Batman II-what gives?
Anne Jessop
This is for everyone who bitched and whined about BII when it first came
out. I _know_ it wasn't a critical or popular(in terms of how blockbuster
summer movies are measured) success, but after seeing it for the third
time this evening on cable, I have to say that I still really enjoy it. I
like what the actors do with their roles, I like how Burton signals back
to his German Expressionist roots ( and his nod to Lynch's category
bending aesthetic when the Penguin cries, "I am not a human being, I am
an _animal_!") I just like the _style_ of it. So I ask all of you who
didn't like it (don't worry, you're not flamebait), _why_?
Annie
Paul Gallagher
I saw it for the first time just yesterday, when it premiered on HBO. I was
pretty impressed. Spectacular production design, good characters, good acting,
more playful (Maybe?) than Batman. However, the story wasn't all that strong;
we didn't learn all that much new about Bruce Wayne, and Catwoman and Penguin
didn't continue to develop after their fascinating introductions.
This is just a first guess: the public didn't like it because it didn't have
a strong story to match the visuals. As for me, I think I would like some
more emotional depth to the characters. Not that I'm really sure how to do
this.
THOMPSON M D
[look how much bandwidth I've saved! Like I care!]
I really liked the music of that film. The style
was nice, and any movie that is shot entirely in blue gets
my vote. But it really felt like the entire film was made
from styrofoam. I'm really beginning to feel that Tim can't
handle action. I mean just having things exploding really isn't
enough, and you seem to get this impression that Tim is saying
"well what more do you want?" I mean the ending of the first film
was pretty much a joke, with big-ears just being saved by his gadgets
and in the second one, there's just no tension for the end bit.
I mean it's nice seeing lots of penguins wandering around in
formations, but it's not exactly thrilling. I'd really place Tim
with Barry Levinson who just blew it with Toys which looked
beatiful, but Barry couldn't even get a shot of a car speeding off.
Everything from the comic about the Blue One's ingenuity, cunning,
adaptability.... all gone. Some guy with padding and a big computer.
I'd really recommend you seeing Darkman, which whilst having plot
holes you could fire a scud through, kept the adrenalin going
(especially with that helicopter) and made you see how downright
viscious the hero had become.
Spongeboy
ad...@city.ac.uk
"Oh goody"
KCS...@vm.cmp.ilstu.edu
the original film is that the wonder and surprise were no longer there.
In the first film, remember seeing it in the theater for the first time
and the way the audiance ohhhed and ahhhed when Batman put the shields
up on the batmobile? Pretty neat gimmic, huh? By the time BR whs released,
this stuff was old hat. Like the Mt. Dew commercial, the audiance saw it
and said "Seen that, done that, got it on video". Other than characters,
there was nothing really new in BR. The bat boat? Can it fly? Big deal.
Thus the excitement level was not anywhere near that generated by the
first film.
However, I think that if one saw BR BEFORE seeing the first film, they
would think that the original was a very poor film. Yes, it had the
WOW factor, and it had Jack, but the script was terrible. The dialog
makes me cringe everytime I watch it! BR was a dramatic improvement.
I have to say that my biggest problem is the dialog in Batman. I very
much enjoyed both films, and for the most part still do, but I found
Batman Returns to be more satisfying, though I wish it could have still
retained that sense of wonder the first film had for me. I'm really not
sure any new Batman film could though. Perhaps it's time for a team up.
Robin or Superman perhaps? I don't know. I probably shouldn't mention
such things. The thread that results may make me sorry I started it!
Kyle
Gary Cooper
>I saw it for the first time just yesterday, when it premiered on HBO. I was
>pretty impressed. Spectacular production design, good characters, good acting,
>more playful (Maybe?) than Batman. However, the story wasn't all that strong;
>we didn't learn all that much new about Bruce Wayne, and Catwoman and Penguin
>didn't continue to develop after their fascinating introductions.
Nail on the head time! The problem with the movie was that two stories
were juxtaposed into one tedious mass. Batman vs. Penguin OR Batman vs.
Catwoman would have made a good movie, but Batman vs. Penguin vs.
Catwoman left too little time to develop any sort of character (The
transformation from Mich to Cat was pathetic in comparison to the change
from Jack to Joker in the first).
Don't EVEN get me started on the third villian (Christopher Walken - the
most overrated actor of our time.)
Summation - three shallow bad guys, and no bat for the first 45 minutes
= 1 lame movie.
--
gary cooper (not the dead one) coo...@grebyn.com
"Up there the world is divided into bastards and suckers.
Make your choice." - Moggy; "Piece of Cake"
Ralph Barbagallo
:
: This is for everyone who bitched and whined about BII when it first came
I didn't like it because it was really boring..plus towards the end
it really got absurd. The whole missle packing penguin army thing was really
stupid. I sort of liked (although I liked Indiana Jones 3 MUCH better that
year) the first one because although it pushed the limits, it was semi-
beliveable. They gave a slightly plausable edge to Batman which I liked.
In part II they threw in the Batskiboat, the cheesy penguin army etc.
It didn't do much that the first one hadn't done before. Big deal,
he gets framed for the murder of the Ice Princes..ho hum.. couldn't they think
of a better plot than that for a feature film? I like the dark look and all,
but the plot really sucked.
--
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Ralph A. Barbagallo III /Atari 2600,7800,Lynx,NES,GameBoy,SNES,Master System,
nug...@genesis.nred.ma.us/Genesis,Game Gear,NEO-GEO,Odyssey500,Vectrex,TurboCD,
Mindstorm WILL RETURN! /TurboGrafx-16,Commodore64,Amiga500,Atari800XL...!