The Batman

I ended up writing a 1000 word essay about Joker and although The Batman is not meant to be in the same story, I can’t help but mention the former film. I also can't promise that I won't write another 1000 words. It caused drastic discord not only amongst waring critics but with the greater audience as well. But seeing the latest form of the Dark Knight himself has taken very dark turns and creating a whole new version for fans and newcomers alike, Joker needs to be mentioned.

When Joker came out, there was promise that this was going be a darker take on the character. Christopher Nolan’s trilogy also had this promise attached. But now, we have an even darker take. The thing is, Batman has always been dark, that is the character’s nature. With the film plunged into complete darkness, night, for 90% of the film, there is no way to escape this darkness. No matter what film about Batman is released, it will always be dark. 

For those are who are familiar with DC Comics nocturnal vigilante, Batman, aka Bruce Wayne, the character needs no introduction. For those who don’t, he is a millionaire, sometimes playing the rich playboy persona as a cover for his crime fighting antics at night. Orphaned at a young age when his parents were murdered in front of him, he still relives that trauma. He lives with his confidant, his father figure and butler, Alfred Pennyworth and sometimes romances various women with varying ridiculous names. He has many arch nemesis, but The Joker is his ultimate. You could go as far to say that their relationship is one of the most famous in superhero-villain history. 

Unlike Batman Begins, Matt Reeves’ film does not take us to the beginnings, thankfully, as I think we’ve seen enough origin stories to last us a few decades. Instead, we see Bruce Wayne already in full swing of his Batman alter ego. He already has an established and rather trusting relationship with Detective Jim Gordon as the famed signal in the sky is up and running, warning criminals in the eternal crime ridden city of Gotham that the Batman is watching. However, unlike any other version of Batman we’ve seen, Bruce Wayne isn’t the sometime playboy or an active member of Wayne Enterprises, here he is a recluse. He barely steps into daylight and only ever speaks to Alfred and housekeeper, Dory, unless he’s wearing his mask, his social circle opens up. This is one way Reeves’ vision is true to the film’s darker nature. 

 

Usually, the golden rule is not to overload your superhero film with too many villains. But in the case of the famed rogue’s gallery and the intertwining characters that inhabit Gotham, there is no way around this multiple villain issue. With the TV series proving that the more villains you have, the better, having a few of them show up is good idea. Also, as proved by Christopher Nolan’s trilogy, you don’t have to play The Joker card immediately, you can wait. Having The Penguin, Catwoman and The Riddler all show up in the film was actually a brilliant idea. Firstly, The Penguin is in his gangster persona which makes him a far more intriguing character, also, he’s not centre stage which means he can appear later. Catwoman, aka Selina Kyle, isn’t even called by her villain’s name, mainly because she never she was a true villain. She is part accomplice and has her own storyline that doesn’t overcrowd the main one. Choosing The Riddler as the starting point villain, again, was a superb idea. With his violence and bloody murders and his mind games and his threat to reveal secrets that would destroy everything is perfect for the dark tone of this version. All three famous villains are perfectly cast, some unrecognisable, all play important parts and none over shadow each other. Everything is in line. The mafia man himself Carmine Falcone, who is treated like the real mayor of the city, doesn’t really wear a mask but a metaphorical one and he comes across as more menacing than any of the other, well, maybe not The Riddler as he is terrifying on social media. John Turturro plays Falcone with such glee and menace, he is a definite high point in the film and again, excellent casting. 

Having the story play out like a crime thriller is exciting and sickening at the same time. For those who have missed the gritty blood-soaked thrillers that use be released in cinemas, this will satisfy your desire. Solving puzzles, riddles and codes, The Batman takes us back the sleuthing days of Batman and not just about stopping a massive attack. These clues and deadly crimes are intricate and well thought out, its entertaining and are far more interesting than watching Bruce brood over a woman or his dead parents. Robert Pattinson is a decent Batman or should I say, Vengeance. He is quiet and calculating and has a strange impact on the screen. I know there some are other who still think of him as that guy from Twilight, despite him playing many other interesting characters over the years. He is not a full-fledged bat yet which means, there is always room for growth which is how he plays it, making sure that we know, he’s not done yet. 

The only downsides to this whole film is the running time, it doesn’t need to be 3 hours long. With the many slow motion takes, this could have been cut down. But other that, the cliches of it constantly raining in this city and that that there is only a couple of scenes in daylight, the rest of the film is in darkness, always at night. This just plays into the fact the film is really hammering home that this is a darker version than previously seen. 

 With the promise of a sequel and the mention of possible villains such as Hush, Mr Freeze and the Court of Owls appearing gives hope that this won’t be like the current superhero films we have out now. This is a strange breath of fresh air amongst the rest, much like how Joker was or at least meant to be.

Good Cat Bad Cat

 As with most things, when you take a second look at something, you notice more about it. Of course, I’m talking about films more often than not, so when I re-watch a film I pick up on certain things that I missed the first, second, third, twelfth time I’ve seen it, especially if I only watch the film once a year. Getting through all my Christmas favourites, ‘Batman Returns’ was next on the list and as much as I love this film, watching it now, there were a few things that didn’t sit well with me and others that just baffled me.

‘Batman Returns’ is one of those rare ‘comic book’ films that doesn’t suffer from too many villains. Being a sequel to Tim Burton’s ‘Batman’ (yes I am phrasing it like that), there was pressure to have a great new villain to follow the Joker, what better way than with the Penguin. And Catwoman. And Max Shrek. The latter is obviously not one of the ‘big’ villains of the comic but he is a perfect non costumed villain to add into the mix as they are all connected in some way with a similar goal(s). After the Joker and before The Riddler and Poison Ivy, Penguin and Catwoman are great choices and cast to perfection. They each have their own story, their own agenda and never over crowd a scene. As I said, this is rare to have such a villain heavy film actually be any good.

The Penguin and Max Shrek are the true evil do-ers in the story and each get the end they deserve but Catwoman is the ambiguous almost anti-hero who switches from revenge seeker to damaged damsel not in distress. Her story is very clear, she’s the underestimated downtrodden career woman who doesn’t seem to be getting anywhere. But throw her out of a window and revive her with cats, she’s a whole new person, right? Catwoman is hinted at having 9 lives, like a cat supposedly does, but beyond that, all her skills she reveals when she’s in her costume. But from re-watching this film with a friend who kept saying ‘she’s crazy’ every time Catwoman did something, got me thinking.

Firstly, Selina Kyle was thrown out of a window of high building, luckily her fall was broken by a canvas shutter and so it didn’t kill her, so if she acts a little ‘crazy’ its understandable. The cats reviving her was just to add to the persona or to help her with a persona. Her somewhat manic behaviour when she keeps questioning herself throughout the rest of the film is because, she was always ‘Catwoman’ and it took a traumatic experience to reveal it. Those crazy skills she gets, back flips, whip moves, she always knew how to do all of this. Catwoman is who Selina really is but she’s not a malicious villain. She really only wants Batman out of the way because she wants to be her own hero. Selina only wants revenge on Shrek which again is understandable, he pushed her out of a window. Her constant mind games with herself aren’t really expanded to make room for Penguin on the campaign trail and driving Batman’s car around the city from his caravan. Its an amusing scene but more Catwoman would have been appreciated. Catwoman’s main crime was destroying Shrek’s store before she teamed up with Penguin to frame Batman. She didn’t want to hurt the Ice Princess and seems genuinely upset by her death, showing that she is not really a true villain.

Selina Kyle/Catwoman literally stands alone against all the male characters and is ‘killed’ by Batman, Penguin and Shrek. She even helps Batman in her way at the end. But her mysterious disappearing act at the end of the film isn’t just about her wanting to be left alone, she doesn’t want attention. I know she’s wearing a tight plastic onesie but that in no way means she wants attention. I think she just likes dressing up.

Michelle Pfeiffer is masterful in the role. She steals a scene by eating a bird and licking her costume and smudging her lipstick all over her chin and walks that line between dramatic and cartoonish, much like the other characters but she does it with a style you can’t take away from her. I do want to mention, at any opportunity, that having Christopher Walken in the film automatically makes this Batman film the best. He plays a terrible character but still makes me full of charisma and even upstages Micheal Keaton. I really want to find a gif of him saying ‘yawn’ at Bruce Wayne as its just brilliant. But this film really belongs to Catwoman and Pfeiffer, no matter how much Batman sits in the dark waiting for the signal to pop up.

Another thought I had was that now the world has seen ‘Joker’ and loved or hated it, I think Catwoman would be an excellent candidate for a character study. I also think Michelle Pfeiffer should play her again. I’d like to see what an older Catwoman is doing right now. Just a thought.

Watch List: September/October/November

This Autumn has been a strange one, what with the job hunting, doing the whole of LFF and then dealing with the come down which happens every year. I see so many films crammed into a few weeks I need a break. However, there are still a few more reviews from that festival I want to post BUT these might have to wait until cinema release dates. Other than festival films, I haven't ventured out to the cinema much. Missed lots of films too. But these are the ones I've seen over the last 3 months outside of festivals.

SEPTEMBER

 After champion swimmer Matthias insults a reporter using a homophobic slur, he is suspended from competing again unless he apologies and coaches the male water polo team for the Gay Olympics. A highly unusual premise and with a host of great characters, this is more than just a feel-good sports film with an LGBTQA+ focus. This is a story about friendship and about supporting your team no matter what. A rather personal story from writer directors Maxime Govare and Cédric Le Gallo, as the latter, who after he came out joined a water polo team just like in the film and felt a part of a community. Not sure if the team did or will get a wide release or whether it’ll get a DVD release at least. 4/5

Greta

Missed this one at the cinema and so glad I caught this on DVD release. I wrote about it in depth for Halloween which can be read HERE. 3/5

OCTOBER

Joker

I don't want to make you read any more than what I wrote HERE so there it is. 4/5

Shirkers

This was a documentary that had been in my Netflix queue since it was released. The mystery behind the disappearance of the feature film Sandi Tan and her friends made when they were teenagers and the man who had helped them but also disappeared was a mystery that had haunted director Tan. But as the story unfolds, home truths are told as well as how Georges Cardona had behaved with other people who he had ‘helped’. Comprising of a mixture of footage from the original film and interviews conducted decades later. The fact that everyone knows each other quite well, there is no holding back which gives the film and the story overall an extra added layer of truth despite the main mystery never being told, only speculation is left. 3/5

Brittany Runs a Marathon

 I wrote two posts for this, one from the Birds Eye View screening which can be read HERE and one review for Vulturehound. 4/5

The Laundromat

 I was surprised to see Steven Soderbergh ‘s latest suddenly arrive on Netflix and was eager to watch it BUT it comes across as less intellectual ‘The Big Short’ even with the natural charisma from Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas the film lacks a direction and instead feels like several different stories that don’t quite knit together and because of the subject just left me very angry and dissatisfied.  2/5

Apostle

As someone who tries to avoid horror films, I’m usually drawn in if it’s about cults, ghosts or is actually a psychological thriller. As ‘Apostle’ is a period piece set on an island and involves a cult that has kidnapped a wealthy woman and holding her to ransom, I’m going to be intrigued enough to watch it. Finding out that there is something far more disturbing in the barn and that there is a supernatural being, the guardian of the island, who is behind the cult like mannerisms, is horrifying and again, much better than I could have hoped for. A mixture of ‘hell is other people’ and ‘there’s something nasty in the woodshed’ vibe, I was surprised and honestly, scared. 3/5

I Do....Until I Don't

 I love Lake Bell. I loved her first feature BUT I couldn’t get into this story about an arrogant British filmmaker who wants to prove that marriage should be a 7-year contract which is open for renewal from both parties. She essentially wants to prove that marriage is dead. Then there are three couples, who have their own issues but overall love triumphs. The plot is all over the place and soon loses any connection, with everything being neatly tied up at the end and not really making much sense. I’m really hoping that her next film gets a proper release and is more like ‘In a World…’. 2/5

NOVEMBER

Doctor Sleep

 ‘The Shining’ is a film that rightly holds its status as one of the greatest horror films and a story I didn’t think needed a sequel but clearly creator Stephen King thought otherwise by writing about what grown up Danny would be like. Apart from being traumatised by events at The Overlook Hotel, he descends into drink and drugs and violence. His turn around and how he harnesses his ‘gift’ to help others feels genuine and it comes as no surprise that there are other kids just like him and that there is a beyond sinister group of people who hunt them. Rose the Hat is terrifying and is one of the best villains cinema has seen in a long time. Praying on children and torturing them, makes this a horror film but it also plays out like a thriller when Danny meets Abra, a young girl with great power. They work together to try and stop Rose the Hat as well as trying to find where they buried their last victim. With nods to Kubrick’s film, this is no nostalgia trip, but more like a last stand. 4/5

Support the Girls

 Set over one day, Lisa is the manager of one those sexist sports bars where they only hire girls and make them wear skimpy uniforms. I am not a fan of these kind of bars. However, this film not only humanises the staff, not to say that they aren’t but this is a flipside to how the staff work day to day along with all the bs they put up with. This is also another excellent example of Regina Hall just being brilliant. The more films I see with her in, the better. 4/5

Ideal Home

 This had been in my Netflix queue a long time. I had originally wanted to see this in the cinema BUT I don't think it got a proper cinema release which is criminal. Paul Rudd and Steve Coogan are a constantly bickering couple who work on a cooking show, Paul and Erasmus. Paul produces, Erasmus is the host. Their somewhat perfect life but by no means not perfect marriage is thrown a curve ball when Erasmus' grandson arrives and has to stay with them. The premise is not new but the characters and how they bond is brilliant. I enjoyed this far more than I thought I would. Very funny and equally frustrating, mostly because of Coogan's character. 4/5

Let it Snow

 My thoughts on this particular Christmas film can be found HERE.  3/5

One for the Money

 In all honesty, this film did not have my attention. I was bored after 10 minutes and I really didn't care what was happening. I thought the voiceover was completely out of place until I found out the film is based a popular book series. There was no chance this film would spawn a franchise. It gets the bare minimum because Sherri Shepherd is great and deserves better. 1/5

Joker

I think the ‘Joker’ discourse has calmed down enough for me to write this, at least until awards season comes around and the up roar may start again, which it may or may not. Although from what I’ve seen, it will but from what I’ve read, it won’t. From the very first rumblings about the ‘Joker’ film being made there was excitement. With Todd ‘The Hangover’ Phillips at the helm I did lose interest ever so slightly as I really don’t like those damn hangover films, they’re terrible. But my love for Joaquin Phoenix trumps my dislike for him. As the story started to shape up with teasers and even more rumours, it all started up again. But once the film was show at Venice Film Festival, things go way out of hand. Not only did Film twitter explode but the media in general did too. And I thought ‘The Souvenir’ was going to be the film of discourse this year.

It’s clear that from the outset Warner Bros. knew they’d have to change things up as their DC Comics films weren’t going according to plan (except Wonder Woman). They decided to go down the ‘dark’ route and take an indie filmmaking approach to how they make their comic book films, so far, not a bad plan. The unpacking of the end result has been gone over multiple times by many people who love, hate, loathe, obsess over it and all have valid and interesting takes. Maybe it’s because I’m fed up with the discourse or maybe I really do like dark as hell films once in a while, not everything can be sunshine and roses, but I really loved this film. If you’re reading this is disgust at why I love this film, please save yourself the time and stop, but don’t finish reading this just to have a go at me. Please also do not take my love for this film as reason to think I think the people who didn’t like it missed a point or are wrong. I love this film BUT I can totally understand why others don’t. Some of my fellow writers who did/didn’t like the film have taken some abuse online for their opinion. It’s not respectful and downright inhumane, don’t be THAT person. At the end of the day, it’s a film and we all are allowed to have a difference of opinion. Discussion or debate are fine, that’s part of the fun of writing/talking about film but abuse will not be tolerated.

As an origin story, it fits quietly and comfortably within the DC world. With enough open references to Batman and its characters, the story is not burdened down with making sure that it ticks boxes and able to concentrate on the hideous and brilliantly executed transformation of Arthur Fleck into what we know as the Joker. This film is a character study of a poor wretch that never fit into ‘normal’ society and never will. There are some other films of this nature that focus on someone as they go through hell and continue to go through pain and suffering and everyone just watches those films without blinking. But as this film is technically within the comic book universe and therefore a comic book film it is elevated and given a higher platform for people to see it. But people don’t like depressing films, at least not at this high level. They don’t want to see a grown man dressed as a clown being kicked on the floor leaving him crying and bleeding, and definitely not in IMAX cinemas they don’t.

As we all know, ‘The Joker’ is a supervillain, so an origin story would either evoke sympathy and we’d understand the character better as well as his intentions and motives however, as ‘The Joker’ isn’t meant to have an origin story, which is the beauty of the character itself, this film offers just one possible iteration of the character’s origin. All the previous Jokers have either just appeared or been given an origin, whether it’s been on screen or in the comics, Arthur Fleck is not the ultimate Joker, but he is a fascinating character. As well as exploration into this clown for hire, it is also a mystery as we find out where Fleck came from, who is parents are and why he is the way he is. It’s actually feels quite easy to pity the poor man but at the same time you would cross the street to avoid him as there is something not quite right about him. He gives off these dangerous vibes because he’s unnerving. But you sympathise with him, even after the turning point scene on the subway, you get swept up in the anger bubbling at the surface that turns into full blown madness by the end. But the moment you start to question whether you should be rooting for this character is when his fragile mind is questioned, when he enters his neighbour Sophie’s apartment and it’s revealed all the previous scenes with her in are in his mind. Fleck is an unreliable protagonist which means the entire story and how it plays out can be questioned. But this is truly what makes him a perfect Joker. He’s dangerous, yes but the fact you don’t really know what’s going on just makes this story even better as the Joker’s way has always been, chaos.

There are several outstanding moments, a particular favourite of mine being Fleck dressed in a red suit, full make up, dancing on the stairs to THAT song, but the scene on the Murray Franklin show, which is what half the film was leading up to. With several nods to Scorsese films through Fleck and the fact that he loves talk show host Murray, we all knew what was coming even with the misleads and if we’re all honest, we wanted this scene to happen. When I tell people I liked the film, not only because I think Phoenix is true genius actor and even after the film will be underrated, I say I liked this film for the wrong reasons. The film goes to dark hideous places and plays out things I would never do and throughout Fleck’s personal discoveries you really want to go ‘full Joker’ that’s why you came to watch the film right? Or did you watch the film just so you could say it was terrible? If Fleck had just carried on with his miserable little life and did nothing and watched someone else become the Joker, would that have been better? No. We all know Fleck becomes Joker, but we get see HOW he evolves into this human manifestation of chaos and someone who just wants to watch the world burn. He also may have a reason to want that but as we only know him has the villain, this is where you can if its nature or nurture situation, or in Fleck’s case, both. We meet him as a victim but we leave him as the villain, but what I think he was always a villain, just waiting to come out.

If ‘Joker’ had been called something else or had barely hinted that it was part of the DC Comics/film universe, I wonder if the response would have been different. If the film hadn’t been given a Hollywood marketing budget, would people have gone to see it as much as they did? I believe that half the audience who went to see the film wanted to see a ‘comic book’ film and the other half heard about the discourse and wanted to see what the fuss was about. I was excited from the minute Phoenix’s name was attached to the film and loved the trailer. This was not going to be like other films, that much was guaranteed but since the film’s rise in controversy, the film has lost a bit of its soul. If you’re wondering how that is possible and what that even means, I see it that films are sometimes treated liked the animals of Animal Farm by George Orwell. All films are released equal (as in no one has seen them) but some films are more equal than others. Thin analogy, I know. Circumstances surrounding the release and the reaction have all been orchestrated and if things had gone slightly different, I wouldn’t be writing this long-winded post.

Small Screen, BIg Wave

 

The age of superheroes dawned us not with the release of ‘X-Men’ and ‘Spiderman’ in the early 2000s but with the beginning of the master Marvel plan in 2007 with ‘Iron Man’. As I wasn’t reading comics (apart from Tintin and Oor Wullie) back then and only looking longingly at my local comic book shop when I was intimidated by the ‘what are you doing here?’ stare, these superheroes and by extension comic book films were all new to me. I had been completely enthralled by ‘Sin City’ in 2005 and sort out the original graphic novels, where I learnt just how graphic a comic styled book could be. Of course, the fact that the movies were turning towards to comics and graphic novels for stories was no new trend BUT the fact that we, the audience, are regularly fed our yearly superhero films has changed the landscape of film and now, TV as well.

Comics lend themselves to television structure that it always felt wrong that such characters and their blockbuster like stories were confined to limited timed films and their sequels and not given the time to develop and grow, like they do on the page. But the TV execs were paying attention. Seeing the opportunity to adapt more stories and characters for the small screen presented the opportunity to expand the comic universes. The CW has run with this idea with the likes of ‘Arrow’ and ‘The Flash’ and ABC with ‘Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D’ and Netflix too even had a slice of the Marvel pie before the announcement of the juggernaut (no I’m not referencing the mutant) Disney creating their own streaming service which meant shutting down shows on other platforms, although ‘Agents of S.H.E.I.L.D’ will bow out with their seventh and final season. But both Netflix and Amazon Prime have opted to venture further into the comics world and go for the more ‘adult’ themed comics or as they say on the trade paperbacks, ‘For Mature Readers’.

From Marvel to DC to Vertigo to Image to Dark Horse, the adaptations are endless. With hits like ‘Preacher’, ‘The Umbrella Academy’ and the newly minted ‘The Boys’, not only is the demand for comic adaptations out there, the desire for grittier and more graphic shows needs to be met. The latter two shows that came out this year, both renewed for second seasons have generally pleased the fandom and gain more followers. Both source materials could be considered as little to unknown in the grand scheme of things but with their superhero genre slapped on them, this attracts those who love the blockbuster films but also want to see their favourites for longer than a film. They also happen to be about superheroes. There is no escaping this genre which has become arguably in its own right. Actually, escape can be found in the Archie comics adaptations such as the eternal teen haven, ‘Riverdale’ and its spin off ‘The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’. But both have gone darker, especially the latter.

The shows will keep coming and it may or may not feel like overkill but if shows such as ‘The Walking Dead’ and keep on walking for multiple seasons and news shows such as ‘Y: The Last Man’ and the legendary ‘Sandman’ have been slated to be made, at least we’re in for a variety of weird and wonderful stories to look forward to. BUT there will come a time when, just like me and comics, there’s just too many to keep up with.