Question: Pros and Cons of Each Batman Film Director

[TMC]

At least five each for Tim Burton, Joel Schumacher, and Christopher
Nolan respectively.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112462/board/flat/211742548?p=1

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372784/board/flat/211742511?d=211742511&p=1#211742511

[TMC]

> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372784/board/flat/211742511?d=211742511&...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112462/board/flat/211742548?p=1

Burton
Pros:
1)Great visual sense (i.e. distinctive and aesthetically appealing
costumes, makeup, sets both interior and exterior and general design)
2)Poignant, heartfelt performances that provide their own spin on
certain characters rather than being entirely beholden to the comic-
books (particularly from Micheal Keaton)
3)Trust in the audience to read into the film various themes and ideas
without over-articulating to the audience what they should think and
feel
4)Superb, memorable dialogue and at its best, tight, rather than
rambling, storytelling
5)A sense of fun, which is partly what comic-books are about, in
everything from the music (including the unfairly derided Prince) to
funny one-liners and humorous characters (whether because they are
smartass wise-crackers like Alexander Knox and the Joker, or because
they are satirical like the Ice Princess and image consultants in
'Batman Returns') and imaginative scenes like the bell-tower fight
scene scored to a waltz
Cons:
1)Batman kills - enough said (but this is also indicative of an
occasional lack of respect for the original material)
2)Occasional lapses in logic brushed aside (such as the lack of police
presence at the 200th anniversary parade and even more absured moments
in 'Batman Returns' relating to how the Penguin was raised etc)
3)Tendency to take characters too literally (i.e. the Penguin as a
real penguin raised by penguins, Catwoman implied to be revived by
cats and having nine lives) which can be fascinating but also quite
frustrating when it comes to investing in the credibility of the
story
4)Too many deviations from the source material, some of which work,
some of which are totally unnecessary (and are arguably there simply
to 'Burtonise' a particular character, for instance the Penguin)
5)Marginalisation of supporting characters like Commissioner Gordon
and Harvey Dent (continued by Schumacher but started by Burton. who
therefore deserves the blame for this fault)

Schumacher
Pros:
1)An attempt to turn Batman back into a proper 'hero' rather than a
borderline psychotic who kills people
2)Occasionally very funny performances by members of the cast
genuinely adept at comedy (i.e. Jim Carrey)
3)Large casts made up almost entirely of characters from the comic-
books (with the exception of Ms B Haven all the main and supporting
characters in 'Batman & Robin' come from the comic-books)
4)Decent pop soundtrack especially U2 and Seals's songs for 'Batman
Forever'
5)Plenty of attractive eye-candy both male (i.e. Kilmer, O'Donnell and
Clooney) and female (too numerous to mention) - 'Batman' and 'Batman
Returns' had the most beautiful women but Schumacher's films had a
greater number of them
Cons:
1)Too much camp
2)Too many terrible one-liners and stupid OTT (and poorly directed)
comic-performances (i.e. the annoying security guard in 'Batman
Forever' and most of Tommy Lee Jones's performance as 'Two-Face')
3)Lazy screenwriting - specifically no sense of logic and therefore
tension is thrown straight out of the window since Batman can simply
use his grappling hook or drive up walls to get out of trouble (this
breaks several 'rules' of screenwriting - 'thou should not make things
easy for the protagonist' and 'thou should know the world as Gos know
it')
4)Occasionally garish visuals and far too much neon
5)Any attempt at depth or poignancy (such as Mr Freeze mourning his
wife's death) immediately undercut with poor attenpts at 'comedy'

Nolan
Pros:
1)A sense of unity between the three films in the franchise adding up
to an approximately eight hours epic, with everything fitting almost
perfectly into place (the slight shame about Rachel Dawes being recast
the only noticeable exception), with a compelling beginning, middle
and end to Bruce Wayne's story, whether Nolan always intended to make
a trilogy or not
2)Respect for the original source material and interest in exploring
what makes these character tick whilst remaining faithful to their
comic-book origins
3)Realistic and relateable performances from all the main cast,
particularly strong supporting characters like Alfred and Gordon
(arguably the heart and soul of the franchise) and not just the more
larger-than-life heroes and villains
4)A serious exploration of intelligent themes and occasionally
successful stabs at real depth
5)Formidable and credible villains with coherent masterplans
Cons:
1)Unwilling to embrace the more fantastical, colourful side of the
characters and setting - perhaps too grounded in reality (meaning some
characters especially the villains look a little too drab in
comparison to their comic-book counterparts)
2)Occasionally weak attempts at humour and would-be profound dialogue
like "perhaps you took my suggestion for theatricality a little too
literally" (what does that even mean? How is dressing up as a giant
bat taking the term 'theatrical' literally?)
3)Occasional pomposity and over-verbalisation of its themes
4)Relatively nondescript and not always terribly distinctive visuals
(although it should be noted that the films are still never less than
beautiful) particularly in terms of the locations
5)Occasionally rapid, abrupt editing (a tendency for many current
blockbuster movies) that doesn't allow the viewer to 'soak up' and
engage with a scene and always feels a little too much in a hurry to
move along (Nolan's films are arguably more than the sum of their
parts whereas Burton's films are made up of many very brilliant
individual parts even if on occasion they don't always add up to a
coherent whole)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0372784/board/flat/211742511?d=211742511&p=1#211742511

Burton
+ Tremendous visual flair
+ Tonally sympathetic to the source material
+ Brought Danny Elfman to the genre
- Disinterested in the central character
- struggles to keep the momentum going in action sequences
- Lacks focus to juggle all the themes he chooses to include

Schumacher
+ Attempts to draw focus back to central character
+ Paces his films pretty well
+ Was brave enough to try and adapt Robin for the big screen
- No respect for material (presumably the reason for the juvenile
approach)
- Dreadfully misplaced sense of humour
- Can't deliver drama

Nolan
+ Approaches the material with real conviction
+ Handles character moments very well
+ Terrific grasp of ideas and concepts behind the characters/mythos
- Pacing could be better
- Overly contrived plotting latterly
- Sometimes too ambitious (though it is hardly a fault)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1345836/board/flat/211868247?d=211868247&p=1#211868247

Burton:
+ Taking on a dark and serious Batman. Nolan's Batman is darker in
sense of reality and the character portrayal, but Burton made the
whole city in Gothic dark style.
+ Elfman's music really feels like a part of the movie, making it more
complete.
+ Great pacing and casting

- Disregard for some major characters, Batman kills, Joker killing
Bruce parents is maybe the worst he could have done, but I still love
that movie. Catwoman has 9 lives, while Harvey Dent's and Gordon
portrayal is just ridiculous.
- Prince music on the streets
- Real penguins with rockets.

Even with those flaws I really like Burton's take, especially Batman
1989. The only real fault was the Joker killing Bruce's parents. It
simply changed the whole history and philosophy of the relationship
between Batman and the Joker, made them much more on personal note.

Schumaker:
+ He apologized for Batman and Robin. Thats the only '+' I could
find!
- Batman Forever is also a mess with a exception of the scene where
Bruce falls into the cave while explaining how the bat that was
approaching changed his life forever.
- An insult to any Batman fan who like dark and serious Batman.
- Campy Batman just doesn't work. Batman, whose parents were murdered
in the past doesn't take out Bat credit card to fight for a chick.
- Gotham city looks like a Las Vegas on steroids.
- Should I mention Bat nipples, nah its not worth it(I still did
though :p) Commenting more on Shoemaker is just unnecessary, I just
pretend that I forgot about his Batman movies and I move on.

Nolan:
+ True Batman that I enjoy reading in comics. Dark, serious and
realistic. Especially Batman Begins.
+ Tremendous casting and music themes throughout trilogy, felt like a
whole.
+ Great storytelling and take on main characters. We see Bruce's inner
struggles, his devotion, his fears. Batman is more intimidating and
grounded in reality. Supporting characters from Falcone to Talia are
great.
+ His criticism at society through his antagonists. Monologues and
dialogues are incredible.
+ Gotham looks like Gotham, beautiful, big, corrupt and dark.
+ Intelligent themes and

- Wanted more from Scarecrow and more screen time for Two-Face.
Scarecrow is way more dangerous in comics and a real threat to
Batman.
- Gordon's facial expression after Batman revealed himself. He
shouldn't acted as he was that surprised, it was hinted many times in
the comics that he always suspects at Bruce but never wants to 'find
out'.
- Could have elaborated more on how Blake figured Batman's identity.
More like Tim Drake style rather than I knew exactly who you are after
looking at your eyes.

[Your Name]

On Mar 12, 9:34=A0pm, TMC <tmc1...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> At least five each for Tim Burton, Joel Schumacher, and Christopher
> Nolan respectively.

They're all cons ... Hollyweird con-artists who tried to convince you that
their silly version of Batman was actually the real one and the same as
the original comic book. NONE of them are even remotely close to the
original comic book version.

[Your Name]

In article <2071034268385288334.2...@news.aioe.org>,
<ade...@inbox.com> wrote:

> There is only one true Batman: Adam West...

Technically Adam West's version *is* probably the closest to the original
comic books ... but it definitely had the best and most iconic
Batmobile. :-)