Nolan's Batman, drained of fun?

[Spider-Aziz]

On a different site, people were discussing what would it mean if The Avengers grossed more than The Dark Knight Rises, some summed their thought as; "Avengers would gross more due Nolan's Batman films being too dark depressing"

I see the dark and depressing in the past two movies, but I thought there is enough fun moments to like in them, the movies are nicely balanced and don't give all their focus on dark brooding, and depressing moments

What are your views?

[spider-neil]

the dark style of batman suits the character to a tee, in fact I wish daredevil were handled in the exact same way. give daredevil to fincher.

[Thundercrack85]

Batman is supposed to be fun?

[Boom]

I prefer the darker material for Batman. Always have.

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

I think Nolan is a terrific action director and both his Batman movies, especially the sequel, are fun.

[Cain]

They have their fun moments but the majority of it is so self important that some times those fun moments feel forced and don't connect with me. They just seem out of place. Like a lot of the quippy moments in Begins like "nice coat" and "I've got to get me one of those". In TDK Batman himself came across as too serious.

In the new movie the flying batmobile completely threw me out of the trailer. It wasn't as stylistic as I prefer a flying batmobile to be and seemed way too colorful and thusly out of place for the universe the first 2 movies set up. I could never picture Batman from TDK movie ever smiling and going "heh" like the guy in the comic books. That being said Batman himself is one of my favorite things about TDK unlike most people.

I like the movies well enough though but I think that's what people mean by that. Also that they're not aesthetically stylistic and a bit more vibrant and balanced in tone like The Avengers was. The scales tip more towards a different direction.

It's too muted in terms of tone and color and you even see that same thing carry over in the movies the Nolan Batman influenced like the new Spidey. To be fair though I think Bryan Singer with his after school special and boring as hell at times X-Men movies is more responsible for that sensibility in a lot of modern superhero movies than Nolan was.

After X-Men all of a sudden every exec wanted their superhero properties to be "complex", "real world" and "gritty" even if that only works for a handful of properties (Batman being one of them) as movies like Superman Returns have shown. I guess for me this option about covers it

"The dark mood is highly concentrated, I could barely feel the fun"

[spider-neil]

Originally Posted by Thundercrack85

Batman is supposed to be fun?

the 60's batman and batman and robin were plenty fun

[spider-neil]

Originally Posted by Blitzkrieg Bop

I think Nolan is a terrific action director and both his Batman movies, especially the sequel, are fun.

how is TDK 'fun' there isn't a joke to be had in the entire movie.
well, the pencil trick (which is pretty sadistic) and the 'I'm telling them the whole thing was YOUR idea'.

[Spider-Aziz]

Originally Posted by spider-neil

the dark style of batman suits the character to a tee, in fact I wish daredevil were handled in the exact same way. give daredevil to fincher.

Of course the dark tone fits the character a lot, writers displayed it being more suited after the death of Jason Todd in comics

Originally Posted by Thundercrack85

Batman is supposed to be fun?

It's not about the character being fun, the question is about the franchise being drained period

As dark as The Dark Knight is, fun moments could still be found, whether they'd be in Joker's demented behavior; (magic trick, story behind the scar, interrogation), those are dark moments, but with a touch of humor to be found by some

Batman Begins is dark and brooding as well, but it has even more fun moments than TDK:

• Lucius & the memo near the film end
• Bruce in Wayne Enterprises
• The fight scene revealing Batman

To name a few

[Thundercrack85]

Actually, there were a few scenes. Like Fox and the guy trying to blackmail Batman.

[spider-neil]

Originally Posted by Thundercrack85

Actually, there were a few scenes. Like Fox and the guy trying to blackmail Batman.

'well your suit is pretty 90's'

that line made me giggle

[Spider-Aziz]

Originally Posted by Cain

I could never picture Batman from TDK movie ever smiling and going "heh" like the guy in the comic books.

This line takes me back to this scene



And adaption of certain moments made me prefer Keaton's Batman to Bale

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

Originally Posted by spider-neil

how is TDK 'fun' there isn't a joke to be had in the entire movie.
well, the pencil trick (which is pretty sadistic) and the 'I'm telling them the whole thing was YOUR idea'.

Jokes aren't fun, they're supposed to be funny. A fun movie to me is one that gets me excited. The bank robbery, Batman's intro, the semi truck chase, the Lamborghini bit, and the whole Prewitt building sequence are lots of fun.

[8Diagrams(WU)]

Its funny.

Traditionally, DC was always looked at as the fun comic booky of the two. And Marvel the more down to earth real world approach.

In the movies it seems to be quite the opposite.

[Spider-Aziz]

With Batman I fully support that approach, only problem is a lot of people keep thinking "Batman defeats all"

[ЯɘvlveR]

nolan's tone is ideal for batman. batman is not fun. he's supposed to be dark.

[Cain]

Originally Posted by spider-neil

the 60's batman and batman and robin were plenty fun

So is the comic book Batman. To this very day.

[Greens]

Fun and dark aren't mutually exclusive. I have loads of fun reading dark Batman comics.

[Ultra Nolanite]

Batman begins had more fun monents In part due to the Bond/Q dynamic Bruce and Fox were having. Also seeing HOW Wayne became batman exactly is a fun experience in and of itself.

My guess is TDKR will go back to the fun of BB, seeing how Bruce is gonna reinvent himself and rise out of the mess he's in. Also, there will be lots Of gadgets and Fox moments I hope. Fox and Alfred are the heart of these films.

[jmc]

What difference does it make if the quality of film we're getting is superior to everything else in the genre?

[Optimus_Prime_]

Watching the latest The Dark Knight Rises trailer threw me a bit because it seems like Nolan really is trying for fantastical and unrealistic this time around. I can't say I'm entirely put off by this (Bane's voice on the other hand), and I don't think it's bad if he doesn't just try to make it exactly the same tone and style as the last one.

Nolan seems very incapable of handling things that aren't super-dry. If my dreams were anything like Inception I'd pray for insomnia and find something more entertaining on television. I also thought that movie showed just how bad Nolan is at writing people who seem real. Most of that movie the characters talked endlessly about dream rules and what their job is. Does he really think people talk that way? Dialogue in reality is usually incidental to surroundings. People often kill time by talking about nonsense. Would it kill them to have a discussion in the dream that wasn't about being in the dream. Sports? Weather? Relationships? You could have any manner of personal discussion between two characters and Nolan typically instead opts for his characters to have super serious moral discussions that sound like professors giving each other lectures.

As many have pointed out his humor is very awkward. "Damn good television". Is that what Batman would do? Make light of causing millions of dollars in damage and potentially killing innocent police officers? After all these speeches about grandstanding he's just some thrill seeker? It doesn't seem organic.

One thing I like about the fantastical trailer for TDKR is that I feel Batman himself is not a warm guy and he's not a fun character, but Batman's environment is fun and a little ridiculous. So if Nolan embraces that ridiculousness a bit, and has more fun with what Batman can DO (like fly in bat vehicles that defy physics, or have hokey gadgets, and fight colorful villains) then I have no problem with him being super serious all the time. The warmth doesn't come from Batman, it comes from Gotham, and Nolan's perhaps greatest failing is making Gotham just another city. It looks to me like the trailer is moving away from that entirely...I hope.

[Greens]

Originally Posted by jmc

What difference does it make if the quality of film we're getting is superior to everything else in the genre?

[The Batman]

Sigh.

At this point, I'm really hoping TDKR curb stomps Avengers in terms of attention and BO, when I didnt find myself caring about that all that much. Not because I'm a batfan. Not because I supposedly hate The Avengers (I actually liked it). Not because I like so called "Depressing" films...but just to shut some of you the **** up.

This whole "Every comic movie should be bright and entertaining" bandwagon is already irritating as hell. Especially when you know the next fad will come, and everyone will end up *****ing about The Avengers.

[Troy_Parker]

Why is there not an option that is in favor of Nolan's choices in his Batman movies? Lol, all of the options are essentially the same.

[Spider-Aziz]

Originally Posted by The Batman

Sigh.




This whole "Every comic movie should be bright and entertaining" bandwagon is already irritating as hell. Especially when you know the next fad will come, and everyone will end up *****ing about The Avengers.

The question is:
Do you see the fun to be found within the dark brooding tone of the films?