David Goyer and the DC Films

[batlovescatDC]

David Goyer seems to have become a big go-to guy for DC characters, from co-writing the successful Batman Begins & The Dark Knight with Christoperher Nolan and his brother Jonathan Nolan to co-writing the upcoming Superman reboot, reteaming with with the Nolans. Goyer has also come up with treatments for the DC characters The Flash and Green Arrow (Supermax).

What do you think of him tackling so many of the DC characters? Are there any other characters that you think WB/DC should hire him to write? And what do you expect to see from him in the future with Superman and others?

Discuss!

 

[El Payaso]

I have only seen Batman Begins from what Goyer ahs been involved with. And his writing was the worst of the movie.

 

[Webhead2006]

doesnt hurt to have someone like goyer on these things, plus never know who else ends up taking their hand on later drafts/scripts for productions.

 

[Mr. Earle]

I have only seen Batman Begins from what Goyer ahs been involved with. And his writing was the worst of the movie.

You know that Goyer wrote the primary script which then Nolan took and refined for shooting, right?

Or is it some unwritten law that everything good = Nolan and everything bad = Goyer? Sounds to me like the God/Devil thing.

 

[Donnie Darko]

When partnered with a talented director (Christopher Nolan, Guillermo Del Toro), David Goyer is top notch. There isn't really any doubting that. However, when he doesn't have someone else kind of steering the ship, it kind of falls apart (Blade Trinity). Overall, I like the guy, and I am usually interested in pretty much any project with his name attached to it.

 

[El Payaso]

You know that Goyer wrote the primary script which then Nolan took and refined for shooting, right?

Or is it some unwritten law that everything good = Nolan and everything bad = Goyer? Sounds to me like the God/Devil thing.

There are just facts.

TDK script wasn't written by Goyer and it was immediately much much better.

Now if you think I don't blame Nolan for what BB turned out to be, you're wrong. He should have cut all those one-liners and obvious explanations - and 80% of the times the word "fear" was there.

But this thread is about Goyer.

 

[Donnie Darko]

I actually feel like what elevated the Dark Knight was the performances, especially that of Ledger. I love TDK, but still prefer Batman Begins for some reason or another.

 

[El Payaso]

I actually feel like what elevated the Dark Knight was the performances, especially that of Ledger. I love TDK, but still prefer Batman Begins for some reason or another.

The acting was great, but man, there's no doubt the one-liners were kept to a minimum (and hopefully not put in the worst of moments) and there weren't words repeated 100 times.

 

[Mr. Earle]

The basic script that was used for Begins was Goyer's. I dont know how much of the end result was Nolan's and how much was his, but i gotta say that i loved the end result minus a few stupid moments. The movie was the best Batman origin i have ever encountered and i didnt let some stupid one liners ruin it for me. In fact i prefer BB to TDK even though the latter had a better script.

Jonah is a better writer and i'm sure that both brothers had learned their lesson from BB, and that's why TDK's script was better. But is Jonah a better comic book movie writer? Hm... When it comes to comics, Goyer knows his stuff. He just needs to run his scripts by a good writer so that they can be refined.

 

[El Payaso]

The basic script that was used for Begins was Goyer's. I dont know how much of the end result was Nolan's and how much was his, but i gotta say that i loved the end result minus a few stupid moments.

I didn't know how much was Goyer's. But, as I said, TDK came and showed it to me.

The movie was the best Batman origin i have ever encountered

And the only one at that.

i didnt let some stupid one liners ruin it for me.

Well, if we could just ignore flaws everything in the world would be perfect.

Jonah is a better writer and i'm sure that both brothers had learned their lesson from BB, and that's why TDK's script was better. But is Jonah a better comic book movie writer? Hm... When it comes to comics, Goyer knows his stuff. He just needs to run his scripts by a good writer so that they can be refined.

Sadly the title 'comic book movie writer' does nothing for good results. He might read a lot of comics - just like us, yay - but the final product is what gets the cookie, or not.

 

[Squidboy]

He seems to have his hands in a bunch of comic-book properties coming to life. He wrote all the Blade movies, both of Nolan's Batman movies, Ghost Rider, and one of the Crow sequels. He was also involved with Dark City and Nick Fury, but having not seen them, I can't stand by whether or not he did a good job. With all the others, he did as good a job as he could, I guess, but he really shined on the first two Blade movies and with Nolan.

 

[Mr. Earle]

I didn't know how much was Goyer's. But, as I said, TDK came and showed it to me.

And as i said its also possible that the Nolan's took their lesson from BB and refrained from cheesy one liners in TDK.

And the only one at that.

What do you mean by that? That i havent watched/read another Batman origin? I have read Year One and watched Mask of the Phantasm and neither of these is as good as Begins imho.

Well, if we could just ignore flaws everything in the world would be perfect.

I'm just saying that i enjoyed the movie and thought that it was great too. Would it be better without the "nice coat" line? Sure, but it was a flaw that lasted for a second.

Sadly the title 'comic book movie writer' does nothing for good results. He might read a lot of comics - just like us, yay - but the final product is what gets the cookie, or not.

I agree. I am just saying that he seems to write good comic book stories, he just needs some refinement by a proper writer. On the other hand i dont think that the Nolans could write an enjoyable comic book film. TDK was great, but was it an enjoyable Batman movie? I didnt think so.

 

[Webhead2006]

yea goyer and jonah are fine writers and as long as they are kept in check with each other and who ever is director they work with, along with getting in touch with dc comics they should all be fine.

 

[batlovescatDC]

One other thing that I take into account when it come to Goyer are his unproduced DC scripts.

SuperMax was absolutely amazing and would've made for an awesome Green Arrow fim... minus the fact that Black Canary wasn't in it. I still think that if a GA film gets made, it absolutely needs BC. I also really liked Goyer's take on The Flash.

IDK why the hell neither of these screenplays were used, but I think that never-the-less, we will see Goyer tackle a DC character on his own (as far as writing) and we'll get an amazing film as a result.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

What do you mean by that? That i havent watched/read another Batman origin? I have read Year One and watched Mask of the Phantasm and neither of these is as good as Begins imho.

Batman Year one >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Batman Begins.

Batman mask of the Phantasm >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Batman Begins.

 

[Webhead2006]

well you know its probably due to idiot execs didnt like an idea at the time and all that.

 

[Mr. Earle]

Batman Year one >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Batman Begins.

Batman mask of the Phantasm >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Batman Begins.

I disagree, but to each his own.

Year One was great but Begins was more comic booky and it actually showed us Bruce's origin, training and everything. YO just picks up when Bruce returns and then starts telling us about Gordon's problems and all that. I like Gordon, i care about his problems, but i dont want all that in my Bruce/Batman origin.

For me, Begins had a lot of heart and passion. It explained everything and it had the right amount of "comicbookiness" that made it perfect for me. Sure there were corny lines and Katie was subpar, but the movie is still great if you ask me.

Also, i dont know if thats the case with you, maybe it is, maybe its not, but many fans just respect the comics more. "Year One was great so no movie adaptation can match it". Its called nostalgia goggles.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

I read YO after I saw BB. So no. No Nostalgia goggles. I like how straightforward it is. No shallow preachiness. Miller at his finest before his evil, less talented twin brother killed him.

Gordons arc is great too. Glimpses of that is seen in Begins.

 

[[rono]]

The fact of the matter is Goyer got credit in those movies; meaning enough of what he wrote survived in the final script. We can't know exactly what his contribution was but I think the fact that he gets more and more work means the studios and DC like his take on those stories.

I don't mind seeing his touch here and there as long as the result is of quality.

Sorry about you doubters out there, but The Dark Knight is an exceptional story with some of the best/strongest characters I have seen in a movie. It is the best comic book inspired movie released so far. By far. It is also the movie with the most twists I have ever seen. Say what you want, but beside knowing some of the storylines from the comic, no one can say they could see those twists coming.

I'm planning at least a couple of articles on it in my blog soon...
I'll post a not so you guys can comment.

 

[Webhead2006]

totally if the studio and dc didnt like him, he probably wouldnt be signed on for projects, or what not. As long as he helps craft solid stories and work with the right guys he will be good.

 

[akfj]

Goyer's involvement really has more to do with Nolan than WB/DC. It was Nolan who brought on Goyer to work on BB and TDK, and it was Nolan who presented Goyer's Superman reboot idea to WB.

 

[batlovescatDC]

^ Nolan had nothing to do with the planned Flash or Supermax films. And yet Goyer was heavily involved with Supermax and he was solo writer of his Flash take.

 

[Webhead2006]

actually last reported supermax/green arrow project is shelved and flash is being done with geoff johns/and some other writer i dont recall name of.

 

[NotFadeAway]

I actually feel like what elevated the Dark Knight was the performances, especially that of Ledger. I love TDK, but still prefer Batman Begins for some reason or another.

I prefer Begins myself.

I think it's because we FINALLY got a movie that centered on Bruce Wayne and it was almost like an apology for the first set of Batman films. And we got villian that hadn't been seen in live action before that added to it being a Bruce Wayne movie. Last but not least, the acting was incredible. I didn't even mind Katie Holmes, I don't think she would have recieved nearly as much hate if she had not hooked up with Cruise right before the film opened.