and wishes to become his partner in crime fighting. Fairly straightforward, highly enjoyable to me. Yes I don't care that I am biased, this was my very first Batman movie and I hold it highly for introducing me to my favorite superhero of all time. And you know, you're not gonna believe me but um...I really like Batman & Robin too. I do not think it is that horrible of a movie, it takes cues from the Adam West show and I really love the Adam West show but I still have a few problems with it. Tune in tomorrow where we finish this Bat-A-Thon with the film that killed the Batman movie franchise for about 10 years.

Batman Returns

This is a...bad movie? All throughout my years of living, people say it's not a good film. At best it's a guilty pleasure, and I love this movie!

Maybe I'm one sick, dark, freaky bastard but I love this movie! It's a friggin' awesome Batman movie and it was the third Batman film I ever saw and I was, I'd say about 4 years old when I saw it. And it didn't scare me except for one part near the end, and the very sexual potrayal of Catwoman didn't phase me at all. I wouldn't say it is a superior succesor to the first Batman film, but still a really good sequel. Major props to the casting department in this movie! Obviously we got Michael Keaton (Yay!) and Michael Gough back, but sheer genius casting when it comes to Michelle Pfeiffer and Danny DeVito. Could not pick anyone better to play Catwoman and the Penguin, I don't know why it just seems like they were born to play these roles. Oh, and how could I forget? We got Christopher Walken in this movie too! Just as awesome as ever, and he's in the movie quite a bit too. You could tell Tim Burton had absolute free reign and could do whatever he wanted with this movie, it has his signature brand of bizzare and darkness with a backdrop of Christmas in Gotham that surprisingly fits well with it all. I just love the thought of Gotham during winter, this gothic city covered in snow and it seems lovely to me. The music done once again by Danny Elfman is great, and has that creepy Christmas thing going on very much like in Nightmare Before Christmas but still it's own original score. Now I have no doubts that this is indeed a very dark, very adult film even though I viewed it at such a young age. The plot really shows that in it's scenarios, and it goes like this, it's Christmas time in Gotham and the Dark Knight has his hands full this season. A crime gang in the style of a circus troupe is raiding the city with the Penguin as the leader, but yet he is much more than a one note villain. I greatly admire the sense of humanity they put into his character with him being abandoned by his parents because he was deformed, wants to know where he came from and what his real name is, and be incorporated back into normal society. That's amazing how much character development he has! Meanwhile a corrupt buisness man by the name of Max Shreck tries to help Penguin become part of human society and even get him in office to help further his career. Unfortuantely, he kinda...kills his assistant and she is brought back to life by cats and becomes Catwoman. It happens. So now the Batman has two villains to combat to save the city he loves, while also having a relationship albeit a love-hate relationship with Catwoman. Fantastic, took more source material from the comics, put their own spin on it, and made it genuinely entertaining! Bravo Tim Burton. Seriously how can people hate this movie? It's strange and vastly different from any other comic book movie you have ever seen in your life but it's still good! We get many more badass scenes of the Batmobile and Batman laying some serious beatings on dudes, oh and I didn't bring this up but Keaton's Batman straight up kills people. Not like every single time, but it happens. More so in this movie than the last one, it is scary although amazingly awesome. Like there's this scene where this clown goes kamikaze on Batman and he cuts the bomb off of him and knocks him out, and he sees this big bad mamajama and he tries to punch him, and it doesn't work then he pins a live bomb on him, punches him down a hole, and walks away as the bomb explodes. Sweet Jesus. That was fraking great! Hell yeah! See I told you I was a sick, twisted bastard. But tommorow, we get to THE movie that introduced me to the Batman and made me a fan ever since. Yeah, that movie was my first Batman movie and made me the die hard fan I am today.

Batman (1989)

I'm Batman.

And with those two words, Michael Keaton proved everyone wrong. This was actually not the first Batman movie I ever saw. It was my fourth actually believe it or not, but it is my favorite. Yeah, more so than The Dark Knight! It just screams Batman to me in the comic book sense, I enjoy the fact that comic book films are being realistic but it comes from a medium that is FAR from being realistic. Now obviously this movie was made in 1989 when the Batman comics were very dark and serious, moving away from the Adam West potrayal of the Batman. This is a time period when you know, The Dark Knight Returns and The Killing Joke were examples of the Dark Knight. And it shows in this film. Dark and gothic setting, terrific character acting, an amazing score by Danny Elfman, and the best Batman and Joker in my opinion. I mean, my dear sweet God how do you pick better casting as the Joker than Jack Nicholson? He's been practically playing the role his whole damn life! He is creepy, he is funny, he really does steal the whole show even from Michael Keaton. And he is the best Batman...live action wise. Kevin Conroy has been Batman for over 20 years, and for good reason. But Keaton is THE Batman to me. If I had to guess what Batman would be like, it would be Keaton's potrayal. And most people don't realize he is a comedic actor first and Batman second and his humor shows in the film. He's quirky but he just does a funny and real potrayal of Bruce Wayne. And people petitioned against him! Because they saw him as a comedy actor and nothing else so it made his performance that much greater. Danny Elfman's score is the best Batman soundtrack I have ever heard and I own it, and the Prince songs while very product of the times are fun, and how strange is this? Prince just passed away and I just so happened to have a film with his music in it to review and I planned this long before his unfortunate passing. They're good songs and they work really well with this Joker potrayal. Now plot wise, it's pretty basic but it has a lot of commendable points. The Batman is pretty much an urban myth cracking down on the criminal underworld of Gotham City while avoiding arrest by the Gotham City Police. During one of his nightly patrols, he knocks a gangster into a vat of chemicals giving birth to the Joker who soon declares war on the Dark Knight and starts to terrorize Gotham. And, as the director Tim Burton put it, it's a battle of the freaks. The film has almost too many excellent choices in acting, directing, etc. so I will just give you the absolute best one. And it's why Batman is Batman, and while I praise the discussions in The Dark Knight this sums it up so well in such a short time. Not even 2 minutes. And the reason it works so well is in how Keaton potrays Bruce Wayne, it fits so well to the character. I could talk a good long while about this movie and all the inner workings of what makes it so good but I will merely task you with watching both the 1989 Batman movie and The Dark Knight from 2008. And I will let you criticize both and come to your own conclusions. I'm of a mind to make some mookie, and I'll see you tomorrow.

Man Of Steel

Sorry I'm late! Stuff has changed significantly since Friday, I am currently moving so that's why I'm late. But anyway, Man Of Steel...



I seriously think Man Of Steel is a great Superman movie! But I can understand why people think this isn't a good Superman movie, and I honestly have only two problems with this movie but I will get to them soon. This is clearly a new Superman, different from the comics, different from the previous movies but still Superman. This is a Superman who is still learning his powers, has very little experience being Superman when Zod shows up, tries to protect and save a world that fears him, and he has such fear and doubt about himself. The rock in his life, Jonathan Kent played very well by Kevin Costner, does tell him that when he grows up he can do great amazing things but, he also says that maybe he should not stand proud in front of the human race and not use his powers because he fears for his son's safety. So it's more monumental when he becomes Superman and saves the world. I honestly can't think of a better cast than the one they picked. Henry Cavill is a great Superman who gives new light to the character not often seen the way he is in this movie, Amy Adams is a no nonsense, real go getter Lois Lane, Michael Shannon is a very intense and a bit sympathetic Zod, everyone else does a real good job but Antje Traue kind of steals the show as Zod's second in command Faora, she's a total badass I love her! The fight scenes are glorious, even though Smallville and Metropolis got screwed over bad. Seriously I wouldn't be a bit surprised in the new Batman V. Superman movie, if Metropolis and Smallville are still under repairs. I only have three big gripes about this movie, one the camera. I should start a drinking game where every time the camera zooms in on something and gets a bit out of focus in this movie, but I know everyone would be drunk before the end of the movie, there are so many shots like that and most of them are not needed! Second the product placement, now this only happens in the Smallville scenes so it's not a major thing in the movie but...yeah, cut down on the product placement, seriously. And finally, the world engine. Now there are two of these, one in Metropolis, one near the Indian Ocean. Now Superman has to stop these machines from terraforming the earth into a new Krypton, so he goes after the one in the Indian Ocean and the military take the one in Metropolis. My problem is this, why didn't Superman stop the one in Metropolis first? I know the military couldn't reach the Indian Ocean so that's why Superman went there but....I'm not a geography expert but my guess is not millions and millions of people live near the Indian Ocean as they do in Metropolis and Superman could take the one out in Metropolis and then take the other one out and not lose a single person near the Indian Ocean and save almost everyone in Metropolis and the city wouldn't be partially obliterated. Those are my only real problems with this movie, but man I am so excited to see the new Batman V. Superman movie.



Here is the link to the new trailer: https://youtu.be/xe1LrMqURuw


Okay, well maybe I need to get back to packing, I will try my hardest to post a review this week. I said this week was a mystery week, so let's see how this goes!