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I really enjoyed War Zone.  Stylistically I feel it has a lot going for it.  I love the intentional limited color palette and how it reflects the look of a comic book.  The color and lighting have a nice pop to them.  Visually the movie detaches itself from the "real world" enough to help really sell the ultra-violent sequences.  The city reflected in the film clearly needs a man like Frank Castle.  I feel it's key in any Punisher story to show that the city Frank inhabits is decayed to the point where a murderous vigilante is the only hope.

I thought the cast was solid, especially Ray Stevenson who nailed the stoic, brooding nature of Frank Castle.  Jigsaw was played rather over the top but I think that approach worked for the piece.  Some of the sequences might be a bit much, like when Loony Bin Jim eats an orderlies internal organs.  But honestly that's all just part of the ride.  While the film may address some moral issues the true point of it breaks down to watching Frank annihilate bad guys.  It's escapist entertainment and in that regard it succeeds.

On the whole I feel War Zone comes closer to the spirit of the character then the 2004 film does.  I don't necessarily think the 2004 film is bad, I just think it pulls a lot more punches.  War Zone is balls to the wall violent and I feel that is the way to go if you wish to capture the essence of The Punisher.

As a big fan of animated Batman projects I have often found myself entertaining the notion of Burton's ?89 and Returns cast providing voice over for animation.

It certainly falls under the category of unlikely, but for the sake of argument: What if?  What if Michael Keaton reprised The Dark Knight in animation?  What if Jack Nicholson breathed life into a cartoon Joker?

With Burton?s background in animation I could easily see him getting excited about an animated Batman project.  More likely it would be a direct to video affair, as TV series require a much larger time commitment.

Over the last few year Warner Brothers has been scoring big with it?s DC Animated direct to video projects.  In the quest to find fresh movie ideas, it might just be worthwhile to give Burton control of a Batman direct to video.

What do you think?

I'd love Burton to do another Batman film (I know it's never gonna happen though).  However, I'd rather it was a live-action continuation of the films he has already made (i.e. the end of an unofficial trilogy).

Or how about a t.v. series?

No problem.

Anyway, what do you think?

I'm not sure.  I think Burton is very much a film director, rather than someone who would set their sights on TV.  Also, I think stop-motion would probably work better for a film rather than a regular series, bearing in mind the labour-intensive work that goes into such endeavours.

I am all for a Burton directed stop motion Batman TV show.  Though I think johnnygobbs raises a legitimate issue.  Given the time frame of TV seasons and the production time of stop motion the only way it would work is if the entire first season was in the can before they started airing.  Then if the show took off and a second season was commissioned fans would have to wait a long time before it was completed.  In the end, if a stop motion Batman project was to be done it would be best suited in a single film format.

Ideally it would get as a feature length but it would also work as a short piece.  If it was a short film then the chances of Burton doing it increase as it would be less intrusive to his other ongoing and upcoming projects.

To be honest, I don't see what stop-motion would add to Batman.  I loved Burton's use of 'real' actors in his Batman films, and the semi-realistic atmosphere he created.

I'm curious to know how you believe that a stop-motion Batman would work waufreak.

I think a lot could be done with a stop motion Batman film.  For starters many of Batman's rogues gallery lend themselves to the form.  Yes it is always cool to see live action actors transform themselves into comic book villains but equally interesting in my opinion is seeing what stop motion could offer.  With live action the reality is that filmmakers are taking actors and transforming them through make-up, costuming, and special effects.  With stop motion the characters are literally being sculpted, crafted in a way that allows for near infinite design possibilities.

Sets could also be explored in a different manor.  It can be difficult for filmmakers to find a shooting location for a place the size of Gotham.  Yes past Batman filmmakers have done amazing jobs of bringing to the city to life.  But imagine what could be done when the city is built in model form at a fraction of the cost of full sets.

If nothing else the film would break ground in the genre of super hero movies.  To the best of knowledge no super hero film has been made with stop motion.  Which is bit surprising when you consider the closeness that medium shares with the comic book source material.

This whole idea really came about while I was thinking about how much Burton has done with stop motion.  I know Burton has long since moved on from the Batman material and I respect that.  I wouldn't want him coming back to it again just because fans forced him to. I believe that it would take a new wrinkle to re-spark Burton's interest in the franchise.  And based on Burton's previous work and sensibilities as a director, stop motion seems like the best candidate to bring him back.

Many of Tim Burton's projects involve the use of stop motion animation.  With films like The Nightmare Before Christmas and The Corpse Bride Mr. Burton has shown a mastery of that form.

What if Tim Burton where to make a stop motion Batman film?

With Burton directing and Michael Keaton as Batman again this project would be nothing short of amazing.

What do you think?

My all time favourite serial to this day, is STILL the original Batman serial from the early 40's. I remember taping each episode for 15 weeks straight via the AMC channel during the mid 1990's.  

Yeah that serial is an awesome piece of nostalgia.  When I was younger I got the serial on a two volume VHS set.  A couple years back I went ahead and bought the DVD release.  It was nice to finally have a digital copy of it.  The 1949 Batman and Robin serial is also great.

http://waufreak89.blip.tv/

In many ways the current popularity of superhero cinema harks back to the early movie series of the 1940s. While the technology and approach is vastly different a core truth remains. That truth is that all of these projects take heroes form comic pages and breath a life into them. We can see our heroes, listen to them speak. We engage our beloved icons in ways that just can't be accomplished on paper.

The Captain America serial is often scorned by fans. The reason being took gross liberties it took with the source material. Yes Cap's shield is missing in lieu of a gun. Yes Cap's alter ego is not a soldier but instead a District Attorney. Yes the series lacks any mention of Nazis or Bucky.

But look beyond all that for a moment, look beyond all that was changed and what remains is a unique piece of superhero cinema. One can do all the criticism they like, but I defy even the most cynical SOB not to mark out even a little when Cap first shows up on screen in costume.

What are your thoughts on this series? If you've never seen in it then you're in luck. The complete series is available above, a nifty by product of it being in public domain.

Nice observations there.  I thinks it's neat when people make connections like this between two separate works.  It's interesting how Jigsaw's development seems to mirror that of Nicholson's Joker, but I'm sure it's mostly coincidence.  I wouldn't completely rule out the possibility of it paying some tribute to Batman 89 but I put more credence into it being coincidence.