Movies The Batman (04 March 2022) - Information Thread, update: deleted Arkham Asylum scene released

[Brick]

18 hours ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

I guess another minor complaint was the millionth time they needle dropped that remix of "Something in the Way". Lost its effectiveness IMO.

 

Wait, I only counted that song playing twice. 

[SaysWho?]

On 3/18/2022 at 4:37 AM, Zeluge said:

Saw it yesterday and the more it sits with me, the more disappointed I am.

 

Starting with the positives so as not to seem like a complete downer, the look, tone and sound of this is really impeccable. On a technical level, this thing sings and is the best that any of these Batman films has ever given off an atmosphere. Cast is almost uniformly excellent (but not everyone …) with Farrell being the standout. While sequel-baiting is always unbearable, I am very excited to see him take the spotlight on the next go-around. Pattinson brings a nice stoic fury to the core of the movie. I love him not giving a shit about the Bruce Wayne aspect of his identity, and the complete lack of care for himself or approaching a situation with any kind of nuance. This Batman is a hammer that goes through the front door rather than going through the shadows. He’s still learning, and it’s cool to see the growing pains.

 

And finally—segueing into the bad—I really love the idea of this film, about Batman, the World’s Greatest Detective, in the early goings of his career, relying more on his keen mind and investigative skills, before he’s established his rogues gallery.

And it’s unfortunate that this movie merely LOOKS like it’s about Batman being a detective. It has the floor collage of information, crime scenes, something resembling a conspiracy. But outside of some basic verbal riddles, Batman does little to no ACTUAL detective work in this film. There’s no sifting through evidence, drawing informed conclusions from the facts or true examination of a crime scene. The closest we get is Batman fumbling around for an answer from the RAT WITH WINGS idea. One of the most accurate moments in the film is when

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Penguin laughs in Batman and Gordon’s faces and basically calls them stupid, because he’s absolutely right.

 

I love Jeffrey Wright, but they really do him dirty as Gordon here, writing some aggressively bad dialogue for him that makes one wonder how he commands any respect as the stupidest person here.

 

Dano is doing terrible work. The scene in the jail is fairly interesting and tense until he starts wailing like a banshee. It doesn’t help that I find this conception of the Riddler to be really uninteresting, and taking a few too many cues from the Joker.

 

Going the family connection route with Selina Kyle/Falcone is almost never a satisfying narrative solution, even moreso because it’s with the apparent intention of having Batman let her off the hook for robbing the mob. At least to my eyes, the central tension of their relationship is—despite them both being outcasts and ridiculously hot for each other—one is trying to do the selfless thing and the other is only out for herself. They’re on opposite sides of right and wrong and that’s what makes it interesting. A movie that gets that right is Out of Sight, and it would similarly fall apart if Clooney had some ”justified” reason for stealing this particular thing and JLo just rolled with it. Having Batman give her the leeway with her thievery in this way works to fundamentally crush the interesting parts of their dynamic.

 

And I can’t finish this without addressing the bomb going off in Batman’s face and him being largely unaffected. I’m generally pretty forgiving about stuff like this, but when it’s so brazen as to be insulting … c’mon guys, you’re not even fucking trying.

 

So yeah, a bitter pill. Maybe the next one will be smoother.

In your spoilers is probably the one thing I’m not as impressed with,

 

I thought the idea behind Riddler was good and reminded me of Bane, but in a more QAnon online lunatic way. And he and 

Spoiler

his followers thinking Batman is on their side? Very cool. I like how TDK and this movie decided to tackle people inspired by Batman to be vigilantes.

But I don’t know how enamored I am with the interpretation on screen, I guess. Scary at times, yeah, but not really as memorable as most villains I can think of.

 

However,

Spoiler

he’s not dead, so this series has ample time to build him, and all the villains are in their embryonic stages. Plenty of time to see Riddler grow.

 

[Greatoneshere]

2 hours ago, Brick said:

 

Wait, I only counted that song playing twice. 

 

It was, it was played just enough for me. Didn't feel it played too much.

[Brick]

One annoyance I had is everyone mispronouncing Falcone's name. He's Italian, so the e isn't silent on the end. Batman Begins pronounced it correctly. You'd think John Turturro would point that out being that he's Italian, but yeah I know a lot of Italian-Americans "Americanize" their names over time, but still.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Deleted Arkham Asylum scene:

 

 

[TheLeon]

Interesting. If they make sequels to this, I would like to see them keep Joker in this zone - not a primary antagonist.

[Guest]

I REALLY like that Hannibal/Clarice take on their relationship. Would have been cool to include that and in the sequel have some more interactions in that setting before maybe having him as the big bad in the third film.

[Kamusha]

21 hours ago, Brick said:

 

Wait, I only counted that song playing twice. 

 

It plays three times but it didn't feel like too much for me. It's a long movie so the times the song is played are spaced out.

[skillzdadirecta]

1 hour ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

Deleted Arkham Asylum scene:

 

 

GREAT scene... I Need an extended Reeves cut of this movie.

[Brick]

I feel like the movie needed an extra scene at the end (and wouldn't be surprised if it is actually a deleted scene that got cut for time or pacing) where 

Spoiler

Bruce makes a press conference, or at least speaks to the mayor that he realizes that he does indeed need to do more for the city, and pledges to turn the renewal project from the broken failure controlled by the mob that it became, to the thing that his father envisioned it could be now that Falcone is gone. After all at the end he realizes that Batman needs to be an actual hero, and not just some vengeful night terror who punches people to a pulp, who is going to inspire more sickos like the Riddler and his acolytes. 

 

One of the complaints of the movie by some people and critics is that the natural ending to the movie felt like it should've ended with Bruce realizing that his Batman project is a dumb idea, and instead investing in urban and social programs to help eliminate crime from the bottom up. In fact it's even a bit of a meme I see around online that people joke about Batman in general how the billionaire playboy should instead use his money to fund social programs, like affordable housing, education, welfare, etc. so people don't turn to crime, instead of going around punching mentally ill people in the face. Now of course I never really liked that joke because Gotham is supposed to be so corrupt that those kinds of programs wouldn't work, and WB isn't going to make Bruce quit being Batman when they have sequels and spin offs to make, but I feel like having a scene like I described above, as well as having Bruce realize that Batman needs to be more would have helped a bit.

 

Honestly I felt while watching the movie that that scene was going to happen, and was surprised when it didn't, since it naturally felt like that would be part of Bruce's arc to stop being a recluse. 

 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, skillzdadirecta said:

GREAT scene... I Need an extended Reeves cut of this movie.

I’m genuinely curious why Reeves decided not to include it. I think it works great within the film we got, there are a couple of specific places I could already picture it.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

9 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

I’m genuinely curious why Reeves decided not to include it. I think it works great within the film we got, there are a couple of specific places I could already picture it.

 

Reeves discusses his justification in this interview:

 

'The Batman' Has Deleted Scene Where Robert Pattinson Met THAT Villain, Says Matt Reeves

COLLIDER.COM

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Reeves talks about the deleted scene in 'The Batman' and why he removed it from the film.

 

[Brick]

Spoiler

 

 

[skillzdadirecta]

1 hour ago, sblfilms said:

I’m genuinely curious why Reeves decided not to include it. I think it works great within the film we got, there are a couple of specific places I could already picture it.

I feel like maybe it lessened the reveal at the end maybe?

[osxmatt]

6 hours ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

Deleted Arkham Asylum scene:

 

 

 

This is a great scene, but ultimately I'm glad they cut it. I felt the movie worked perfectly exactly as is, and the reveal at the end was just the right touch.

[Greatoneshere]

I think they should have kept that in, it's not only well done but a great introduction over the one they did keep for the end.

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, Greatoneshere said:

I think they should have kept that in, it's not only well done but a great introduction over the one they did keep for the end.

Yeah, I actually feel like this scene fits better as an introduction than the kinda tame stinger they went with.

[Greatoneshere]

3 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

Yeah, I actually feel like this scene fits better as an introduction than the kinda tame stinger they went with.

 

Yeah, the atmosphere and tone of the scene are great, they slowly introduce different sides of his face before revealing all of it at the end. Completely agreed.

[Brick]

I actually don't really like either scene because I was hoping we could wait a bit longer to introduce that character 

[Kamusha]

I have issues with the Nolan Batman movies but one thing he did right was waiting for an entire movie before introducing the Joker.

[Guest]

30 minutes ago, Kamusha said:

I have issues with the Nolan Batman movies but one thing he did right was waiting for an entire movie before introducing the Joker.

The end scene of Begins is a Joker tease  

[Kamusha]

20 minutes ago, sblfilms said:

The end scene of Begins is a Joker tease  

 

teasing a playing card briefly =/= introducing a character who is both shown and heard

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, Kamusha said:

 

teasing a playing card briefly =/= introducing a character who is both shown and heard

Begins doesn’t just have the playing card,  Gordon talks about his crimes and sets him up as the bad guy of note that Batman needs to look into, compared with The Batman where the only reason to think the character is the Joker is him laughing.

[skillzdadirecta]

How Batman: The Imposter is the Perfect Movie Follow-Up

WWW.DCCOMICS.COM

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From what I’ve been reading in the DC Community, many of you have seen Matt Reeves’

 

I just read this and it really IS a great follow up to Reeves The Batman even though it's not set in the same continuity. 

[Brick]

Sbl is right that Matt Reeves is one of the best action directors right now for the sci-fi/fantasy genre. 

 

Matt Reeves should have done Episode IX. 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

1 hour ago, skillzdadirecta said:

How Batman: The Imposter is the Perfect Movie Follow-Up

WWW.DCCOMICS.COM

---

From what I’ve been reading in the DC Community, many of you have seen Matt Reeves’

 

I just read this and it really IS a great follow up to Reeves The Batman even though it's not set in the same continuity. 

 

How about a Riddler prequel written by Paul Dano?

 

Paul Dano to Write The Riddler in a New DC Black Label Limited Series!

WWW.DCCOMICS.COM

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Paul Dano to Write Edward Nashton’s Path to Becoming The Riddler in a New DC Black Label Limited Series!

 

[skillzdadirecta]

20 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

 

How about a Riddler prequel written by Paul Dano?

 

Paul Dano to Write The Riddler in a New DC Black Label Limited Series!

WWW.DCCOMICS.COM

---

Paul Dano to Write Edward Nashton’s Path to Becoming The Riddler in a New DC Black Label Limited Series!

 

Oh yeah I heard about that. looking forward to that one if only to see how bat shit insane it will be.

[Brick]

Having the actual actor write the comic is interesting. Don't think I've ever heard of that happening before. Probably had his own backstory in his head for the character while playing him that will be the story for the book. 

[Kamusha]

22 hours ago, sblfilms said:

Begins doesn’t just have the playing card,  Gordon talks about his crimes and sets him up as the bad guy of note that Batman needs to look into, compared with The Batman where the only reason to think the character is the Joker is him laughing.

Still not the same as a character introduction. Sorry, but I’m not in the mood to play “gotcha” with everyone quick to point out how wrong I am every time I make a post. It’s been happening a lot on here and it’s exhausting.

[Greatoneshere]

30 minutes ago, Kamusha said:

Still not the same as a character introduction. Sorry, but I’m not in the mood to play “gotcha” with everyone quick to point out how wrong I am every time I make a post. It’s been happening a lot on here and it’s exhausting.

 

I mean, I think to a degree that's the nature of debate and discussion. Plus, the internet loves being pedantic, I am prone to it myself. I have consistently been on message boards nearly every week since April 2001 (IGN Boards, then BadCartridge, then first iteration of D1P, then the second iteration of D1P, I believe we are on the third iteration of D1P after the full server wipe), and this feels no different than it ever has, hang in there. The only big change is the community has gotten super small lately over time - we used to have a lot more regulars.

[Guest]

Somebody said “don’t mistake pedantry for personality” and I took great offense at that 

[Greatoneshere]

8 hours ago, sblfilms said:

Somebody said “don’t mistake pedantry for personality” and I took great offense at that 

 

The main benefit I have found with pedantry is it ensures we make measured, accurate arguments, which is a good thing. Essentially, it holds us to account. Which, at the end of the day, is the point. On the flipside, however, we should understand someone's intent with what they're saying even if they haven't explained it exactly to the perfect degree with exact accuracy because people don't always explain themselves perfectly, but "you know what I mean" is a valid point because we aren't mentats (Dune is popular enough now I can make that nerd joke, right? finally?).

[Kal-El814]

14 hours ago, Greatoneshere said:

 

The main benefit I have found with pedantry is it ensures we make measured, accurate arguments, which is a good thing. Essentially, it holds us to account. Which, at the end of the day, is the point. On the flipside, however, we should understand someone's intent with what they're saying even if they haven't explained it exactly to the perfect degree with exact accuracy because people don't always explain themselves perfectly, but "you know what I mean" is a valid point because we aren't mentats (Dune is popular enough now I can make that nerd joke, right? finally?).

I need hyperbole in my life literally more than I need oxygen or hydration. 

[Greatoneshere]

29 minutes ago, Kal-El814 said:

I need hyperbole in my life literally more than I need oxygen or hydration. 

 

Apparently you need it even more than porn!  

[skillzdadirecta]

On 3/25/2022 at 10:53 PM, Brick said:

Having the actual actor write the comic is interesting. Don't think I've ever heard of that happening before. Probably had his own backstory in his head for the character while playing him that will be the story for the book. 

I bet this is exactly right.