JZ and I saw the Bat movie on IMAX last night.
The acting was first rate, and there was writing to support it. Loved the look of Gotham, particularly the Kowloon inspired design of The Narrows. This however...
I complained about that at first (in my head), but then I decided I liked it because it gave it all a frenetic feel, like the maneuvers were so fast as to be impossible to follow by a casual observer. It made Batman into a scarier figure.
I realy disliked. This is also the difference between me loving
The Bourne Identity
with it's stunningly choreographed, dramatically intense fight scenes and chases and being completely meh about
The Bourne Supremacy
with it's jacked up hand held blurry cam fight scenes and car chases.
If you can't follow the action and shape it into a narrative of its own (like the car chase in French Connection which is essentially like an action movie silent film that creates something intense through the rhythm and pacing of its editing) you're just pressing the Frenetic button.
It's the difference between playing a fantastic, exciting riff on the guitar and just turning the volume up. Volume will get a response, but it doesn't mean anything.
I completely concur with Vonnie on the powerfully iconic image and also in my preference for Spider-Man 2 as a superior, and more affecting film. Even among Bat movies, I probably prefer Batman Returns for being the grim goth fairytale that it is.
That said, I thought there was tremendous dramatic strength in this intepretation of Bruce Wayne and Batman. Bale was fucking fantastic, as were Caine, Neesom and Oldman. Morgan Freeman was sly and Morgan Freemanlike as he always is. Wasn't much of a stretch for him.
Morgan Freeman was sly and Morgan Freemanlike as he always is. Wasn't much of a stretch for him.
Though he was spared from having to be the Magical Negro in this role. He was just a Nifty Dude. (Who was TOTALLY getting it on with Alfred. Just TRY to tell me they weren't!)
(Who was TOTALLY getting it on with Alfred. Just TRY to tell me they weren't!)
I noticed the same thing. Y'all have corrupted me.
SMG starring in a dark continuation of Alice in Wonderland.
Oh, cool! I saw that on Whedonesque and wondered whether it was the McGee thing. I haven't played the game, but it sounds cool.
(Who was TOTALLY getting it on with Alfred. Just TRY to tell me they weren't!)
They...weren't.
Who was TOTALLY getting it on with Alfred. Just TRY to tell me they weren't!
Sweet Jesus. Now that's an idea I won't get out of my head ... and I'm not sure I want to.
(Who was TOTALLY getting it on with Alfred. Just TRY to tell me they weren't!)
You know, this hadn't occured to me, which makes me think I am loosing my slash fan cred, because they so totally were.
People! When Lucius was in Bruce's bedroom after the Scarecrow attack, the way he and Alfred said goodbye ("Alfred." "Lucius.") make me instantly go -- OMGHOTMANLOVE!!!!
NYistas: Gothamist is give away five pairs of tickets to March of the Pengiuns here.
It's an idea that never crossed my mind until just this minute, and my mind is still sitting there saying, "Nuh and uh."
Very, very pretty and thrilling and I want to see it two or three more times, but it didn't punch my crybuttons the way
Spidey 2
did. Thoughtful and dark, and the fight scenes didn't bother me the way they did Hec, and wall-to-wall intelligent, engaged, exciting acting.
I was meh on Holmes, though -- she was fine, and I do agree that part of the problem is that Rachel was large with the speechifying and otherwise somewhat flabbily written, so there just wasn't much there there for any actor to work with. And still.
Hec mocked me for saying this last night, but I would've preferred seeing someone like Claire Danes or Aly Hannigan in the role, anemic as it was. In the right roles, they're both extremely emotionally present actors, all naked and skinless onscreen, compelling an empathetic reaction from the audience whether the audience wants to give it or not. Which helps hugely in making a whole person out of a speech-giver or just an anemically written generic love interest.
And they're both extremely attentive to whoever they're in a scene with. There were a handful of moments in BB when Bale gave Holmes a really interesting, unexpected line reading, or a look that undercut what he was saying, or a glance away, or some small physical detail that opened a door to something more interesting or surprising between them, and her response just fell oddly flat. Not bad, she was never bad, but I kept getting pinged by little missed opportunities to react and move somewhere new with the dialogue. And God knows, her dialogue didn't allow her many such opportunities, so it was extra-pingy when they were missed.
Still, oh so very good, all told. I stayed up way too late last night after we came home, scrolling back here through the whitefont and clicking on the links to all the crack-headed reviews (the 9/11 parallel was probably truly the worst, but it had some fierce competition).
