The Batman May Not Reinvent The Wheel, But It Is The Roundest Bat-Wheel Yet

March 8, 2022 by Joe

I’m of the opinion that The Batman is the best live action Batman movie ever made.

To be clear, anytime anyone says something is “the best” it is a purely subjective statement. I’m going to make my case but, if you happen to read this post and disagree, I’ll thank you to not lambaste me about how very wrong I am, and I shall extend you the same courtesy.

One more point to clear is that my take is stating that The Batman is the best, top-to-bottom, live action Batman movie. That does not mean that every part of it is better than every part of previous Batman movies. For example, I still believe that Heath Ledger’s performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight is the best performance in a Batman film, and that Danny Elfman’s score used in Batman – Batman Returns – Batman Forever – Batman & Robin is still the best score.

I’m also, at this point, going to stop referring to them as “live action” Batman movies. While I enjoyed many of the animated films, I like to consider animated films in-general on a different scale than live action films. Neither is better or worse, they’re just different. In this case, I just want to focus on live action. And THAT was the last time I’ll use the adjective in this post.

My relationship to Batman as an intellectual property starts where a lot of people’s does: I was ten-years-old when Batman ’89 came out. My mom waited in line with me on opening night for several hours, so long in fact, that we ended up getting tickets to an 11pm showing. God bless mom for letting me stay up that late in a theater at that age. I memorized every word, and every beat of action. Needless to say, it was my favorite movie for the ensuing five-to-ten-years. That emotional connection that I had during my formative years has made it very difficult for me to view Batman ’89 through anything other than rose-colored nostalgia glasses.

I started reading Batman comics at that point, which led to me reading a great many more comics (DC and Marvel and Image and Valiant). So, I have Batman to thank for preparing me for the Geek Renaissance of the 21st century. But that’s a whole other topic. I also sought out Batman: The Movie from 1966, and the whole run of that TV show. Even as a kid, it seemed “too kiddie” for me and had nothing to do with the Batman I had seen in the theater and was reading about in my monthly comic pulls.

I loved Batman Returns when it came out, it’s still one of my favorite Christmas movies. I didn’t hate Batman Forever at first, but I was sixteen at the time, so it certainly made me wary. Batman & Robin was an absolute disaster, and nineteen-year-old me knew it almost immediately. Then there was a break in Batman movies. A seven-year break. In that time there were a handful of good comic book movies, and a bunch of bad ones. Then, Warner Brothers decided it was time to get back in the Big Screen Bat Business.

Batman Begins presented a much better origin story than Batman ’89 and, while it was much better than the Joel Schumacher films, 26-year-old me still had it neck-and-neck with the Tim Burton films. The Dark Knight came out three years later and – nostalgia glasses or not – I immediately knew this was the best Batman movie. The Dark Knight Rises came out the same year as Marvel’s The Avengers, and couldn’t measure up to the first two movies in Christopher Nolan’s trilogy or what Marvel Studios had been cooking up in their lead up to – and everything since – 2012.

In 2016 we got Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice. Even at 37 years-old I was super-psyched to finally see those two characters, not to mentioned Wonder Woman, share the big screen. When I heard it would feature Ben Affleck playing an older Batman, I got my hopes up that we would be playing the same Bruce Wayne/Batman from the Nolan trilogy. I was more-than-ready for a true unified DC Movie Universe. This ended up being the most disappointed I had ever been in a superhero movie due, in large part, to my sky high expectations. In hindsight, BvS was better than the Schumacher films, but not nearly as good as any of the Burton or Nolan films. And I say that as someone who also found The Dark Knight Rises to be something of a disappointment.

Justice League came the year after, in 2017, and was bad. The Justice League Snyder Cut premiered on HBO Max in 2021 was was slightly less bad than the theatrically released Whedon Cut. But this was around the time when we started getting real details on the new film: The Batman.

I’m 43 years-old this year, and I still get pumped when a new MCU Movie comes out as Marvel Studios has proven that they know how to deliver the goods (almost) every time. But, with The Batman, my first instinct was a bit more skeptical. After the Snyder films, I lost faith in DC/WB’s ability to make a good Batman movie. If I’m being honest, some of that doubt started creeping in back in 2012.

I also started feeling those Amazing Spider-Man vibes (2012 was sure a mixed bag when it came to comic book movies), as it seemed a little too soon to reboot the entire franchise. In 2007, Spider-Man 3 ended the Sam Raimi series on a very ambiguous note. But I was ready to see Peter Parker/Spider-Man finally be an adult superhero. At the time, I thought Andrew Garfield would be playing the same version of Spidey as Tobey Maguire had played. Much like with Batman V Superman, I was mistaken. Ever since Spider-Man No Way Home came out in December Andrew Garfield has finally gotten proper credit for playing a good Peter Parker/Spider-Man in a pair of otherwise not good movies. However, this precedent was not an encouraging one when applied to The Batman.

That being said, the details of the movie started to give me some hope. I don’t really have a history with Robert Pattinson. I watched Twilight once on TV about fifteen years ago and only saw him in a few other films (none Twilight-related) since then. So, he was an unknown to me. The rest of the cast looked solid with Zoe Kravitz, Jefferey Wright, Paul Dano, Colin Farrell, John Turturro, and Andy Serkis rounding it out.

The last actor on that list led me to the biggest nugget of hope. Serkis had previously worked with Matt Reeves on two of the new Planet of the Apes movies. Those movies are awesome, and Serkis is awesome in them (even behind all that mo-cap). In addition to Dawn of the the Planet of the Apes and War for the Planet of the Apes Reeves had directed two other movies that I really liked: Cloverfield and Let Me In. When it was revealed that The Batman would take place in year two of the titular character’s caped crusade, I was relieves that at least we wouldn’t get a warmed over Batman Begins re-hash.

Still, I went into the theater with very level expectations. Not necessarily low, but also certainly not high. I found myself shocked by just how much I enjoyed The Batman. As with many others, I came out of the theater considering just how it stacked up against the previous iterations. Imagine my surprise when I found myself thinking that it was, pound-for-pound, the best Batman movie I had ever seen.

Spoiler Warning For The Batman

Here’s how I measured The Batman up against the previous movies.

Batman/Bruce Wayne – There’s not much of a difference between the two in The Batman, but that seems like it was purposefully done to show that he was still learning how to be “Bruce Wayne” in public. But Pattison’s Batman makes a strong case for my personal favorite.

I was a long time Michael Keaton guy, for reasons noted above. And I found Christian Bale’s portrayal riveting in its own way. But Pattinson’s Batman gets to be a character, even when wearing the mask. He actually talks to people, rather than just grunts and growls about how he is vengeance (though he does say that) or he is the night. Unlike in any previous films, this Batman is actually a detective. That being the case, he’s required to actually have conversations with James Gordon, Selina Kyle, and Alfred Pennyworth. This is really much more true to the comic book than any previous movie characterizations.

He also seems like the most human Batman. As much as he’s figuring out how to be “Bruce Wayne”, he’s also not yet perfected being “Batman” and we get to take that journey with him. He has some great moments with James Gordon, Selina Kyle, and Alfred. But he also comes across as an empathetic person, most notably with the wordless exchanges he has with the young son of The Riddler’s first murder victim. This brings us to the next two categories.

Allies – I’m talking about Gordon, Selina, and Alfred primarily here. Gary Oldman was a great James Gordon, but I felt that Jeffrey Wright tackled the role in a way that worked better for me. The spin he put on Gordon as a homicide detective so fed up with corruption and ineptitude that he embraces a masked vigilante whose name he doesn’t even know like his best friend and only reliable partner. Wright and Pattinson have a great interpersonal dynamic that has a sort of old fashioned buddy cop vibe.

I was introduced to Michelle Pfeiffer’s seductive, dangerous, and vaccuum-sealed-in-black-vinyl Catwoman when I was 13-years-old. Needless to say, she left an impression. The Jekyll-And-Hyde act was fun in Batman Returns, but Zoe Kravitz got to play a more fully-formed character. She steals to help her friend, but also to get back at her absentee mafiosa father (who killed her mother). Her chemistry with Pattinson, playing two wounded souls not really looking for a connection but finding one out of necessity, was a home run as well.

Andy Serkis’ Alfred had more in-common with Michael Caine’s exasperated version than Michael Gough’s grandfatherly figure. We never got to spend enough time with Jeremy Iron’s more sardonic interpretation for him to make much of a dent on the public consciousness. But Serkis got to have a better arc than any of those other Alfreds. This was helped by him being the caretaker of a big secret that Thomas and Martha Wayne had, and he felt obligated to protect Bruce from. But Serkis and Pattison have a scene where the revelation of this truth allows them to finally open up to one another, and admit the strong familial bond that was always there under the surface.

Enemies – Here we can talk about The Riddler, Carmine Falcone, The Penguin, and the slew of nameless thugs that get thrown at Batman.

The Riddler takes Bane’s crown (The Dark Knight Rises Bane, not the bloated oaf from Batman & Robin) as the scariest Batman movie villain. Heath Ledger’s Joker could have been in the running, but he had a sort of charismatic magnetism that made it hard to look away. Paul Dano’s Riddler is harder to watch, as he spastically attacks his victims while making Leatherface-style grunt and squeals. He’s not a guy you’d ever want to spend even two minutes with. Ledger’s Joker could probably talk you into hanging out just long enough for him to kill you, while you’d do everything in your power to avoid eye contact with this Riddler – in or out of his mask. He also has a connection to extremist QA’non types on his Dark Web channel, which means his henchmen the scariest to date as well. Riddler is presented in most scenes like a true horror movie villain, which is also a first for Batman movies.

John Turturro plays Falcone like the creepily charming friend-of-your-parents who only lets on what he wants you to know about him while hiding almost everything else behind a dark pair of sunglasses. He’s the lynchpin of the organized crime angle in The Batman, which is similar to The Dark Knight’s take. But it feels little more legitimate here, both in the way the characters are presented and the places they hang out – most notably The Iceberg Lounge feels like a place you’d stumble across in a back alley and be promptly beaten and chased off the premises by the doormen.

Penguin has only a few scenes, but Colin Farrell makes the most of them. He doesn’t steal the show, but he does justify his place in it. He’s got more flair than Falcone, and less psychosis than Riddler. In the end, he’s set-up as the natural next evolution of a Gotham City gangster.

The best place to discuss the slew of nameless thugs is actually in the next section.

Action Sequences – It took less than ten minutes for The Batman to prove that it would have better hand-to-hand combat fight scenes than any of its predecessors. By the end of the movie, it wasn’t even close. Not many fight scenes spring to mind when thinking about Batman movies. Maybe the Batman vs Catwoman flirt fight from Batman Returns? Or the first Batman vs Bane fight from The Dark Knight Rises? One of the only good scenes from Batman V Superman was the brief battle when Batman took out a warehouse full of bad guys to save Martha Kent, but even that was just one scene.

There are several scenes in The Batman where the caped crusader throws down with henchmen and thugs. Every one of them is better choreographed, and better shot than anything from the earlier films. It helps that this Bat-Costume is actually functional, so Batman can actually move the way someone would in a real fight.

Now, granted, there’s not really any spectacular action set piece. But, let’s be honest, a lot of the time those sorts of scenes end up hurting superhero movies more than helping them. The car chase is pretty bad ass, as is the Batmobile. At one point, Batman escapes from police custody by (reluctantly) leaping off the top of the tallest police station you’ll ever see after converting his suit into a glider. The great thing about this scene is that Batman can barely control his flight, and ends up wiping out in a very painful manner when he tried to stick the landing. His embarrassed, post-crash hobble off into a dark alley was the most relatable Batman has ever been.

Even the big finish works, because it feels like the sort of terrorist attack that could happen tomorrow. It involves using explosives to flood the street of Gotham City, forcing people to take shelter in Gotham Square Garden where Riddler’s cult has gathered in the rafters with high-powered assault rifles. Living in a country were mass shooting happen all too frequently made this hit a little too close to home. But I’d be lying if I said watching Batman beat the sh*t out of those guys didn’t feel damn good.

Bat-Tech – The Batman’s world is a grounded one, even by the standard set by Nolan’s trilogy. So, the tech that Batman uses is pretty basic (by Batman’s standards). His suit does seem like the most functional one, and he seems to have a full range of motion. Hell, he can even turn his head. Which explains the high collar, as it hides the flexible neck piece. The suit is armored, but more aesthetically pleasing than Christian Bale’s mishmash of plates.

The bat symbol itself isn’t quite as prevalent as Michael Keaton’s iconic yellow-and-black, but its more pronounced than most other versions. Also, despite rumors that Pattinson’s symbol was made by deconstructing the gun used to kill his parents, it’s actually a double-edged utility knife than comes in very handy a few times in the movie’s third act.

Pattinson’s suit does come with some other very cool amenities. There is a taser build into one of the gloves, and a Bat-Grapnel that pops out from his gauntlets whenever needed. There’s also the aforementioned ability of his cape to transform into a glider.

The Batmobile is a nasty, bat-out-of-hell muscle car. It’s got flashing lights, and growls like a monster in a dark cave before the attack. Not as sleek as Keaton’s, nor as tank-like as Bale’s or Affleck’s, but still a really sweet ride that is put to good use when chasing down The Penguin.

The last, and most high-tech, gadget is a pair of contact lenses that record everything Batman sees while wearing them. It’s a very clever device that explains how Batman can work on a case without having access to police files. I’m kind of surprised that no one thought to use something like them before, but they are the tool of a detective, and make all the sense in the world for the first real Batman-As-Detective movie.

Gotham City – More of a non-descript cityscape in the Nolan mold than Burton’s operatic, Expressionist wonderland, The Batman’s Gotham City was not especially memorable. The advantage it had over most previous versions, though, is that it feels more genuinely lived-in. We see the interiors of different buildings, and each is distinct in its own way. Being able to see the characters move and interact inside these locations does make one feel more immersed in the world.

This is more of a compliment for the cinematography than the setting itself, but the beginning of the movie sets a real shadow world vibe. In Batman’s voiceover, another new touch that made the movie feel more true to the comics, he admits that the city is too big for him to be everywhere. But a short montage of criminals staring with fear at dark corners, dark alleys, and dark stairwells emphasizes Batman’s other point that his the fear he instills comes from the fact that – even though he can’t be everywhere – no one knows where exactly he is either. In some ways, that’s almost as good as being everywhere at once.

End Spoilers For The Batman

I‘m going to wrap things up with my new personal ranking of Batman films. Take it or leave it, as I said in the beginning, these things are always subjective.
But here we go:

The Batman
The Dark Knight
Batman Returns
Batman Begins
Batman ’89
The Dark Knight Rises
Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice
Justice League: The Snyder Cut
Batman Forever
Batman: The Movie (1966)
Justice League: The Whedon Cut
Batman & Robin

Ranking The Films Of The DC Multiverse

January 26, 2021 by Joe

Since Warner Bros and DC have decided to officially open up the multiverse, I figured now was as good a time as any to list my personal ranking.

This list is primarily based on how much I enjoy each film. Some I’ve seen more recently than others, but I’ve seen every one more than once, so I feel like I’ve got a pretty solid base to work with.

The qualifying criteria to make the list is that it needs to be live action, and a film. Believe me, I know very well that there are a number of awesome animated shows and movies, but this list would be insanely long and complicated if I’d included them.

I debated whether or not to include the Watchmen HBO miniseries, but it is technically a TV show, so I opted not to. The list does, however, include the Watchmen movie from 2009 that brought us (is to blame for?) the Snyderverse vision of the DCEU.

The Dark Knight – Some choices are obvious ones, even if we’d like to shake things up a little bit. But this is best live action versions of Batman, and the Joker, and is directed by Chris Nolan at the top of his game. I do knock it a bit for the somewhat rushed, and abbreviated, Two-Face origin and resolution. But that’s not quite enough to knock it out of the #1 spot.

Batman (1989) – This one came out when I was 10 years-old and, to this day, I can still quote it nearly verbatim. My mom took me to see the movie, and we waited in-line for hours while showing after showing sold out. Then, in a ballin’ mom moment, she decided to let me stay up for a midnight show. That left a huge impression on me, and so did this movie. It’s iconic in many ways, and so it finds itself at #2 with a bullet.

SHAZAM! – This one being ranked so high frankly shocked even me. But I’ve seen it a few times, so the rewatchability factor is strong, and I’ve even shown it to my 5 year-old son. I just really love its Gremlins/Goonies sort-of-horror vibe. The fact that it is clearly based in a world where our favorite superheroes exist, and the characters respond to those heroes exactly like you’d imagine people would, makes me feel pretty good about placing it this high.

Batman Begins – A true turning point in the superhero movie genre. Coming out in 2005, it took what worked in the Tim Burton films, as well as in more recent comic flicks like Blade and X-Men, and took things to the next level. A much needed course correction after Batman Forever and Batman & Robin sent the Bat franchise flying off the rails.

Wonder Woman – Just a super-solid film, top-to-bottom (barring a slightly miscalculated CGI smackdown in the climax). But everything about the movie worked: From its characterizations, to its humor, and its heart. The No Man’s Land reveal and scene, leading directly into the liberation of the small village is one of the most rousing 15 minutes you’ll ever see in a superhero film. I’m not sure you’ll ever see a more perfectly cast Wonder Woman than Gal Gadot.

Batman Returns – I like Christmas, and find carnivals slightly unnerving, so this was right up my alley. Definitely had more Tim Burton DNA than the 1989 movie, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Still a highly watchable film.

Aquaman – I never had much interest in the guy who can talk to fish, but this movie turned me around almost entirely by itself. By tapping into the Arthurian Legend side of Aquaman’s story, it was able to transform the underwater world into an eye-popping extravaganza. A charismatic lead performance by Jason Momoa also helped get me onboard for the ride.

Man Of Steel – This one took a bit of a pounding in the years after its release for the mass destruction of Metropolis, but I don’t think the casualty rate was intentional when it was being made. I did re-watch it recently and, while I still don’t care at all for Kevin Costner and Zack Snyder’s characterization of Jonathan Kent, there is still a lot I like. Henry Cavill is a fine Superman, Amy Adam is always reliable, and I somehow forgot that Russell Crowe was in this movie. But the superfights, for all their (presumably) unintended consequences, were the sort I’d wanted to see ever since I first saw our next entry.

Superman II – Lots of problem with this one, especially with an uneven tone that likely was spawned by passing through several different screenplays, and directors. But Christopher Reeve will always epitomize the big screen Superman in a way that no one else can. Terence Stamp is a lot of fun, and don’t think “Kneel before Zod” hasn’t been kicking around in my lexicon for 35 years. But there was another great line that sometimes doesn’t get its due for boiling down the greatness of the Man of Steel into one question “General, would you care to step outside?”

The Dark Knight Rises – I think this one suffered greatly from the loss of Heath Ledger, as having the Joker play a sort of Hannibal Lector monster-in-a-glass-cage role would have been a real treat. Some of the twists seem obvious and unneeded, and the natural upping of the sequel’s scale got a little unwieldy. But Tom Hardy is legitimately frightening as Bane, Anne Hathaway is a decent Catwoman, and Christian Bale nails it one last time as Bruce Wayne/Batman.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League – You can find my deep dive right here.

Superman: The Movie – Yes, this is the one that started it all, but it doesn’t really hold up all that well to a modern eye. The pacing is a bit too methodical once you’ve seen literally dozens of these films razzle and dazzle you from start-to-finish in the proceeding years. Lex Luthor & company are too jokey for my taste, Lois Lane’s “Can you read my mind” inner monologue/poem is hokey as hell, and Superman spinning the world backwards will never not get an eye-roll from me. Still, I’ve got to respect what it was able to do by kicking door open for all the comic book adaptations that would later come.

Superman Returns – I could (and likely will) write a whole separate blog about how this was the single biggest missed opportunity in the history of comic book films. But, for now, I’ll just focus on why it appears in this spot on my list. There are things I like: The costume looks great, Brandon Routh is a good Man of Steel, and Kevin Spacey delivers as Lex Luthor (and that’s all I’ll say about Spacey at this time), and its overall vibe feels about right. But its devotion to the first two Superman films from another era is a problem. I mean, one of the main plotlines stems from Superman II’s bizarre, and morally-disturbing-in-hindsight Super Amnesia Kiss. Also, the fact they chose not to have Superman face off with a physical threat in 2006 – when they had the technology to make it work- was a really questionable choice.

Wonder Woman 1984 – I feel like history will be kinder to WW84 than the immediate backlash was. Kristen Wiig is fine as the friend-turned-super-enemy, and Pedro Pascal is clearly having a ball. But they probably should have chosen one villain or the other, rather than trying to cram them both into a single film. Still, unlike the movies lower on the list, I wouldn’t really call WW84 a bad film. Though, it certainly could have been better.

Justice League (The Whedon Cut)- This felt like a 2 or 3 episode arc of the animated Justice League cartoon. And I say that as both a compliment, and a complaint. It was as quick, and to-the-point as the animated series, which would have worked just fine it if wasn’t also was chopped-up, reshot, undercooked, and overbaked. But I’d be lying if I said that Superman showing up just in the nick of time (weird CGI’d upper lip and all) and throwing a full-on beatdown on the heretofore unbeatable big bad Steppenwolf, doesn’t still make me smile.

Birds Of Prey – I was glad that Margot Robbie had a chance to do a little more justice to Harley Quinn than she was given in Suicide Squad. But the other protagonists of Black Canary and Huntress simply didn’t make any impression on me. Maybe, if they’d had them in cooler, more comics-accurate costumes, it would have been a bit more striking. Who knows? Maybe their lack of screen time together would have been a deal-breaker regardless. But Ewan McGregor and Chris Messina are fascinatingly unsettling, and that keeps this movie ranked about the bottom tier.

Joker – A very mediocre movie buoyed by a great lead performance by Joaquin Phoenix. I don’t have a lot more to say about this movie as-a-whole since, like I said, I felt everything other than the lead role was pretty “meh”. I will say that, when Phoenix finally dons the make-up, and blasts the punchline into Robert DeNiro’s face, I had to nod in-approval. Too bad they waited until the last 15 minutes of the movie to actually get to the “Joker” part.

Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice – I wanted to love this movie from the time I saw the first teaser trailer, all the way up until the final frame. But it failed on virtually every level. If they had re-written the Bruce Wayne part to be Lex Luthor, and completely dropped the Riddler-esque version of Luthor Jesse Eisenberg deposited on-screen, this movie may well have been near the top of my list. But grim-and-gritty doesn’t work for Superman, and we really didn’t need to get to Doomsday so quickly. The fact that Snyder felt the need to kill Superman three different times in this movie probably tells you all you need to know about how he feels about the character. Batman simply drops too many bodies to ignore, though the warehouse fight may have been the best Batman fight captured on film. Wonder Woman was a nice surprise, but not nearly enough to save BvS from itself.

Batman Forever – Sort of caught between the goth world of Batman Returns and the pinball machine aesthetic of Batman & Robin, this one had a few redeeming qualities. Val Kilmer is pretty decent as both Bruce Wayne and Batman, for example. The movie is amusing enough to sit through without being aggressively terrible. But Tommy Lee Jones plays Two-Face completely wrong. He really shouldn’t have tried to out Jim Carrey Jim Carrey (who is, somehow, more nuanced in his role as The Riddler than Jones is). I normally like Chris O’Donnell, but they really should have gone for a younger Dick Grayson/Robin.

Watchmen – The movie looks great, so I can understand why WB liked Snyder enough to usher in their next wave of movies. But, thematically, he’s much too comfortable with Objectivism and mankind’s moral failings to be the right man for bring DC’s most prominently hope-inspiring characters to life. But, those leanings worked well for Watchmen. I almost had this one higher on my list due to a handful of scenes and moments that were really cool. But, ultimately, they never should have tried to adapt this with anything less than 10 hours or so to work with.

Green Lantern – Full disclosure: I totally forgot to add this to my initially published list. But, really, can you blame me? I don’t have a whole lot to say about it. Ryan Reynolds had the completely wrong vibe for Hal Jordan, though he found a superhero sweet spot just a few years later with Deadpool. Presenting Parallax as a giant fart cloud, and Hector Hammond as a walking scrotum probably weren’t great creative choices. But the Lantern costume effects were not terrible. All-in-all, a very forgettable entry in the comic book movie canon.

Movie poster, Superman III, 1983. 1987.0213.032.

Superman III – Weirdly, this was the closest they’ve ever come to unleashing a live action Brainiac. If they ever get around to making a proper Man Of Steel sequel, he needs to be at the top of their villain list. The movie is just not good, and there’s not a whole lot to say about it. The one cool Evil Superman vs Clark Kent junkyard fight that may-or-may-not have been a delusion brought on by a Kryptonite-induced psychotic break is really the only thing keeping this ranked above the bottom-feeders below.

Batman: The Movie (1966) – I mean, they clearly made exactly what they wanted to make here. It just so happens that it doesn’t work for me at all. This silly movie, and the silly show that followed, are the reason why no one tried to make a remotely serious superhero movie until 1978. But, again, they did all that on-purpose. Which is the only thing that separates Batman: The movie from the remaining films on the list.

Superman IV: The Quest For Peace – My dad took my to see this on when I was 8 years-old, and I’m pretty sure the Nuclear Man scratching Superman’s neck with his radioactive fingernail thus somehow transforming the Man of Steel into a cardigan-wearing elderly man made me cry. But, anyone older than 8 years-old, can see just how cheaply this was made. And just how minimal the effort was to throw the character’s name on a poster, and try to cash in. It’s pretty much unwatchable.

Batman & Robin – The movie that killed Batman movies for almost a decade. I suppose this gaudy piece of eyeball puke was the rock bottom that superhero movies needed in order to reset. So, in that respect, I suppose we owe it a weird debt of gratitude. Just not enough of a debt to ever sit through it again.

Suicide Squad – Just a complete mess, pure and simple. Like Justice League, this one was all chopped up, and then Frankensteined back together two or three times, and it shows. The difference is that Justice League at least had iconic characters that I wanted to see on-screen. Suicide Squad did not, to say the least. Characters are introduced multiple times, and extremely lazy song needle drops pervade the entire first act. The story itself makes zero sense starting right from Viola Davis’ (as Amanda Waller) question “What if Superman had decided to grab the President of the United States right out of the Oval Office? Who would’ve stopped him?” The answer is the same as my answer regarding who I want to watch a movie about: “Absolutely not any of these guys.”

Defending The Justice League

November 25, 2017 by Joe

Justice League opened last weekend with a disappointing $96 million domestic box office gross (though it made about twice that much overseas). Expensive, and extensive, reshoots were clearly a part of the reason why this is a disappointing opening. But the important thing is that the reshoots worked, and the movie is closer to what it needs to be that it would have otherwise been.

Spoilers Ahead.

The best summation I can offer is that this movie felt like a two-hour episode of the Justice League cartoon that I always was (and still am) a big fan of. It was pretty simple, very streamlined, and actually fun. This is a good thing compared to where the DC Expanded Universe was previously.

This movie had to accomplish some lofty goals and, for the most part, it attained those goals. Aquaman, Flash, and Cyborg came in with a clean slate, and they each acquitted themselves well. Wonder Woman was coming off her own excellent movie (far and away the best of the DCEU so far), so she came in with some cred and swagger. Batman and Superman, however, were in need of massive image rehab after the character assassination that was Batman v. Superman.

Batman and Superman were both in fairly decent shape coming into BvS. Christopher Nolan had made three damn good Batman movies since 2005 (not technically part of the DCEU) and unlike many people, I rather liked Man Of Steel. The issues that I had with it had nothing to do with Henry Cavill’s performance. My main gripe was the way Jonathan and Martha Kent gave the sort of life lessons to Clark that would make more sense in the Bizarro Earth.

Sure, Man Of Steel was far from perfect, but it did have the best live action Superman fight sequences of all time (massive Metropolis civilian body count aside). Then BvS made Superman a pouty Emo boy, and Batman a murdery, caped Punisher. The less said of everything Lex Luthor-related, the better. So Justice League’s primary mission had to be “Make the audience want to see more Batman and Superman movies.” To that I say mission accomplished.

Yes, the movie had issues. The flow of the movie felt choppy in places, and the CGI looks a lot cheaper than the supposed price tag would suggest. I suspect that both of these issues were due, in large part, to the necessary reshoots. The important thing is that I came out of the movie actually looking forward to seeing more movies starring any and all of these characters.

The Flash has most of the best lines. Aquaman seems like a cool hang. Cyborg’s story looks like it could go to some interesting places. Wonder Woman is still all good. Batman plays more like a Caped Crusader than a bloodthirsty maniac. And, out of all this, Superman was probably the highlight of the film for me.

For the first time since Superman II (1980) I was able to look at that character on the big screen and say “Now THAT is freakin’ Superman!” (Honorable mention to Brandon Routh and Tyler Hoechlin, who played decent Supermen with sub-par action surrounding them). A sort-of-amnesiac Man of Steel taking on the rest of the League is a cool set piece, but his big return in the climax of the film is what really won me over.

When he arrives just in the nick of time to give the team the final push towards victory, and those few notes of John Williams’ classic Superman Theme hits, it almost impossible not to get goose bumps. I’ll admit that Danny Elfman sampling his own Batman Theme along with Williams’ is a bit of a cheat code, but damned if they didn’t do the trick.

Anyway, Supes lays some smackdown on a giant alien bully, flies off to save a literal building full of civilians, then flies back to beat the crap out of the bad guy some more. It was the perfect use of Superman. If they can keep that going, then the granddaddy of all superheroes’ future is in a very good place.

Don’t get me wrong, the next round of films still need to be better. But, after Wonder Woman and this, I feel like the compass needle of the DCEU is finally pointing true north. Now, DC’s most iconic villains – Lex Luthor and The Joker – are still in desperate need of some character rehab. But at least DC/WB finally looks they they’re aware of that fact. And, hey, retcons have been a part of comic books almost as long as capes and tights have. So there’s hope.

I’m of the belief that having more good comic book movies is a wonderful thing. Marvel Studios has been banging them out of ten years now, hopefully Warner Bros comes to the understanding that the loss they may take from Justice League will lead to bug gains in the future. After all, if they started out making the movie they ended up making, it would have been cheaper (relatively speaking) and better.

Besides, you’ve still got a few weeks before The Last Jedi opens, and Justice League is definitely worth the fairly meager 110 minutes of your time. Did I mention this movie runs under two hours? It’s a nice break from the regularly inflated comic book movie runtime, and is another point in the film’s favor. So my real review is this: Go ahead and give it a shot. If you go in with realistic expectations, you won’t be disappointed. And, honestly, that’s only the second time I can really say that about the DCEU.

Batman v Superman v Batman & Superman

March 29, 2016 by Joe

I’m about to lay out my take on Batman v Superman, so be warned, there are massive spoilers ahead.

The majority of reviews were pretty harsh on this movie and, to be honest, mine will be as well. But there were some things I liked about Batman v Superman, so I’m going to hit on those first.

One big positive takeaway was that Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot were both very good in their roles. They really did the best you could expect actors to do considering the material they have to work with. Their performances managed to get me interested in seeing solo Batman and Wonder Woman films. One other sort of character note was that Doomsday was scary as hell, so they nailed that.

This movie, like any other Zack Snyder film (even Sucker Punch), was great looking. Say what you will about his movies as a whole – and I will do so below – but the guy knows how to work an aesthetic. A more specific example of this is that, like in Man Of Steel, the fight scenes were all very well executed and exciting.

Some of the content from said fight sequences were questionable, but you can’t question that they were purely visceral. I’d like to also single out the scene towards the end where Batman systematically takes out a group of thugs is genuinely the best cinematic realization I’ve ever seen of the Dark Knight in full ass kicking mode.

Now for the rest.

Batman v Superman was absolutely joyless. Everyone acted like a dick to everyone else, and it seemed like the movie took place in a parallel world where smiles were punishable by death.

I’ve seen Henry Cavill be charming in other things, like The Tudors and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. But he’s not allowed a single moment of levity in this movie. Superman was all dour and depressed and nothing else. You think that you’d got to at least give the guy a chance to show how simply awesome it is to be Superman, but apparently you’d be wrong.

There’s a montage of him saving people and, in every example shown, he looks like he’s pissed off at having to pull these fools’ asses out of the fire (literally in some cases). That is not Superman. Superman, in pretty much ever incarnation, enjoys saving people and gets a sense a purpose and satisfaction from doing so. Zack Snyder’s version has more in common with Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen, a distant and removed God among mortals doing what we must for no other reason than because it’s expected of him.

I’m well aware that Snyder directed a pretty good adaptation of Watchmen in 2009, but he clearly didn’t understand that Dr. Manhattan was meant to stand in stark contrast to Superman. He was written to be a version of Superman who lost his humanity, which is quite possibly the defining characteristic of Kal El. Even clinically gloomy Alan Moore wrote a more relatable Superman in stories like Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow and For The Man Who Has Everything.

Batman, meanwhile, was blowing people up left and right with no regard for whether they lived or died. That works for a certain type of protagonist, but it is not who Batman is. Tossing severe beatings to the bad guys is very much within the Dark Knight’s wheelhouse, and flipping over their cars is par for the course. But Zack Snyder could not lay off the explosions. A flipped car here and there is cool but, for crying out loud, they do not need to explode and ensure that everyone in the theater has no doubt that those dudes are dead.

I was willing to give Jesse Eisenberg the benefit of the doubt in his portrayal of Lex Luthor, even though the trailers gave me some pause. But he played Luthor as a jittery bundle of nerves, which seemed like the exact opposite of an appropriate characterization. I’m all for giving an established character a bit of a different spin, but completely routing out the traditional cold and calculating core of Lex Luthor is doing a disservice to the character.

Which brings up to the real problem. Warner Bros has never trusted the source material for their DC comics adaptations. Meanwhile, Marvel pretty much films the trade paperbacks panel by panel. As such, WB gave the keys to Zack Snyder and David Goyer, neither of whom seems to have any real affinity for the legendarily storied history of Batman or Superman.

Everything is darker, grittier, more violent, and more melancholic than it ought to be. And this comes from a guy who really liked the dark, gritty, violent Dark Knight Trilogy. But it’s just not the right tone for a movie that includes Superman and Wonder Woman. If I had to guess, I’d say the general flaw in their thinking is that they need to makes things as stylistically different from the generally bright and sunny tones of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As a result, they’ve painted themselves into a corner.

Yes, Batman should have some edge and darkness. But Superman is meant to represent the diametric opposite of that. If the symbol on his chest stands for hope, then why is his outlook – and the outlook of this film – so hopeless? BvS just came off as Dark v Darker, and this ain’t Punisher v Wolverine (as awesome as that would be). The filmmakers simply pressed too hard for distance between their brand and the Marvel brand, and ended up in a shadow realm.

WB Films should take some notes from their TV brethren. Greg Berlanti and his team have made a fully fleshed out and realized world that is the closest thing to a comic book brought to life ever seen to television. Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl bring the heart and the fun to the party. In fact, the recent crossover episode they had might as well have been called Supergirl xo The Flash.

But these shows also manage to hit the darker notes when they need to. The big difference being that they don’t start off somber leaving only a deeper abyss to descend into when they want to raise the stakes. When you feel the need to have Superman beaten down by Batman, blown up by a nuclear missile, and THEN stabbed through the chest by Doomsday in the same night to make a point about how hard it is to be a hero, then maybe you ought to reconsider your starting point.

There were other issues with BvS, such as too many nonsensical subplots, and an Apokolips teasing dream/vision sequence that absolutely no one would have missed had it ended up on the cutting room floor. Yes, it was cool to see parademons, Darkseid’s omega symbol burned into the ground and the classic Apokolips fire pits. But all that ate up 10 minutes of screen time that did nothing to serve the story as a whole.

Here’s the thing, I did appreciate the film for what it was. It had a lot of heavy lifting to do in order to be the launching point for a new muti-film franchise. It wasn’t what I’d call enjoyable, but I will certainly watch it again when it’s released on home video, even if I happen to zone out through a good half of it. And I am glad that it had a massive, record breaking opening weekend. A unified DC Universe deserves the chance to exist on the big screen. The upcoming films on the slate simply need to do better in terms of quality.

Maybe giving Snyder and Goyer a little time out, and allowing some DC people like Geoff Jones and CW people like Berlanti a place at the table would be beneficial. I’m not especially hopeful that WB suddenly decides that 80 years of continuous interest can translate to the movies, or that Snyder and Goyer will step back and re-evaluating their vision for the DC Cinematic Universe.

But the world of pop culture and entertainment will be a more interesting place with good, proper DC movies hitting the theaters every year. I just hope they can get out of their own way enough to get it right.

DarkLight: Origins

August 17, 2015 by Joe

Since I’ve just published my fourth novel, DarkLight Redemption, I feel like it’s a good time to discuss a bit about the origins and influences of DarkLight the character.

I’m a big comic book geek, and have been for a very long time. I love the larger than life action, the colorful costumes, the different spins they put on archetypal characters, really the whole shebang. Perhaps my favorite story trope is the loyal sidekick learning alongside the great hero and being groomed to one day replace him. Something about the idea of such a legacy always appealed to me.

The most famous example of this is Batman & Robin…well, Robins. Dick Grayson was the first Robin, and generally came across as a lot less intense and more personable that Bruce Wayne’s Batman. And while the idea of following around a superhero and learning from him is cool, my greater interest was in the idea that one day Dick Grayson would need to replace Bruce Wayne under the cowl. The idea of such a responsibility is very daunting to Grayson, but he also understands that Bruce will die someday, and he will be the only one who is truly able to step up.

Of course, DC Comics was in no rush to make drastic changes to their most popular character, but they also felt it was a bit odd that Grayson never got any older. So the idea was cooked up to re-brand an older, more mature Dick Grayson as Nightwing. I was fascinated with the notion of allowing a major recurring character to evolve, which is probably why Nightwing became my favorite superhero. He was a guy in his late teens-early twenties who was trying to carve out his own place in the world, while still understanding his place in the line of succession of Batman.

Other former sidekicks got “called up” before Nightwing, most notably his best friend Wally West/Kid Flash who became The Flash once Barry Allen was killed off in Crisis On Infinite Earths. But, eventually, Grayson got his chance to assume the role of Batman in the Batman Reborn storyline after the death of Bruce Wayne in Final Crisis.

A few years before that, however, the character who replaced Grayson as Robin- only to be killed off by The Joker– returned. Jason Todd came back from the dead (the how and why is better left untouched in this limited space) and took up the name Red Hood. He was more of an anti-hero than straight up villain who used the type of lethal force more akin to Marvel’s Punisher than Batman.

Speaking of Marvel, they had a similar story arc at around the same time where former Captain America sidekick Bucky Barnes came back as The Winter Soldier. Both of these characters became major parts of the ongoing adventures of Batman and Captain America. In fact, much like Dick Grayson becoming Batman, Barnes ended up carrying the shield as Captain America after Steve Rogers was killed off.

This is where I’m going to begin to tie everything to DarkLight Redemption. Character-wise, DarkLight is most similar to Dick Grayson. I even pay homage to the period in his run as Robin/Nightwing, when he led the Teen Titan (later known just as Team Titans and then just Titans) which was the inspiration for Varsity Squad in my book. But DarkLight’s character arc resides somewhere between Grayson and Jason Todd/Bucky Barnes, in that he does reluctantly become a supervillain. I’ll leave the specifics of that to be discovered by those who read the book.

There are also, of course, real world inspirations for DarkLight. I believe anyone who had been through – or is currently in – their twenties can relate to the idea of feeling as though they are at a crossroads in their lives. There are many paths that can be followed, and every decision you make leads you farther down one or another.

The sense of trying to make one’s parents, or parental figures, proud while still trying to blaze your own trail is one that I’m sure also strikes a chord in many of us. The legacy they are faced with living up to is far more dramatic that the one that most of us in the real world face, but the idea is the same. Maybe that, more than anything else, is why drew me to the Nightwings, Red Hoods and Winter Soldiers of the comic book universe.

Speaking of universes, I’ll probably be writing something up regarding the influences for the Post-Human Universe at large soon as well. Until I do, feel free to get started on DarkLight Redemption today! You can purchase the book in paperback, or follow me on Wattpad where I’ll be posting chapters weekly.

The Alpha Breakdown – Story

June 29, 2015 by Joe

Now it’s time for the last part of my three part series breaking down The Alpha. This one will focus on the influences and inspirations for the story itself.

**There are spoilers involved so, if you haven’t read The Alpha (or The Pack for that matter), you may want to skip this until after you have.**

As mentioned in the characters post, the main theme of The Alpha is finding where you belong in the world. Of course, that also involves resolving past traumas and moving on to where you’re meant to be.

That the characters are working through their tragic pasts also allowed me to go a bit lighter with the tone. Which makes sense since who didn’t have a better time in college than in high school? You get a fresh lease on life, and you really are more well equipped to handle the emotional landmines that life lays in front of you.

I’ve also always been intrigued by the idea of secret societies directing the course of the world for their own nefarious ends. I was glad to have Hadrian Graysmith’s long tendrils give me a chance to explore that in this novel.

I wanted to change the mechanics of the story to differentiate it from the dread of the unknown that permeated The Pack. That is why I presented a trio of fully-formed venatores in the prime of their lives. In a way it was me reliving the excitement I felt when Star Wars: Episode One promised to show us that sort of fully-trained Jedi.

Luke never really became a true Jedi, Yoda and Obi Wan were past their primes, Darth Vader was an abomination, and The Pack only really showed Jack Halliday doing his best after being on a 10 year bender. Meanwhile, Craig, Izzy and Michael are all in mid-season form. I do rather hope that The Alpha was executed better than Episode One, but that’s still what planted the seed.

I also wanted to get into more action in this book than in The Pack, which built up the tension for the first two-thirds of the story before unleashing the horrific fury of violence of the last third. Allow me to indulge myself and discuss my favorite action set pieces from The Alpha.

The subway train/tunnel massacre was inspired by my many subway rides that were spent imagining what would happen if the train were suddenly attacked by monsters. What can I say, being stuck in a subterranean metal tube causes my mind to wander. It was also inspired a bit by the cult classic C.H.U.D, the creatures from which I also spent time looking for in the darkened tunnels that shot off in all directions.

That led directly to Michael winning a hard fought battle against a horde of vampires, and then moving directly onto the big boss. The rooftop pummeling was my chance to lay some groundwork similar to Batman: Knightfall, wherein our hero is not really prepared to deal with his nemesis and so is nearly beaten to death by him. That, of course, sets up the big rematch at the end.

Michael and Natalie as reluctant partners has its roots in most buddy cop movies or team-ups similar to Buffy & Spike or Daredevil & The Punisher. The pair fighting their way up the Graysmith Enterprises building was inspired by a number of sources as well. Not the least of which would be Ong Bak 2, The Raid and Dredd.

Alpha Michael vs Vamp Lord Graysmith was probably based more on the countless hours of pro wrestling I’ve watched over the years than anything else. Natalie cleaning up after Michael, and being the one who actually finishes off Graysmith, was just a fun twist on the typical End Boss Battle.

That concludes my three part blog breaking down The Alpha. I hope you found it insightful and, if you haven’t yet read The Venator Series, maybe it will inspire you to do so. There will be another Venator Series entry in the near future, but be on the lookout for a couple of other works coming from me in the even nearer future.

Thanks for stopping by, and keep readin’!

Joe Mikolay

Author Of The Venator Series

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