The Box...In Every Home in America, And One Day the World.

Started by TheBatman, Tue, 2 Jun 2009, 14:38

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I am one of the biggest haters of the Schumacher movies. To me they go against what Batman stands for. That he is a dark hero. One of the major issues I had with Forever was the Riddler's invention. The Box.  I thought it was an terrible excuse to drive the story. Not to mention it was too easily destroyed. The Final Showdown at Claw Island, All Batman had to do was destroy the Main Box to stop the Riddler. Way too easy.  Anyone else have this issue with Forever or was it just me?

Of course, one could simply NOT argue that Nygma's box in the script was a cartoony allegory about the future of Internet. Since the time of the film's release, the internet, with the increase in speed as well as graphics, expanded in ways unimaginable for most average people back in 1995-96. Thousands of people literally burned their lives with fantasy worlds (Massive Online RPGs, Warcraft, Second Life etc.), like Nygma's device was supposed to do. But the script is simply not intelligent enough (far from it) to accept it as a cartoony take on a dystopian technology designed to isolate and "burn" many people ;D

If this device appeared in The Animated Series, people wouldn't have even blinked.

Quote from: TheBatman on Tue,  2 Jun  2009, 14:38
I am one of the biggest haters of the Schumacher movies. To me they go against what Batman stands for. That he is a dark hero. One of the major issues I had with Forever was the Riddler's invention. The Box.  I thought it was an terrible excuse to drive the story. Not to mention it was too easily destroyed. The Final Showdown at Claw Island, All Batman had to do was destroy the Main Box to stop the Riddler. Way too easy.  Anyone else have this issue with Forever or was it just me?

Yeah, it was a really goofy idea, and not in a good way.  The brain draining box was a far too fantastical element for my tastes. 

Although the comic books have occasionally drifted into sci-fi/fantasy with Killer Croc, Man-Bat and Clayface, I think Batman works best when there is some attempt and credibility.  The Burton films manage to do this whilst still being able to evoke a bizarre, larger-than-life, genuinely comic-book world.

With respect to the Schumacher films though, the nadir for me had to be the 'Bat-card' in Batman & Robin, along with him turning up in full Batman regalia at the Botanical Ball.  Batman is not a celebrity, and besides shouldn't he be remaning vigilent in Gotham, not attending social events to hand out prizes?
Johnny Gobs got ripped and took a walk off a roof, alright? No big loss.

Quote from: silenig on Tue,  2 Jun  2009, 15:39
Of course, one could simply NOT argue that Nygma's box in the script was a cartoony allegory about the future of Internet. Since the time of the film's release, the internet, with the increase in speed as well as graphics, expanded in ways unimaginable for most average people back in 1995-96. Thousands of people literally burned their lives with fantasy worlds (Massive Online RPGs, Warcraft, Second Life etc.), like Nygma's device was supposed to do. But the script is simply not intelligent enough (far from it) to accept it as a cartoony take on a dystopian technology designed to isolate and "burn" many people ;D

Silenig, that's a very interesting reading on what Forvever could have achieved with the Nygma box concept.
Johnny Gobs got ripped and took a walk off a roof, alright? No big loss.

Trust me when I say that "The Box" is a helluva lot better than what B&R had to offer...

Quote from: Dark Knight Detective on Tue,  2 Jun  2009, 16:25
Trust me when I say that "The Box" is a helluva lot better than what B&R had to offer...

Well that goes without saying HAHA.


I am not a schumacher hater as most of you know, but I didnt really like the idea of "The Box" I feel like that is so much more of a science fiction theme than anything remotely related to modern Batman mythos.


I have given a name to my pain, and it is BATMAN.

Quote from: DarkVengeance on Fri,  5 Jun  2009, 14:43
... I didnt really like the idea of "The Box" I feel like that is so much more of a science fiction theme than anything remotely related to modern Batman mythos.

It fits the sci-fi Batman comics of the fifties, so maybe that could've been in mind while Forever was in development.