"Just Put This On The Damn Screen Already!"
Okay so this is a couple of years old now and I don't know how I missed it at the time but I have just been watching part 1 of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns on Amazon and it strikes me how we have never got the Batman movie we actually deserve. This animated action-thriller is probably the best version of Batman I have ever watched on the screen. I read the original by Frank Miller and Klaus Janson a few years back and liked the story (it's heralded as one of the best stories ever). I never knew how well it would transfer onto the screen until now.
Batman has had a varied history on screen ranging from darkly gritty to downright ridiculous over the years. We've never really had a definitive Batman in the movies because there simply isn't one. Each writer either at DC Comics or in Hollywood has their own take on the caped crusader. This is probably one of the factors in his longevity.
However I would argue that having your own take on something does not have to mean presenting us with yet another origin story. We are constantly bombarded with cinema reboots at the moment. Having to see how Fantastic Four, Spiderman, Hulk and even Superman started yet again just because someone else had their own take on the story is getting downright boring!
We already know who Spider-Man is. We already know who Superman is. Everyone with a TV knows who Batman is! Even if you're not a comic geek I'm sure you know at least enough to get you through a two hour movie. More to the point these characters have been starring in creative and original printed stories each week for generations now. Could we please see a movie about one of them at some point?
There are plenty of writers, reviewers and Bloggers who feel the same way. My eyes were opened to origin overload on Andrew Hawnt's blog back in 2011 and later in 2014 with his comments on The Amazing Spiderman and Fantastic Four, two franchise re-imaginings that had the chance to break the mold and didn't dare There are plenty more out there but you get the idea. With yet another Batman reboot on it's way I'm holding out hope that Ben Affleck will get to so something other than just becoming Batman for the entire first half of the movie.
This is where The Dark Knight Returns comes in. Here is a story that assumes the viewer knows who the Batman is and gets on with telling us the story in hand. We're taken to a Gotham city some years in the future. Batman has not been sighted for ten years. Once again crime is spiraling out of control as a new criminal movement known as The Mutants attack indiscriminately and people are scared to walk the streets at night.
Bruce Wayne, now well into his fifties, dons the cape once again and takes the fight to them. His reappearance provokes the return of the Joker, the birth of a vigilante army and also inspires a determined teenage girl to join the fight as Robin.
This film is almost a frame-by-frame recreation of Miller's Masterpiece. It pulls no punches. The Joker guns down innocent people, torments an aged Selina Kyle and almost kills Batman in a vicious knife attack. Batman himself is the very definition of dark. He breaks bones and beats criminals into a bloody pulp. These aged versions of the characters are more brutal than ever. They know their time is coming to an end. They know they have little left to lose.
So back to the titular point of the article. This is the hero Gotham deserves. This is the hero we as viewers deserve to see. This is the story we deserve to see. The Nolan trilogy (cool as it was) drew many influences from The Dark Knight Returns. Dawn Of Justice has obviously stolen the idea of an epic Batman/Superman fight from The Dark Knight Returns.
How about someone just swallows it down and makes The Dark Knight Returns?
Mask Of The Phantasm. SubZero. The Dark Knight Returns. Son Of Batman. Assault On Arkham. I could go on. Animation studios are bringing some of the true classics to our screens. But every time there is a live action movie it becomes another by-the-numbers origin story where each director/producer arrogantly wants to plaster "their take" on Batman all over our screens
Maybe I'm right or maybe I'm wrong. At the end of the day it's still about a grown man that runs around dressed as a giant bat.
We already know who Spider-Man is. We already know who Superman is. Everyone with a TV knows who Batman is! Even if you're not a comic geek I'm sure you know at least enough to get you through a two hour movie. More to the point these characters have been starring in creative and original printed stories each week for generations now. Could we please see a movie about one of them at some point?
There are plenty of writers, reviewers and Bloggers who feel the same way. My eyes were opened to origin overload on Andrew Hawnt's blog back in 2011 and later in 2014 with his comments on The Amazing Spiderman and Fantastic Four, two franchise re-imaginings that had the chance to break the mold and didn't dare There are plenty more out there but you get the idea. With yet another Batman reboot on it's way I'm holding out hope that Ben Affleck will get to so something other than just becoming Batman for the entire first half of the movie.
This is where The Dark Knight Returns comes in. Here is a story that assumes the viewer knows who the Batman is and gets on with telling us the story in hand. We're taken to a Gotham city some years in the future. Batman has not been sighted for ten years. Once again crime is spiraling out of control as a new criminal movement known as The Mutants attack indiscriminately and people are scared to walk the streets at night.
Bruce Wayne, now well into his fifties, dons the cape once again and takes the fight to them. His reappearance provokes the return of the Joker, the birth of a vigilante army and also inspires a determined teenage girl to join the fight as Robin.
This film is almost a frame-by-frame recreation of Miller's Masterpiece. It pulls no punches. The Joker guns down innocent people, torments an aged Selina Kyle and almost kills Batman in a vicious knife attack. Batman himself is the very definition of dark. He breaks bones and beats criminals into a bloody pulp. These aged versions of the characters are more brutal than ever. They know their time is coming to an end. They know they have little left to lose.
So back to the titular point of the article. This is the hero Gotham deserves. This is the hero we as viewers deserve to see. This is the story we deserve to see. The Nolan trilogy (cool as it was) drew many influences from The Dark Knight Returns. Dawn Of Justice has obviously stolen the idea of an epic Batman/Superman fight from The Dark Knight Returns.
How about someone just swallows it down and makes The Dark Knight Returns?
Mask Of The Phantasm. SubZero. The Dark Knight Returns. Son Of Batman. Assault On Arkham. I could go on. Animation studios are bringing some of the true classics to our screens. But every time there is a live action movie it becomes another by-the-numbers origin story where each director/producer arrogantly wants to plaster "their take" on Batman all over our screens
Maybe I'm right or maybe I'm wrong. At the end of the day it's still about a grown man that runs around dressed as a giant bat.
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