Although I do think pirates 3 and spidey 3 were a wee bit too long o_O

But, yeah... basically showing what happens to Harvey Dent on the internet is pretty dumb.

Less is more.

I have been hearing through the pipeline that there will only be two Batman Movies for a while. That it will be like Godfather and Godfather II in respect to seeing two halves of a story. Then, maybe they will do another one in a few years time when everyone is older, dealing with Robin...and Bruce becoming the father figure like his own dad.

As to the people who hate Nolan's novelistic approach to film...get over it. He is one of the few truly literate filmakers working today with big budget storytelling. He is the Anti-Bay!

I Couldn't tell who was talking at the beginning of the Two Face scene. I hope the fight scenes are cut so we can actually see some moves this time. I have to play the Batman Begins game to actually see him fight.

Everything I hear about TDK sounds great. Goyer is not involved as much as he was in BB (the person I blame for the stupid plot points and silly dialog in BB). Jonathan Nolan is co-writing. And most importantly for me, Mann's Heat is a major influence for TDK.

Heat + Batman is an extremely exciting combination, but also a difficult one to achieve. I have faith in Chris Nolan and his brother though, and my expectations are high.

Kiddies will flock like sheep to watch that, and so will everyone else. TDK will not be that popular with the ladies and kiddies as Wall-E.

I hope 2face only appears at the end- and then it nicely flows into part 3. But I like the Joker more, and love the look of this JOker.

I'm not concerned about the running time nor the amount of villains.

Dent. Arthur Dent

Late as in the Late Dent, Arthur Dent. You see, it's kind of a threat...

Anyway, I've got my fingers crossed for the traditional 'much improved second instalment' that we often get from comic book films. Batman Begins, while not totally my cup of tea, was still one of the better adaptations, so hopefully this will be a top notch sequel. It won't be as good as Blade II, obviously, but somewhere around Spider-Man 2 or X-Men 2 would be good.

There can be no debating this.

You mean Elvis' Alien lovechild doesn't work in my local mcdonalds?

pah.

Please visit thread 37120 if you want to witness truth....

THe CoC also approves of this message. It's been very busy handing out approvals today.

It's enlightening.

I love Batman '89 but come one .... I'll be the first to admit that it's plot points are just as ridiculous, if not more so, than Begins and it doesn't hold up all that well now. In terms of the plot the Joker has a fucking parade in the middle of the city for Christ's sakes (with Price music playing in the background .. which goes to my point about holding up today). Like cops in any major city would let that shit happen.

I will cede the point to a certain degree about parts of it being more iconic though. The score rocked and the suite did look much better than it did in Begins (but it's lack of mobility was a real problem during the film, he couldn't turn his freaking head) and some of the production design was certainly more stylistic than what you see in Begins (but with that comes an added dimension of unrealism that Begins with it's production design avoids).

In the end Batman '89 is a less realistic and more stylistic approach to the character. I, for one, am happy that we have both takes. I was just 8 years old when Batman '89 came out and I sat in the theater and soaked up every second of it and loved it. I was 24 when Begins came out and I felt almost the exact same way about that flick. For me each interpretation came out at the perfect point in my life in terms of my age. I dug Batman '89 as an 8 year old and as a 24 year old I loved the more realistic style and production design and tone they went for in Batman Begins and was able to look past the villains plot because the plots are outrageous in most action movies.

Honestly, I was kind of lukewarm on the first batman reboot. It just didn't do anything for me, sort of felt bland to me. And oh god, the fight scenes were awful... Hard to tell what was going on. This new one seems a step in the right direction, probably because they finally have some interesting villains, though i have to say i liked the concept for scarecrow's costume in Begins.

You can not like Begins, that's fine. But then you are just not that big of a Batman fan, as other than B&R, you should find something to enjoy about all the Batman films. Begins has it's downfalls, Katie Holmes, Gordon driving the batmobile & Katie Holmes again, but it's still a solid film. The scarecrows toxin is sick, they should have shown more of it's effects.

While TDK might not be the greatest movie ever, it will be cool. The clips in the trailer and the 6 minute preview with the Joker already make it for me. So, as long as there are more Joker scenes, it's got me already.

Can we PLEASE not turn this into another 89 vs Begins debate?

It's simple really, Begins is better.

@Dannyglovers_blood the 6 min footage is awesome. Men in joker masks zip linning across Gotham roofs to the bank, busting it open, robbing it, joker henchman killing each other one by one, then the Joker himself sticking a grenade in the bank manangers mouth (it sprays gas) and leaving the bank in a school bus that merges into a long line of school buses. You can watch it here: http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/bat man/the-6%20minute-dark-knight -bank-heist-trailer-334675.php ?autoplay=true

the pic that was leaked a while back was also called bs, but every analyzed frame of the last few teases seem to match what we saw in that concept art.

one of the jokes the joker plays is when the prison and city are being evacuated by boat (by what threat? unknown) the joker has bombs planted on both and says that one has to blow up the other or they both die.

also everybody seems to assume that the joker is resonsible for two-face in this, but i guarantee you it's maroni or the mob. Dent is playing all sides of the fence in order to promote himself to district attorney.the mob is his villain in the movie. he may have used them to gain power and then started cracking down on them. playing dirty was needed in order to control them and prosecute them or something. Dent may not be as squeaky clean as we think. two-face. traitor. go figure. so they torture him with that in mind. the joker is not responsible for two face, i know that much.

also, how long in between his injury and his revenge? everything i've seen lends itself to him escaping death and going on the hunt the next day. i don't care what chemicals are involved, you are miraculously cauterized, or if you are living off adrenaline, that isn't even COMIC plausible. So i hope some time passes, but how much? those are the things that are going to make or break this movie.

E
E
Y
O
R
E!!!! !

"I just want to know, are we going to try and love each other?"

PUH-LEEEEZZZEEE!

A nyone who praises Burton's faux goth-camp or Schumacher's neon-fetishism is apologizing for some serious shite that ran the character and franchise into the ground.

And I think the "too much brown" (aka sepia tones) complaint is the most strangest, most juvenile nitpick I've seen in a long time. (It rivals Ringbearer9's bitch-fit over the color CGI fire.) Go watch BLADERUNNER again and try telling me how much you hate sepia tones.

Personally, I found the color palette to be fine. In fact, I hardly noticed the concentration on certain "tones" until it got brought up in Talkback ages ago. So yes, I do find it juvenile. It's nitpicky simply for the sake of. If you don't like it, that's fine. I'm certainly not going to tell you what you can/cannot enjoy...

Does Gotham not have a Starbucks?! I ask this because I honestly don't know; I don't read comics anymore.

I had hoped for a good Batman movie since I was a little kid and I'd read an interview in Starlog with Tom Mankiewicz in which he talked about a Batman film that almost saw the light of day following Donner's Superman. Mankiewicz's Batman was going to remove the camp of the old TV series and take Batman back to his gritty, noir/pulp vigilante roots. Wow, just like Miller's Dark Knight.

Back to 1989, Burton and WB announced that their Batman was "directly inspired by Frank Miller's Dark Knight vision of the Batman".

Needless to say, I was pretty excited to see Burton's Batman that summer 19 years ago. I wasn't sure about the casting of Michael Keaton, but I was willing to gamble my 5 bucks.

Words cannot describe how fucking disappointed I was. Burton's Batman owes way more to the TV series than it does to anything Frank Miller did. When we refer to material as "dark" we're usually referring to the material, to the content, the characters, the plot, and their presentation. "Dark" does not refer to a lack of lighting or set design.

Even as a 15 year-old kid, I knew that Burton's Batman was a load of shit. Even as I kid, I knew that Burton's Batman was not really Batman.

The old TV series is great for its own reasons, but for folks who care about Batman as he was originally conceived by Bob Kane and as he was refined and perfected by Frank Miller, Batman Begins was the first proper and actual Batman movie and The Dark Knight will be the second proper Batman movie. We're looking forward to it.

Really? Says who?

Quote: "Black, blue, silver, black, gray --- those are Batman's colors."

Are you talking about his suit in the comics? Because a film shot predominantly in those colors would probably look more like UNDERWORLD that BATMAN...

Second, I disagree...with both of your paragraphs. So there.

S U C K E D A S S

and was a flippant take on the characters, directed by a guy who admitted that he hadn't read the comics, had no interest in comics and didn't respect the medium as an art form.

People who praise Burtons work on Batman, esp. over Nolans, need to pull the dicks out of their eyes.

Also, _DICKBLOOD, are you like the Official AICN Troll now? So fucking sick of you. Go douche your sandy puss, woman.

Mr. Nice Gaius - You're right, I would not want it to look like Underworld. But it is hard to argue that brown is a major component of Batman's color palette as a character. Cities are not brown, they are shiny and saturated with deep shadows. Not orange and brown lights everywhere. And whatever that shantytown was at the end of BB, it was one of the worst most cheap looking sets I have ever seen. Anton Furst is sorely missed. May he rest in peace.

2.) Bob the goon. He was definately a major necessity. I love his character arc and tragic murder at the end.

3.)Robert Wuhl as Knox. What a fantanstic and funny guy. Loved him.

4.) Joker. Prince. Nuff said.

5.) Alfred lets Vicki Vale into the batcave...awesome reveal!

6.) Joker's super cool ninja henchman is almost as cool as his super cool long gun and his super cool plan to fist-fight Batman.

7.) A black Harvey Dent. Fo sho.

8.) Joker killing batmans parents. Way better than that comic book Joe Chill guy. This makes things much more personal!

Seriously, with it's expanded landscapes and countries, deeper exploring of Batman's mythology, tense plotting, and crappy acting from Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, and Christian Bale... how can ANYONE like Batman Begins?

And all the sepia tones....sheesh!

Did I say that? I don't think I even insinuated it.

But if you're one of those who thinks that BATMAN '89 is anything more than a wet fart that wafts to the tunes of Prince, you might be as tasteless as Underoos Hero.

Ah, so BraneRobot (aka AnimalStructure, Thunderballs, etc.) got banned then, eh? I definitely saw what it was that he posted in the Russert Obit TB = he called out for the death of Keith Olbermann. Completely inappropriate and wrong in every way.

And that is what sarcasm should do! Funny!

Nicholson IS NOT The Joker. Billy Dee IS NOT Dent. Robert Wuhl is like a catheter, i.e. pain in my cock. The Purple One does not, in any way, speak to me of Gotham City.

And for the record, I love the ol' Adam West TV-show Batman. I would take that over the Burton/Schumacher debacle any Bat-day of the week.

For the record, I liked Spiderman 2 a lot more, as well as Batman Returns (despite that it was Burtons return). Maybe I'm a sucker for sequels. It is in this sense that I am hoping for The Dark Knight to trump Batman Begins.

All it does is somewhat spoil the question of 'will they/won't they?' with regard to showing Dent's outcome in this film. I admit trepidation.

But no, I mean a bad one. One like my uncle once described as napalm in his pee-hole.

maybe this is one of the corrupt cops that somehow ratted out Dent or got him pinched by the mob, and immediately after this, you see harvey's face , hear a gunshot, and the screen goes black for pt 3. harvey having taken a life and on his way to vigilantism.

Now, did you happen to see the manner in which BraneRobot made his ridiculous plee?

Gee. I wonder who it could be.

do we know yet? is it acid, chemical or flammable? his suit is fucked up. in all the pictures and the toy. it's discolored and tattered, making me think acid or chemical burn, not fire.

I just can't figure it out.

DA-DA CHA!

THANK U THANK U I WILL BE HERE ALL NITE FOLKS

Really?

So, you couldn't ask yourself which approach is more effective?

You couldn't look at the differences between each depiction?

I reckon, then, that you certainly wouldn't want to ask yourself which approach you like better, right? Because how could you prefer one over the other? Given the fact that they're both... uhh... different.

To compare them would be... a... a... what'd you say? A stretch?

Wow.

Gotcha.

I' d like to hang out with you on election day.

"Obama and McCain will both approach the presidency differently. Therefore it is a waste of time to try and compare them. Neither is better than the other. We may as well not vote because they are both different. Let's go home now."

And I'll be all like, "Whatever you say, billis3811."

'89 is SO fucking silly it hurts the brain. But since it's classic, you can't really say it SUCKS. And Jack does have a decent take on the Joker. But the re-writing of both of their origins is too stupid for me to even think about. I thought Retu