How long before the fan community turns on the Nolan films?

[DACrowe]

Originally Posted by The Batman

Honestly...I'm not even phased by this if it happens.

Nolan's legacy will stay in tact for the most part. The only people who'd have a problem with bashers are Nolan fans...and some of those fans were the same people who were all too eager to bash the Burton films, as anyone who was around in 2005-2008 can attest to.

Not only that, as much as I like the Nolan franchise, he is not the end all be all. For example, I've still yet to see Bruce Wayne truly reach his onscreen potential, as much as I love Michael Keaton and Christian Bale.

I used to get annoyed by this. Like when it happened to Burton or Raimi. But I've either just grown used to it or am so satisfied with the Nolan movies, I don't care. This thread is more just predicting the future for posterity's sake.

As for getting Bruce Wayne right. I personally love Bale's performance in every way save the voice. But after three films, I've learned to accept it. When I just the intensity he displays behind the mask and the way he moves and acts, he really did feel like the Bruce/Batman I always wanted (in the first two anyway. Nolan takes him on a journey in the third into uncharted territory and i love that too).

But I see your point.

[Rockbottom]

I simply wont. Someone could come along and make a better Batman movie or one that is exactly to my tastes and I'll still support Nolan 100%. Also if there was ever a time to support Nolan, the crew and the character of Batman, the time is now

[jonathancrane]

Kevin Williamson wrote that pop culture has become the politics of our times (paraphrased.) It is accurate: there are conservative thinkers who do not want a film series, while the liberal element welcomes it. And, once the status quo changes, there is a reversal of opinion.

There is going to be a backlash against Nolan's films, as there was when Webb took over, and there will be when someone else takes over.

Nolan's films are going to remain my favorite live action adaptation of Batman. Does that mean they are perfect and any criticism towards them is without validity? No. Art is a subjective medium, and everybody's opinion is valid.

And I will leave with this: Maguire's Spider-Man is the only one, by my reckoning. ASM has better writing, design, and villains, but watching the written Peter was an exceptionally painful and cruel punishment. Hopefully someone else will handle the character's creation next time around.

[Two-Face]

I still like Tim Burton's Batman and I will like Chris Nolan's Batman as well but I don't know if I like future films yet, we will see what happens.

[TanneRain]

No because I'm not insane.

[Mr. Wooden Alligator]

Nolan understood some of the Batman mythos and his films played to his strengths. I love this trilogy, and its possible that the next director will have an equal understanding of some other facet of the mythology. So I wouldn't really like one over the other, or feel a need to tear one of them down to make the other look good.

I'm excited about a new take on the characters, but this trilogy needs some time to sink in. Too much of a good thing will make you sick.

[The Guard]

I think the allusion to other franchises being "turned on" is a bit hyperbolic. It doesn't happen "all or nothing" like that.

I don't see how pointing out legitimate flaws is "turning on" a director. Christopher Nolan's Batman franchise has had some key strengths, and some key weaknesses, as an adaption, from pretty much Day One.

There's a way to approach analyzing his films in a bit more balanced manner than "I love it" or "I hate it", but since most fans seem to think in black and white terms, that doesn't happen very often.

Any "backlash" that occurs will occur because of existing issues that people have started, as a whole, to recognize after the "luster" of something new wears off.
But I think people will still largely enjoy this franchise and its high points.

All i know is the entire Internet was "drinking the koolaide" in 2005 after eight years of absence following the heartbreaking "film" that was Batman & Robin. Then in 2008

No they weren't. Fans HATED a lot of what was shown from BATMAN BEGINS until the first trailer. People *****ed about the suit being rubber again, The Tumbler's design and name and lack of bat-motif, The Scarecrow, the inclusion of Rachel Dawes, differences in the comics, etc, etc, etc. It took a while for people to "come around" with BEGINS.

[ultimatefan]

I don´t see so much as a turn as what we always see, the usual same people trying to tell themselves that people are "opening their eyes" and "finally realizing they´re not that great" that you see to every other critically-praised, popular superhero movies, and that, almost always, are nothing but the same people posting their complaints over and over again, the same people who were already complaining before they saw a single second of footage of any of the movies.

The closest thing to an actual turn I´ve seen was on Sam Raimi, but it happened mostly because of the third movie´s negative reception, which for these people became their "vindication", as well liked as the first two movies still actually are, when you look at the majority of fans and critics.

Also some people - again, the same usual ones - tried to completely dismiss Bryan Singer´s work out of not liking SR, even though his first two X-Men are still very much appreciated, and his work producing XMFC became testimony to that.

[jmc]

Originally Posted by DACrowe

Out of curiosity which superhero movies do you think Nolan's take influenced? I would definitely say TASM was more than a little inspired by Nolan. I also think there was some BB influence on IM1. Any others? Those are the two most obvious for me.

Obviously those ones, Man of Steel also, but think about it, if Batman Begins doesn't get made then Iron Man is a completely different movie, maybe it doesn't even get made at all, thus no Marvel Universe and no Avengers, hell no Green Lantern (which may have been a better outcome lol) so Batman Begins really is the starting point for this new wave of superhero films, films which are treated far more seriously, where the acting and story are far more important.

[VM1138]

The contrarian culture we have means it's already happening.

Dane Cook did a skit where he basically said people should have realized in the first 25 minutes that TDKR was garbage. Yeah, it's a joke, but seriously? I know some people prefer TDK or BB, but objectively I see no way that TDKR could be a BAD movie. Not to mention people love it and it's making tons of cash.

It's our modern culture. With media 24/7 people get attention by trashing anything popular. It happened with Avengers. It happened with Avatar. Even TDK had some people who bashed it, and they will only get louder as the years go on. Even The Godfather has bashers.

I think it's pretty fair to say that, like them or not, The Dark Knight Trilogy was remarkably consistent in quality. Nolan himself, getting so popular, naturally is developing an anti-Nolan crowd. Everything that goes up must come down.

But whatever they say, I look around at everyone I know and they all (with the exception of maybe two people) love the entire trilogy and loved TDKR. And that's a wide variety of people. And I look at how TDK impacted culture, and the hype around TDKR and it's hard to argue that the TDK trilogy was not a major cinematic accomplishment in popularity and critical acclaim.

[ultimatefan]

Originally Posted by VM1138

The contrarian culture we have means it's already happening.

Dane Cook did a skit where he basically said people should have realized in the first 25 minutes that TDKR was garbage. Yeah, it's a joke, but seriously? I know some people prefer TDK or BB, but objectively I see no way that TDKR could be a BAD movie. Not to mention people love it and it's making tons of cash.

It's our modern culture. With media 24/7 people get attention by trashing anything popular. It happened with Avengers. It happened with Avatar. Even TDK had some people who bashed it, and they will only get louder as the years go on. Even The Godfather has bashers.

I think it's pretty fair to say that, like them or not, The Dark Knight Trilogy was remarkably consistent in quality. Nolan himself, getting so popular, naturally is developing an anti-Nolan crowd. Everything that goes up must come down.

But whatever they say, I look around at everyone I know and they all (with the exception of maybe two people) love the entire trilogy and loved TDKR. And that's a wide variety of people. And I look at how TDK impacted culture, and the hype around TDKR and it's hard to argue that the TDK trilogy was not a major cinematic accomplishment in popularity and critical acclaim.

Yeah, it´s the troll culture. People always get more attention to their blogs, board messages, etc., by trashing something popular and beloved. Some people here do absolutely nothing but that, which makes it hard to even take their remarks seriously, cuz there´s clearly an agenda to it. They give often downright embarrassing remarks and any good points get buried under them. One of the current internet obsessions is to poke holes in movie´s plots no matter what, often things that are actually pretty clearly explained.

[Bruce Malone]

Why is the poll so biased? I don't think fans will ever turn away en mass from the trilogy. It's pretty much the 1st complete comic trilogy, it's never had a spider-man 3 or Batman and robin of it's own and i'd say one of the better trilogies of all time.

Did fans turn away from the star wars trilogy? the indiana jones? lotr? The Nolan seires will almost always have its fans.

[Kane52630]

Some will once we they announce a new director and some already have. I've always been a fan of Batman so all the Bat films that's been released I have a strong fondness for. So whether it's Adam Wests, Burtons, Schumachers, or Nolans Batman, I love them all.

[robthorn24]

I'd say that more criticism will show up if someone ends up "topping" Nolan's films in the future. For instance I've seen more criticism of Burton's films since Begins came out. I think it will be the same deal again. And don't get me wrong some of the criticism was indeed fair (Batman killing, the Joker killing the Waynes...etc.)

[The Batman]

Originally Posted by Kane52630

Some will once we they announce a new director and some already have. I've always been a fan of Batman so all the Bat films that's been released I have a strong fondness for. So whether it's Adam Wests, Burtons, Schumachers, or Nolans Batman, I love them all.

Yup. Whats equally annoying are the fans who think the entire Bat World should stop spinning because Nolan's done. Screw that, bring on a new take on Bruce Wayne. There are so many aspects of that character that have yet to reach the big screen.

[Doc Samson]

Originally Posted by BatLegend

You are by FAR my favorite poster on these forums by quite a margin. You always keep it real, no pretense, no sensitivity.

I'm not nostalgic to any one vision just because I grew up with it, see Burton's Batman. And make no mistake, yes people jump on the new thing HYPE bandwagon quite often ... but there are the overly fond "nostalgia warriors" as well who defend something even if clearly inferior quality ...

It happens all the time. To heightened extents on SHH. Iron Man 2 was supposedly clearly better than Iron Man on the Marvel boards the 2nd it came out.

Even though to anyone with a brain it was clearly inferior to the original.

I'm already seeing it with TDK Rises. And trust me, I'm a fan of the movie ... but its still way too sloppy and clunky in parts and inferior to TDK for me to lump something so easily over it just because its new.

Wow. Really? Thanks, I'm about to get sentimental and blush

I agree with your post though. I think there's a fine line between general criticism and outright contrarian hate. I believe TDKR is probably the best "#3" of any comic trilogy. I also think it has it's issues, and had they been ironed out, it could've possibly been a masterpiece.

That being said, there's a segment of people who staunchly defend the indefensible, which in turn makes the critique shouted even louder, and it just goes back and forth. Personally, I don't see how anyone could sensibly call any of Nolan's films terrible, Batman or otherwise, but to each his own. On the same token, TDKR had some problems, in my estimation, more than the other two movies did, or at least, in bigger quantities.

I assume if we ever do get a straight comic Batman adaptation, a large number of fans will clamor to it just for the aesthetic, no matter how good or bad the film is. I, for one, would like to see it myself. Honestly, I think it's the only way to go to be fresh. They've done the black rubber suit to death. Let's finally see how the comic Batman in all his glory translates to the big screen. Then we can really have some discussions around here...

[Figs]

Originally Posted by Keyser Soze

I'd like to think the majority of the fan base won't turn on Nolan's films. But there is already a vocal minority talking about how Nolan has "ruined" Batman and we need a new director to reboot the series and "fix" the character.

Most of those types are just rabid fanboys who don't like the movies because they weren't 100% like the comics. As much as I love the Batman comics, I'm a film fan first and I'm happy that we got three good to great Batman films in a row and their all connected with the same director and actors.

I look forward to the next series of films but it's going to be hard to top Nolan...and no, making the next movies more fantasy based like the comics doesn't guarantee they will be better films.

[Kane52630]

Originally Posted by The Batman

Yup. Whats equally annoying are the fans who think the entire Bat World should stop spinning because Nolan's done. Screw that, bring on a new take on Bruce Wayne. There are so many aspects of that character that have yet to reach the big screen.

Agreed, there's so many different ways to approach Batman to where you can make a equally great Batman film and have it be different. For me I would like to see something more 30's 40's in terms of setting with art deco environments like BTAS for the next film series.

[Baneis8feettall]

It will be just like Raimi trilogy except more people will stand by Nolan's movies and backlash new reboot.

Then after movie comes out.. Most of the people will think it's not as good as Nolan's and minorty will say it's the best Batman movie ever. (probably because characters will dress like comics, batman will have generic hero voice, corny action movie with full of fights and explosions)

Like what happened with ASM.

[JonnyT23]

Originally Posted by jmc

Obviously those ones, Man of Steel also, but think about it, if Batman Begins doesn't get made then Iron Man is a completely different movie, maybe it doesn't even get made at all, thus no Marvel Universe and no Avengers, hell no Green Lantern (which may have been a better outcome lol) so Batman Begins really is the starting point for this new wave of superhero films, films which are treated far more seriously, where the acting and story are far more important.

I actually found the Avengers to be a step backwards rather than forwards, as far as taking comic book movies into more "serious" territory goes i.e. story and character over spectacle. Avengers was all about snarky remarks, and CGI, strip those away and you've got nothing left. Other Disney movies, though also made for kids, at least had heart.

[Batmansvoice]

Originally Posted by jmc

It'll never happen. The series was instrumental in changing not only how Batman films are made, but superhero films in general.

That's what they said about Raimi's Spider-man...

[Happy Jack]

I'm sure there will be people who prefer whatever comes next for Batman than what Nolan's done, and if the next take is solid in its own right then there's nothing wrong with that. This is a character that finds strength in reinterpretation. That said, I truly believe the Nolan trilogy will stand the test of time as one of the best cinematic takes on a superhero/comic book property, if not the best. He raised the bar.

[Bruce Malone]

Originally Posted by Batmansvoice

That's what they said about Raimi's Spider-man...

...until spider-man 3. That's what i mentioned in my earlier post while no trilogy is perfect this has come about as close as a comic book franchise has.

There is no x-3 united or spider-man 3 for critics to jump at when looking back. All 3 films have been well received by fans and critics so it will be very hard for a new franchise to take away that luster if ever.

[Steyin]

I wasn't that fond of TDK, and TDKR wasn't that good in my eyes either. I felt that with what BB left us, the possibilities were squandered by TDK. I for one welcome our new alien overlo....er, a future reboot; one with the right amount of "realism" and fantasy merged.

[ShadowBoxer]

To answer your question TC, the fan boy community will start bashing the Nolan Bat films as soon as the new reboot is on the horizon. Some people are true Nolan fans ( like myself) but others are simply bandwagon fans and will ditch Nolan's films with a drop of a hat. It's just how fanboys are..

A good example would be Sam Rami and his Spidey films. During Spider Man 2's glory days, Rami could do no wrong, then Spider Man 3 happened and haters and fanboys quickly turned on. Luckily, TDKR ended up being good so the same fate didn't happen to Nolan.

Actually, there are some Nolan haters around now but their numbers are low so they aren't making much noise yet.