Tag: animation

Entry for August 11, 2008: Why the Dark Knight shouldn’t return

Batman and Robin in one dark future
Frank Miller's Dark Knight

With this summer’s spate of mostly successful movie adaptations of comic book superheroes (Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, Hellboy 2: the Golden Army, and especially Dark Knight), many fans have demanded that Frank Miller’s dystopic Dark Knight Returns (DKR) be made into a live-action movie. However, here are my top 10 reasons why it shouldn’t be done:

1. It’s dated. Although Watchmen may prove that a film making sociopolitical commentary using metahumans set in an alternate 1980s can be successful, DKR is filled with parodies of people such as President Ronald Reagan that may not resonate with current audiences. Not everyone has fond memories of the end of the Cold War and urban vigilantes such as Bernie Goetz.

2. Its influence is already pervasive. As a move away from the campy Adam West television show of the late 1960s, DKR‘s grim approach to the caped crusader has been cited in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman, numerous comic books (especially Mark Waid and Alex Ross’ similarly apocalyptic Kingdom Come), and even Batman Begins. Comic book writers have broken Batman’s back and are about to kill or retire him, however temporarily. A live-action version would almost be redundant at this point.

3. It has already been done — in animation. Episodes of The New Batman and Robin Adventures and the more recent The Batman directly alluded to Miller’s work, and the cyberpunk Batman Beyond owed its aged but still-determined Bruce Wayne to DKR. The Dini/Timm cartoons successfully balanced the detective, martial artist, and superhero aspects of Batman.

4. It could be done better — in animation. Warner Brothers’ direct-to-video efforts, including Justice League: The New Frontier, Batman: Gotham Knight, and the upcoming Wonder Woman, have been faithful to the source material and not constrained by effects budgets or live-action’s need for realistic style. Also, they’ve been free to pick and choose from DC Comics’ admittedly convoluted continuity, while a blockbuster movie could define the character — for good or ill — for a generation of potential fans.

5. Frank Miller is overrated. Although DKR is widely regarded as a classic graphic novel, his sequel, DK2: Dark Knight Strikes Again, wasn’t as good, and his All-Star Batman and Robin has been misogynistic, over-the-top camp (ironically, what DKR was supposedly turning away from) and not shipped on time. We’ll see if his version of Will Eisner’s classic masked gumshoe The Spirit is more of the same or truly innovative storytelling.

6. Other Frank Miller works are better. I’ve been impressed at the faithfulness of the film versions of his original noir crime drama Sin City and quasi-historical epic 300, and I’d love to see cyberpunk samurai story Ronin done well.

7. It would conflict with Christopher Nolan’s films. In terms of box-office returns, Warner Brothers will likely weigh this over the other considerations. Although similar in many aspects to DKR, Batman Begins was more directly based on Miller’s restrained Batman: Year One, just as Dark Knight owes much Batman: The Killing Joke and Long Halloween. Nolan has constructed his own version of the Dark Knight that eschews camp for psychological sturm und drang.

8. Other superheroes deserve some attention. As much of a Batman fan as I am, I’d like to eventually see well-done versions of Green Arrow, Flash, Aquaman, and Green Lantern, among other DC heroes. Why should Marvel have all the fun?

9. Why destroy a universe when it’s just being built up? With live-action Superman, Wonder Woman, and Justice League projects stalled for the moment, a deconstruction of the DC pantheon before it has been filmed seems premature at best, and self-defeating at worst.

10. It’s not my favorite incarnation. As I’ve noted before, I’ve enjoyed various versions of Batman in comics, television, and film, but I’m particularly fond of the 1990s animated series led by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini. There’s certainly room for multiple interpretations of Batman, such as fan film Batman: Dead End (just as with his fictional precursor Sherlock Holmes), but we should remember that the hyperviolent, armored warrior on crime is but one of them.

This is just my personal preference, and I realize that many people will strongly disagree with me, but such passions demonstrate how much life the 70-year-old character still has!

Entry for July 10, 2007: SFTV and music

Friends, I hope that you had a good weekend. On Friday, 6 July 2007, I chatted with role-player Byron V.O. in St. Louis. Unfortunately, fellow “Holy Steel” teleconferencer Dexter V.H. was unable to join us in time, but at least I recorded the solid third-season premiere of the BBC’s revived Doctor Who.

The long-running, time-travel television show has had regular rounds of turnover, not unlike my gaming groups. While Christopher Eccleston gave the good Gallifreyan a strong relaunch, I’ve grown to like David Tennant, who in these most recent episodes reminded me of the swashbuckling third doctor, Jon Pertwee.

While Freema Agyeman has been somewhat controversial as new companion “Martha Jones,” I thought she has been an intelligent addition in the episodes I’ve seen thus far. Granted, comedienne Catherine Tate was funny as the “Runaway Bride,” and we’ll see her again in Series 4.

I’m still catching up on recorded episodes of the BBC’s latest Robin Hood. I’d also like to mark the passing of science fiction author Fred Saberhagen, whose “Berserker” novels were favorites of my brother Peter and me.

On Saturday, July 7, Janice and I drove to various used bookstores in Sharon and Waltham, Massachusetts in an unsuccessful initial attempt to sell four boxes of used books that we got from Robert A.S., who recently moved to North Carolina.

We also caught an early matinee of computer-animated culinary comedy Ratatouille, which we liked. I would compare the Disney/Pixar movie favorably to Dreamworks SKG/Aardman’s Flushed Away, which also had clever rodents trying to find how to coexist in a society that mirrors that of humanity. I’d give “Ratatouille” an 8 or 8.5 out of 10.

Later, we watched some of the Live Earth concerts on Bravo and NBC. Thanks again to Steve M.R., who notified me of the events on his blog. A good mix of musical acts performed around the world for the worthy cause of raising ecological awareness and starting to change consumer behavior.

Speaking of music, in recent weeks, I also watched the tribute to the late Diana, princess of Wales, and to Paul Simon. Princes William and Harry organized a nice tribute to their mother, but the audio quality of the broadcast from Wembley Stadium wasn’t very good.

I thought that the best songs in the latter special were those with Simon’s old collaborator Art Garfunkel, a rockin’ medley with Stevie Wonder, and songs with South Africa’s “Ladysmith Black Mambazo.”

During the various Fourth of July concerts, I was glad to catch a few songs of Bebe Neuwirth, best known as Frasier Crane’s shrewish wife Lilith in Cheers and Frasier. Neuwirth was also the star of Broadway’s Chicago revival, which Janice and I later saw in Boston before the recent movie with Catherine Zeta Jones, so it made sense for her to sing numbers from various Bob Fosse musicals.

In a related genre, current pop favorite Amy Winehouse is a young British singer whose latest album harkens back strongly to 1960s soul. The song “Rehab” is as catchy and retro as Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” was last summer, with dark undertones but a sense of humor.

Of other current Top 40 music and video hits, I like Rihanna’s “Umbrella” (O.K., perhaps seeing her gyrate painted a la Goldfinger has something to do with that, but so does the beat), the “Black-Eyed Peas'” Fergie stretching a bit in “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” and Carrie Underwood’s righteous fury in “Before He Cheats.”

As various games resume this week, I’m already making plans to screen Harry Potter [5] and the Order of the Phoenix with some of the local group this coming Saturday and Live Free or Die Hard [4] with visitor Ron J.K. on Sunday. I’ll try to post a review of those and more role-playing games in the coming week.

While my primary blog is part of my Yahoo 360 site, I have posted a few things to my MySpace page, including the results of a “What Superhero Are You?” quiz and a link to a preview of the animated adaptation of D.C. Comics’ Death of Superman.