We are due for another year chop full of superhero films! Check out the first trailer for November's Thor: The Dark World:
This is one superhero film I am really excited to see. Not a huge fan of Thor, I found myself really enjoying the first film. And not solely because they chose the best actor to portray the title character. The story was really well done. And it also helped that Kenneth Branagh was in the director's chair. Unknown director Alan Taylor has replaced Branagh which could go either way: could be good because he isn't influenced by big budget action/sets/props like some hollywood directors (Michael Bay, I'm looking at you) or it could be bad because he really has no clue what to do with a film of this size. I'm hoping it's the former and he will have a "Joss Whedon" moment with this film.
Unlike a lot of superhero films, a sequel to 2011's Thor makes sense. There were a lot of questions left unanswered with the previous film (and subsequently 2012's epic superhero mash-up The Avengers) and a lot of story left to tell. And with a dynamic villain such as Loki (portrayed by the brilliant Tom Hiddleston), there's no telling where what we will see in this upcoming film.
The trailer doesn't follow the typical superhero film trailer format. Instead of focusing on the big fight and action scenes, we see more about the characters and the story behind them. We get to see a further look into the world of Asgard (and the worlds surrounding it) that we only caught a glimpse of in the first film. We also get to see that Thor has completely embraced his "hero" fate.
The sequel sees returns from actors Chris Hemsworth (in the title role), Hiddleston, Natalie Portman, Kat Denning, Stellan Skarsgard, and Anthony Hopkins as Thor's father and King of Asgard. New to the franchise is Christopher Eccelston, who will be taking on the role of the main antagonist in this film, Malekith. I'm excited to see what he will bring to this role as he is a great actor who can take on any role.
The film is set to be released on November 8, 2013 and will unfortunately be converted to 3D post-production. Oh joy. (Have you seen Clash of the Titans? Check out our review of that mess here).
For more information on the upcoming film, check out the official page here or the Wikipedia page and be sure to check Don't Sit Next To Us for updates!
The first teaser trailer for the second installment in The Hunger Games trilogy has been released! Check it out:
The sequel to the hugely successful first film, entitled The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, picks up directly where we left off in the 2012 film with Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) having outsmarted the Capitol alongside Peeta Mallerk (Josh Hutchison) and winning the Hunger Games. The pair must now embark on a "Victor's Tour" of the other districts and Katniss begins to sense that a rebellion is brewing amongst the poorer districts. The Capitol, however, is still very much in control, and preparing for the 75th Annual Hunger Games, which will incorporate a twist that changes everything for the pair and Panem.
It goes without saying that this film will be successful. The series has gained a huge following before it was even brought to the big screen. Fans of the novel series rushed to the theatres to see the first film, allowing it to earn a very substantial amount at the box office. However, the film itself was well received by critics. Director Gary Ross created a very believable version of Suzanne Collins' novel which was well liked by fans and critics, something that doesn't always happen.
For the second film, Ross left the director role and Francis Lawrence (who's films include I Am Legend, Constantine, and Water For Elephants) was brought on to direct. Lawrence will also be directing the final two installments (which is a two part film adaptation of the third novel in the series, Mocking Jay) of the film series.
The trailer. Wow. What a great first glimpse at the dystopian future that Collins' envisioned. This is what a trailer should look like. It was great from start to finish. We see Katniss and Peeta being welcomed by one of the districts while on the "Victor's Tour", which should be a joyous occasion but is anything but. Something has changed in the public and The Capitol is ready to snuff out this "hope" before it creates an uprising. That means Katniss has become public enemy number 1 in their eyes.
And what a cast! Along with Lawrence (who just picked up an Oscar for her role in Silver Linings Playbook) and Hutchison, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Lenny Kravitz, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci and Donald Sutherland all return to reprise their roles. Joining them are Jena Malone and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. That scene shown in the trailer with Sutherland and Hoffman is dynamic and I can't wait to see more!
I'm not going to talk too much more about this trailer as I will save my thoughts for our review when the film is released.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is set to be released on November 22, 2013.
For more information on the upcoming film, check out the Wikipedia page or the official page.
G.I. Joe: Retaliation
Director: Jon Chu
Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Channing Tatum, and Bruce Willis New Release Review
I can't believe we saw this in theatre. We were desperate to see something and March had been a month with little to offer in terms of decent movies. It was the last weekend of the month and there we were, stuck with nothing on our Spring 2013 Movie List and an incredible need to just be in the theatre, not caring what we were going to see.
This "sequel" starts with the G.I. Joes being framed for stealing nuclear warheads from Pakistan by Zartan who, as seen in the finale of the first film, is impersonating the American President. The team is attacked and eliminated, including Duke (Tatum), with Roadblock (Johnson), Flint (D.J. Cotrona) and Lady Jaye (Adrianne Palicki) as the only survivors.
Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee) and Firefly (Ray Stevenson) attempt to rescue Cobra Commander (who is NOT being played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) from a futuristic prison in Germany. In a very random and unorganized scene, Storm Shadow is captured, to almost immediately after, break out and manage to rescue Cobra Commander. He is injured in the escape and heads, again randomly, to the Himalayas to recover. And then we are introduced to the Blind Master (RZA), the leader of the Arashikage Clan (the clan that Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow grew up and studied in), sends Snake Eyes (Ray Park) and his apprentice Jinx (Elodie Yung) to capture Storm Shadow so that he can answer for the murder of the Hard Master (who we saw in a flash back in the first film, murdered by what was assumed to be a young Storm Shadow).
Branded as traitors and Enemies of the State, Roadblock, Flint and Lady Jaye return to the USA where they set up base in Roadblock's home town and plan to take down Zartan and the Cobra. Battles continue, cheesy lines are abundant and the already messy storyline continues until it's lame ending.
Can you tell that I did not enjoy this film in the slightest? Okay, maybe I am being too harsh. But it was awful. Bad acting. Bad writing. Bad fight scenes. Bad graphics. Bad everything!
Where the previous film (see our Throwback review here) tried to become more futuristic, this film tried to revert back to the original tactics that we all knew and loved from the G.l. Joe franchise. However, it failed miserably. The story had to be the worst part of the film. It jumped all over the place, never quite finding its way. Everything seemed to happen at random. There was no explanation (not that we always need one but is appreciated when new things seemingly "pop" up out of nowhere) as to why things were happening. They just did. It's almost like the writers had a free-for-all and took whatever ideas they all had, and mashed them up into one big, giant pile of crap.
The other major issue with this film is that it did not follow ANY of the storylines that were previously created in the first film. There was no mention of former Joe team members. They simply just weren't there. Sure, Tatum was included in the cast. But was killed off within the first 15 minutes of the film (which apparently was an extended appearance by Tatum than was originally planned). Never mind references the events that took place in the 2009 film.
The acting was so bad, it's not even worth mentioning. Don't be fooled: despite what the promotional material for this film showed, Willis is BARELY in the film. But I will give him this: the scenes he was in, were the best ones.
And why was this film in 3D? It definitely did not warrant a 3D conversion. From the 2D version that we saw, there was no point in having this film featured in 3D. Not one thing flew out at the screen. And there was nothing worth enhancing in terms of graphics. Enhancing them would only magnify this monstrosity. Final Verdict: Skip it. Do I need to explain any further why? Simply a waste of time. Did the people behind this film spend the entire budget on converting it to 3D and securing action stars Willis and Johnson? Well, it wasn't worth it. And the comedic relief? Sure, we laughed. We laughed at how pathetic this latest Hasbro film was. Now YOU know, and knowing is half the battle.
For all you Marvel geeks out their, check out the teaser trailer for The Wolverine:
Looks like we are in for another summer of superhero films!
Everyone's favourite anti-hero is back in this second installment in the Wolverine and X-Men series. But this isn't your typical sequel. Because Marvel likes to make the X-Men series complicated, The Wolverine takes place after the events of the third X-Men film, X-Men: The Last Stand. For those that remember, X-Men Origins: Wolverinetook place before Wolverine joined the X-Men in the first film (X-Men). AND it is the sixth installment in the series, that also includes: X2: X-Men United and X-Men: First Class. The seventh installment, X-Men: Days of Future Past is already slated to be released in 2014.
Okay, now that we got that crazy background out of the way, let's discuss this week's trailer.
Hugh Jackman is back as the title character and is more disgruntled than ever. Still dealing with the fallout of the events in The Last Stand, Wolverine (Logan) is brought to Japan to meet with a mysterious man who he had once saved. The man, who is now on his death bed, presents Logan with a way to end his eternal life. Having struggled with his fate and what he has become for years, Logan is thrown into a state of vulnerability that he hasn't seen since he was a child.
There is no doubt that this film will be successful. Jackman has proven several times over that he has become the character of Wolverine. He has also proven that he can carry his own film featuring this fan-favourite X-Men character. This film also features another fan-favourite, this time in the form of the storyline which is based on the highly regarded comic book arc of the same name.
The last Wolverine film did not fare too well against critics so the team behind this second Jackman film decided to do something different. From a fan of the television series, I hope we get to see a few of our favourite and more well known X-Men characters which was something the previous film did. I'm still waiting for a bigger part for Gambit.
The latest in the X-Men series is set to be released on July 26, 2013. And yes, it will be in 3D. Because what isn't these days?
For more information on the upcoming Marvel film, check out the Wikipedia page or the film's official page.
It's finally here! Yes I've been waiting for this trailer ever since they announced there would be a sixth installment in the franchise! And now I am as giddy as a school girl over the anticipation of seeing it on the big screen!
I am the first to admit that I never expected this series to reach a sixth installment. To be honest, I was shocked it made it past the third. But man am I happy it did!
The fourth film totally rejuvenated the franchise and the fifth changed the game. The franchise that was once about illegal street racing has now successfully transitioned to a "heist" theme. Now we get to see Dom (Vin Diesel) and his gang team up to take down bad guys instead of racing against each other for pink slips. This turn of events means more action and bigger car racing/chasing scenes.
The best part about this trailer is that we are guaranteed to see every big character that has been in the franchise (save Lucas Black's character Sean from the third film as his film doesn't happen until after these recent installments chronologically in the Fast and Furious timeline). And Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) is back!! It will be interesting to see how the "OMG" moment from the last film is carried out.
Even if you're not a fan of the franchise, you can't deny that the release of this film will definitely guarantee big box office results. And there's no doubt that it is a great way to kick off the summer of big blockbuster films.
On January 25, 2013, a collective cheer was heard around the world. Star Wars geeks and non Star Wars geeks banded together to rejoice in the news that J.J. Abrams will be directing the latest installment in the Star Wars franchise.
According to Starwars.com, Abrams will be at the helm of the film while Academy Award-winning Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine) will be providing the screenplay. Kathleen Kennedy, longtime producing partner of Steven Spielberg and recent successor to George Lucas for Lucasfilm, will be lead producer of the film.
With all these influential people in the film industry working together on this project, I can't help but become excited for where the Star Wars franchise will take us next. I haven't been the biggest fan of the series but have enjoyed the stories. I'm curious to see if Abrams can adapt to the specific format that Star Wars has created and incorporated all these years. The series has a certain way of filming, story telling and displaying the epic story of Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker and the rest. Abrams also has a specific way of creating which strongly differs from what Lucas has done. His films and stories tend to be very out-there in terms of the sci-fi genre. I just hope he can reign it in for this film (and possibly more installments in the franchise).
The franchise rights were recently purchased by Disney (which seems to own a part of EVERYTHING these days) and the newest film is already set to be released in 2015. This will be the first installment to not be produced or distributed by 20th Century Fox. Most notably absent is Lucas from the helm of this film. Instead, Lucas will serve as "creative consultant" (which basically means he gets to sit on set, give a few opinions, and watch the cheques roll in). However, the iconic director in the geek world did provide a story treatment for this installment. I don't think a deal would have been made between Disney and Lucasfilm if Lucas was not given certain creative control of the franchise.
With news of the director being named, rumours have begun on which previous cast members would return. Although the majority of actors have expressed interested in returning to the series (Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Ewan McGregor, and Samuel L. Jackson), nothing has been confirmed.
Is it just me or is everyone else geeking out at this strange movie-world mash-up of two of the biggest geek-franchises in history? (Star Trek and Star Wars). I think it's safe to say that no matter what, this film is going to be successful. Let's hope it's actually good too!
Stay tuned to Don't Sit Next To Us for the latest updates on Star Wars Episode VII and any other "geek" type films and franchises!
Men In Black 3
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, and Josh Brolin
Box Office: $621,568,042
(Worldwide)
DVD Review
Originally, Christine and I saw MIB 3 in theatre when it was first released. It was put on the movie list simply out of good faith. We loved the first film; the second was questionable. We thought the concept of having Will Smith's character "J" travel back in time was genius as it would be a true trilogy (showing the audience that something we thought was true was in fact not the truth and then having it all come full circle). We were pleased with the outcome of this third installment in the Men in Blackfranchise. (On a side note - can you believe it has been 15 years since the first film was released? And Smith looks like he hasn't aged a day since then!)
Men In Black 3 begins with Boris the Animal, a menacing alien criminal escaping from his prison on the Moon. He begins his revenge on Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) who had arrested him in 1969. Agent J (Smith) awakens to a world where Agent K no longer exists however, he remembers him and specific details of his life. Agent O (Emma Thompson) deduces from J's insistence that K defeated Boris (and did not die that day in 1969 like everyone now believes) that a fracture ihas occurred in the space-time continuum. J travels back in time on a mission to save K by ensuring he arrests Boris, as it was suppose to be.
It's always interesting to see how a film will carry out a time travel plot line. Generally, it is not done well (ie Timeline). However, the amount of effort that was put into developing this film indeed helped the effectiveness of the time travel plot line. The devil is in the details and the people behind Men In Black 3 clearly realized that when creating this film.
Smith is as funny as ever in this role. He certainly carries the film. But the rest of the cast manage to keep up with him, especially Josh Brolin who portrays the young version of Agent K. His voice and mannerisms are almost spot on with regards to those of Jones. Jermaine Clement as Boris the Animal might be one of the most disturbing evil characters I have ever seen. He is absolutely disgusting and I cringed every time he appeared on screen. Which to me, made a great alien-villain for this film.
This film was far more superior than its predecessor and is everything you want in an action, sci-fi film. It revitalized the Men In Black franchise and due to its box office success, there is already talk of a fourth installment. Sometimes, movie production companies just don't know when to leave a good thing alone.
Final Verdict: See it. But definitely watch the two previous films first. You will be pleased with the final result in this film. If you love Will Smith, you will love him in this role that has become one of his most well known to date. Lots of laughs and lots of fun. Definitely enjoyable. Rotten Tomatoes
The long-awaited final installment of Christopher Nolan's epic Dark Knight trilogy has finally arrived! The Dark Knight Rises hit theatres this past weekend to numerous fans' delight and positive reviews from critics. Now that I have seen the film, I can complete my Batman franchise review.
The Dark Knight Rises
Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway
Box office gross: $198,038,896 (as of July 24, 2012)
"There's a storm coming, Mr. Wayne."
Nolan was skeptical on making a third film in the Dark Knight series, stating "how many good third movies in a franchise can people name?". His skepticism was not without warrant; many movie makers attempt to make a third movie in a franchise, hoping to continue the success of the first two films and more often than not, the film flops. Take Shrek the Third for instance. After two successful Shrek movies, the addition of a third film was inevitable. However, the movie was so horrifically bad, most people believed it was the nail in the coffin for the franchise. Thankfully, Dreamworks was able to produce a fantastic reboot of the series through its fourth installment. But I digress; back to The Dark Knight Rises.
Nolan found what he was looking for, a good story, and began work on the final installment of what was now a trilogy series.
The film began with what I thought was a very "Harry Potter" like beginning: Commissioner Gordon was seen addressing the death of Harvey Dent, reminiscent of Rufus Scrimgeour stating that "these were dark times" in the opening of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. But I am not criticizing this; it was a great opening that set the tone in both films. And both films were fantastic.
With The Dark Knight Rises, Nolan created a true trilogy. Like Jamie Kennedy's character in Scream 3 said, "true trilogies are all about going back to the beginning and discovering something that wasn't true from the get go" and this film does that brilliantly. Of course I can't tell you how this film does it because it would be a major spoiler!
The film focused on the fall of Batman and his eventual rise back to his status as Gotham's saviour. Meanwhile, a new threat in the form of the the menacing Bane, moved into the city with plans of destroying it. Nolan did a fantastic job of telling this story and still providing enough action to keep audiences captivated. What aided in this feat was again, Nolan's stellar casting choices. Returning actors Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman continued their strong performances from the previous two films, helming this film's heart and soul of the story. New additions Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Marion Cotillard delivered refreshing performances, providing new allies and foes for the title character. Nolan's knack for recruiting astonishing actors is shown throughout his films, The Dark Knight Rises being no different.
Bale reprises his role as the titular hero and once again provides a notable performance as Bruce Wayne, who is now even more tortured after the death of his childhood friend Rachel Dawes, and has become a recluse. His performance as Batman is overshadowed by his alter ego but in a good way. In this film, the two dimensional role is heavily weighted on the man behind the mask, as he must discover "the power within", finally confronting the pain and loss he has avoided in the previous two films. According to Bale, this was his last performance as The Dark Knight, and with it, he provided a good ending for his development of the character.
Tom Hardy, who previously worked with Nolan on the critically acclaimed Inception (which in turn became his breakthrough performance), portrayed the villain Bane. Although producers wanted to feature The Riddler as the main villain in this film, Nolan went with Bane because he felt he would provide a greater challenge for Batman, both physically and mentally. Hardy was phenomenal as Bane. He was every bit the menacing terrorist but also showed that this villain was not just a physical being; he had intellect that was unfortunately misplaced in terrorism. He had some sure to be classic lines including the title of this blog. Though his accent and the obstruction of his mask often made it hard to understand him, when he did speak, you wanted to hear what he had to say. On a side note, I was surprised at how Nolan was able to make Hardy look taller and bigger than all other characters in the film as in reality, he is not a big guy.
Catwoman. This was a tough one for me. I was not sure including this character was the right move for Nolan. The on screen portrayal of Catwoman has been interesting to say the least. The last person to play this character was Halle Berry in the ill-fated 2004 film Catwoman. Since that bomb, critics and fans have been skeptical about who, if ever anyone, could really become Catwoman. Anne Hathaway puts in a valiant effort at accomplishing this goal. I have always been a fan of Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman in Tim Burton's Batman Returns. I still believe she played this role the best thus far. However, I don't think it's fair to compare Hathaway's character with Pfeiffer's. Where Pfeiffer's character was over the top, Hathaway's barely embraced the name "Catwoman". In fact, I don't believe the name "Catwoman" is ever really used in the film, though there were some clever allusion's to this name (for example, her goggles when placed on her head, made it look like she had cat ears). After the death of the Rachel Dawes character, Hathaway provided a romantic interest for Bale, the difference this time was the interest was not only for Bruce Wayne, but for Batman as well.
My inner geek swooned when I saw some familiar faces in this film: Cillian Murphy and Liam Neeson make great cameo appearances, Burn Gorman (Owen from the British TV series Torchwood) plays one of Bane's Gotham city minions, Stryver, Nestor Carbonell (Lost) returns as Gotham's mayor, Josh Stewart (Criminal Minds) plays Bane's right hand man, Barsad and Desmond Harrington (Dexter) plays a uniform cop.
Final Verdict: a definite must see. Not only for those who are Batman fans (like myself) but for those who want to see a superhero film that not only provides action, but a good story as well. The film continues the story of Nolan's caped crusader from the origin in Batman Begins to the collapse in The Dark Knight to the rise (redemption) in The Dark Knight Rises. A good end to this trilogy series.
Have you seen The Dark Knight Rises? Were you satisfied with the conclusion of the series?
As promised, here is part two of my ramblings on the Batman franchise.
Up next: Batman Forever and Batman and Robin.
Batman Forever
Director: Joel Schumacher
Starring: Val Kilmer, Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey
Box office gross: $336,531,112 (Worldwide)
"Riddle me this, riddle me that, who's afraid of the big, black bat?"
After the first two Tim Burton directed Batman movies, parental groups deemed them too dark and Warner Bros. thought the film could have made more money. (It always comes down to the all mighty dollar with these production companies.) They decided it was time to make the Batman franchise more mainstream and brought Joel Schumacher in to direct while Burton stayed on as a producer. Forever lacked all of the pain and anguish that Burton created in the first two installments in the franchise. It was definitely more colourful, bright, loud and appealed to a broader audience than its predecessors. However, in doing this, the franchise began to return to the campy 60s Adam West Batman series and away from the dark, tormented Batman we were drawn to when the series started.
Michael Keaton rightfully stepped away from the lead role as Gotham's superhero because he did not like the new direction the franchise as heading in. Val Kilmer was brought in to attempt to fill Keaton's shoes because Schumacher became interested in him after seeing his performance in Tombstone. Kilmer had a tough job; who could imagine taking on a role that was so well done before them? He muddled through the film, never emulating the characteristics of Batman that make him such a unique superhero. He was in no way believable as the Dark Knight or Bruce Wayne. Sorry, Kilmer. But you never had a chance.
Next up in the series for Batman to face were two completely opposite villains: Two-Face and The Riddler, played by Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey respectively.
The addition of these two diverse actors to the series was good on paper. Unfortunately, this did not transfer to the big screen. Jones' portrayal of Two-Face was laughable - and not in a good way! He provided no depth to the character and paled in comparison to The Riddler. Can't blame everything on Jones, however. Not much you can do when the writing is atrocious!
Carrey was the only logical choice to play The Riddler. His quirky sense of humour was a perfect fit for the villainous Riddler and his slim build was an added bonus as he had to wear that bright green unitard. At times, Carrey was over the top - but isn't that what this role was all about? Again, I must blame writing for inept use of Carrey's acting range. As most of his other roles have proven, he can do so much more than just two-bit jokes and gags.
Final Verdict: Hands down my least favourite in the franchise. I wish it never even happened. See it if you must, but I would highly recommend skipping over this ridiculous inclusion that doesn't contribute anything to the series. I would like to thank Warner Bros. for ruining everything Tim Burton accomplished with the first two films. For shame.
Batman and Robin
Director: Joel Schumacher
Starring: George Clooney, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Chris O'Donnell
Box office gross: $130,000,000 (Worldwide)
"If revenge is a dish best served cold, then put on your Sunday finest. It's time to feast!"
The fourth and final installment in this part of the Batman franchise went completely off the mark. The film received 11 nominations at the 1997 Razzie Awards and it's easy to see why. Forever started the ball rolling in the return to the cheesy 60s TV Batman. A move that accomplished Warner Bros.'s goal of appealing to a greater audience and performing well at the box office but totally sacrificed the integrity of the franchise.
Joel Schumacher was once again brought on to direct and the project was fast-tracked in order to capitalize on the financial success of Forever. Schumacher wanted to pay homage to the campy style of the 60s sitcom and he did that in spades. The film was even more colourful, loud and downright cheesy than its predecessor and lost all of the appeal from the first two films.
And what was with the costumes? Batman's suit looked like something a male stripper would wear! All of a sudden, each suit had nipples and enlarged, emphasized codpieces. And what was with all the close up shots of butts and crotches? So much for a family-friendly action movie.
George Clooney was cast as the title character after Kilmer was fired (but sort of quit?). Schumacher believed that Clooney could provide a lighter interpretation of the character than Keaton. Well, I guess he did. But Batman isn't a "light" character. He's the Dark Knight for goodness sake! Clooney was without a doubt, the worst Batman EVER. Mike LaSalle from the San Francisco Chronicle called Clooney the "big zero of the film". That pretty much sums it up nicely.
Chris O'Donnell and Alicia Silverstone portrayed Robin and Batgirl. I'm not even going to go into this addition of two ridiculous characters to an already ridiculous film. They were useless in this film.
The only saving grace of this movie was Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze. Schwarzenegger is the perfect cheesy action star for a cheesy action movie - when the film works. I thought he did an okay job as the biologist turned villain who was trying to save his terminally ill wife. His cheesy one-liners brought much needed comic relief to a movie that basically made you sick to watch.
Final Verdict: If the franchise had begun as a campy homage to the 60s TV series, this film would have been fine. Not good. Not bad. Just fine. However, this film destroyed any hope that Warner Bros. had in continuing a successful Batman franchise at the time. Skip it. It's a waste of time. George Clooney stated: "I think we might have killed the franchise" and he was right. Until Christopher Nolan came along.
Later today I will take on the first two installments of the reboot Dark Knight series helmed by Christopher Nolan.
What was your favourite film from the first series in the franchise?
With the release of The Dark Knight Rises just around the corner, I've decided to take a look at all the Batman films and discuss my thoughts on which ones were good and which ones were God awful.
First, I think it's important to note that I am a Batman fan. Have been since I first watched Tim Burton's Batman in 1989 and will probably always be. I will try my best not to be too biased while discussing the six Batman films that have hit the big screen in the past 20+ years (I will NOT be discussing the 1966 Adam West Batman film).
Batman (1989)
Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson and Kim Basinger
Box Office Gross: $411,348,924 (Worldwide)
"Tell me something my friend, you ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?"
Why was this movie one of the most successful in the entire Batman franchise? A few reasons: Directing, writing, and casting. All of these elements were spot on. Tim Burton's vision of a dark and corrupted Gotham City was pure art. Like all of his films, Burton was able to create a world no one else could ever dream of.
Michael Keaton's portrayal of Batman was exactly how I would imagine the superhero to be. Edgy, dark, obsessed as the caped crusader and still able to convince the audience that he was the super rich/super smart Bruce Wayne.
And what can I say about the genius that was Jack Nicholson as Joker? He was funny, menacing and downright insane, bringing one of the most villainous comic book characters to life. His one-liners were impeccable - "Never rub another man's rhubarb" - what the hell does that even mean? Who cares! It was hilarious!
Final Verdict - My favourite in the franchise, Burton's Batman brought new life to the campy series from the 60s and reminded fans why the superhero is dubbed "The Dark Knight". Without this version of the film, there would not be the current Dark Knight series.
Batman Returns (1992)
Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Michael Keaton, Michelle Pfeiffer and Danny DeVito
Box Office Gross: $282,800,000 (Worldwide)
"My name is not Oswald! It's Penguin! I am not a human being. I am an animal! Cold-blooded!"
After the success of Batman, Burton signed on for the sequel, Batman Returns, on the condition that the new film would offer something new and exciting. Did it ever! Returns was significantly darker than its predecessor and although it didn't perform as well at the box office, it met with critical praise for its characters and Burton's creation of a one-of-a-kind atmosphere in which these dark characters reside.
Michael Keaton once again delivered as the manic-depressive title character. With this performance, he raised the bar for any other actor ever attempting to tackle this dynamic and layered character.
Danny DeVito as Penguin is kismet. Who else could portray this short, nasty, complex, and evil character? He embraced the role, becoming every bit of a sewer-dwelling penguin, right down to snacking on raw fish. At times, you felt for the character, wondering what could have been. But then he would do something maniacal like biting the nose of an innocent campaign manager and you would remember he was an evil monster. Though not as captivating as Nicholson's Joker, DeVito provided a dark villain to challenge the Dark Knight.
Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman. Is there any other Catwoman? Honestly, when I think of this character, I think of Pfeiffer's portrayal. She was sexy, enigmatic and strong. She embodied the Catwoman persona to a T. The only female lead in this film, Pfeiffer went toe to toe with some devilishly talented actors and stood out among them.
Final Verdict - A phenomenal sequel to a classic film. Every bit a "Tim Burton film", Returns delivers in all aspects and is a spectacle that deserves to be seen.
Tomorrow, I will take on the final two installments in the first Batman film franchise series and Friday will be the first two from the reboot, Dark Knight series.
What are some of your favourite one-liners from the first Batman film?
