Comic Creators Comment on Batman Movies

[thecolorsblend]

Right around the time Forever came out, Wizard did a comic pro round up of different peoples' views about it. One that stands out was someone (Alex Ross?) saying the movie was nice eye candy but he kept checking his watch for when the movie would end. Some pros really liked it.

This peaked my interest so I checked through the Wizard issues I have in .cbr format... none of which are have that column. I'm estimating it would be somewhere in issues #47-#53 though.

[BatmAngelus]

John Byrne on Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises:

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2012)

There are some movies for which the phrase "Piece of Sh*t" seems especially to have been created. This is one.

As many of you know, despite some annoying indulgences, I enjoyed BATMAN BEGINS as much as I could any adventure of Batman in a rubber suit. The casting was good, the characters seemed very much themselves.

But THIS! Admittedly, I started it about half an hour in, catching it this afternoon while channel surfing, but somehow I doubt there were elements in those first thirty-odd minutes that saved the rest of the film. At virtually every step off the way, I was two or three steps ahead of the filmmakers. "Oh, look -- he's going to get shot now. He's going to drop that. She's going to be bad. She's going to be good. He's going to get saved at the last second. He isn't." On and on. it was as if Christopher Nolan made a list of clichés he REALLY needed to get into this movie.

(One surprise, which probably would not have been if I'd seen it from the start: the Bad Girl turns out to be *****.)

And, gosh, isn't it lucky THIS version of Batman isn't burdened with that corny old promise to his dead parents to spend the rest of his life warring on crime!

FEH!!!

Source: http://www.byrnerobotics.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=29741&PN=1&TPN=171

[Dagenspear]

Source: http://www.byrnerobotics.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=29741&PN=1&TPN=171

It really is a good thing he isn't burdened with that, because it isn't really healthy.

God bless you! God bless everyone!

[The Laughing Fish]

John Byrne on Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises:

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2012)

There are some movies for which the phrase "Piece of Sh*t" seems especially to have been created. This is one.

As many of you know, despite some annoying indulgences, I enjoyed BATMAN BEGINS as much as I could any adventure of Batman in a rubber suit. The casting was good, the characters seemed very much themselves.

But THIS! Admittedly, I started it about half an hour in, catching it this afternoon while channel surfing, but somehow I doubt there were elements in those first thirty-odd minutes that saved the rest of the film. At virtually every step off the way, I was two or three steps ahead of the filmmakers. "Oh, look -- he's going to get shot now. He's going to drop that. She's going to be bad. She's going to be good. He's going to get saved at the last second. He isn't." On and on. it was as if Christopher Nolan made a list of clichés he REALLY needed to get into this movie.

(One surprise, which probably would not have been if I'd seen it from the start: the Bad Girl turns out to be *****.)

And, gosh, isn't it lucky THIS version of Batman isn't burdened with that corny old promise to his dead parents to spend the rest of his life warring on crime!

FEH!!!

Source: http://www.byrnerobotics.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=29741&PN=1&TPN=171

Do you find it curious that he hasn't mentioned anything about the second film? Could it be that he has never seen it? If he has seen it, but was more forgiving towards it, then I'd find it a little rich because you could easily apply the criticism of TDKR to TDK too.

[Azrael]

(not sure if this has been posted in one of the earlier pages of this thread - EDIT: Yes it was. Well, it's been almost three years since it was started)

I LOVE these both. I waited in line with my dad (with a commemorative BK glass I dropped – dropped! and had to get out of line to get again). This was like the Batman I'd been waiting for. A man whose whole city seems like a twisted projection of his own mind. A guy fighting demons in this wild, darkly imaginative and wholly realized world. I'll admit – I was a completely non-believer before seeing Batman in Michael Keaton, but in the end, he won me over.

Scott Snyder on Batman & Batman Returns - source

[Azrael]

The last three movies that came out, I believe the first two were good. I liked the third one... but I thought it wasn't exactly Batman. I'm hoping that the people who make the [next] films take a little more armor off of him, or make it it out of something where we can see his muscles. And stop making masks that make his face look like this [squishes cheeks].

Neal Adams on Nolan's Batman - source

[Silver Nemesis]

An interesting but scathing comment concerning Batman 89 from John Byrne, posted on the message boards of his official site:

In 1988 I went to England for a Con, and visited Pinewood Studios, to see the pre-shooting work that had been done on "Batman". Met Anton Furst and saw his marvelous take on Gotham City. Strolled the streets and stood on the steps of "city hall". Unfortunately, also saw the rubber suit and the machine guns mounted on the Batmobile and Batplane. Knew right then that we were in trouble. This was not going to be Batman any more than had been the Adam West version. Less, really, since that old TV show at least gave us a Batman who was dependent upon his wits more often than his "wonderful toys".

Came home quite convinced that the Batfans would utterly reject this bastardization of their beloved character. Even advised Jerry Ordway against doing the adaptation. "When this turns out to be a giant stinker, the fans will blame you!"
Once again, the magpies proved me wrong. Sigh

http://www.byrnerobotics.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=12852&PN=0&TPN=1

[johnnygobbs]

'Magpies'?  Who are the 'magpies'?  Us?

[Silver Nemesis]

Interesting that Byrne used the word 'magpie' since he's the writer who created...

[BatmAngelus]

Marv Wolfman on BvS:
https://www.facebook.com/marv.wolfman/posts/1077646818961085

I deleted a part that may give something away to people who haven't seen it yet and weren't following every news bit associated with the film. If you're curious, you can read the deleted part in the Facebook post linked above.

So I left that less than cryptic mention the other day about seeing Batman Vs. Superman at the DC employee screening (I was invited to the world premiere in NY but couldn't make it). I intended to follow it up right away but life happens. So, here's a PLOT SPOILER FREE non review. If you've seen any of the trailers nothing I say here will reveal anything. If you haven't seen the trailers, I probably still haven't said anything revealing but I suggest you move on anyway.

First off, I really liked the movie a lot. For those who think I'm saying this because I work at DC, if I didn't really like it I wouldn't have posted anything despite having two of my characters appear in it. So please know my view is real and honest.
I thought Ben Affleck was great as both Bruce Wayne and Batman, but I never doubted he would be. I've liked his work for years. He's a solid actor and director and writer and he brings gravitas to the role. I refuse to play the game of is he better or worse than Christian Bale. They're playing very different versions of the character and both are great.

The action scenes with Batman are the best I've seen in any Batman movie. In comics, Batman is an acrobat and despite lugging a cape that's two miles long, he moves like nobody's business, but that has always been pretty impossible to show on screen; the uniform itself prevented that so fights were done with extremely well done cuts and edits. Heck, some of the actors said they even had problems turning their heads in the costumes. But Snyder knows how to play with live action and CG and everything else and Batman moved the way he should. The action is stunning.

Superman is different from the comics, more troubled and alienated (no pun intended) than the comic but I think it works based on what the events in the last film. Since I feel Batman, especially an older Batman as he's portrayed here has probably cemented his world view you can understand why his concern about Superman is real to him. And Superman, based on how the people of Metropolis and the world reacted to the events of the last film would obviously be more cautious in his life, even willing to chuck some of it away. For Superman the road to hell is paved with good intentions and now, based on the events of the last movie, he's not only being cautious but distant. Very different from the comic but I can accept that if one accepts his becoming Superman as an adult and immediately and without time to train, finding himself the center of an interplanetary man hunt.

Wonder Woman got the biggest cheer in the audience. Can't say too much but I thought she was handled really well.

By the way, here's a complaint. When Ben Affleck was first announced as Batman fans immediately attacked the choice (as they had Michael Keaton). Now many of the same fans are saying he's the best Batman/Bruce Wayne ever. If Gal Gidot was hired to play Wonder Woman fans complained she was too thin or too wrong to play the Amazon. Now everyone's saying she's the high point of the movie. Why don't people wait to actually see something before deciding it can't possibly work?

Finally, Luthor. we've seen so many Luthors over the years (my favorite being Smallville's interpretation) that I would have previously said not to use him at all, but I think they found a different approach. If you've seen any trailer you've seen the interpretation. His insanity is either tempered by his genius, or his genius has been affected by his insanity, but he's an original here and since there have been a million different interpretations of Luthor (and may I remind folk that the businessman version was my proposal so I actually have a real personal viewpoint here) I don't think we can say "This" is Luthor or "That" is Luthor. All I can say is this worked for me and I liked that I hadn't seen this character before. He felt new and different in a way that worked.
I know there are people who love the film and there are already those who don't. But I really, really liked it. I hope I can take Noel to see it this weekend or next if we can get into a local IMax screening. I do hope I was able to give my opinions without accidentally giving away any spoilers. Check it out and enjoy.