Laughing City

What are the films prospects?
Smooth Sailing
16%
 16%  [ 1 ]
Rough Waters Ahead
33%
 33%  [ 2 ]
Taking On Water
16%
 16%  [ 1 ]
the Ship's Sunk
33%
 33%  [ 2 ]
Total Votes : 6

Author Message
wilsmith
Vintage Newbie


The meme generators have alreeady spoken on this one but I want to get the Board's take on it.

I also find it interesting that this is thee 2nd role, that I know of, that Affleck has been cast in that I would much enjoyed or previously Alec Baldwin in. Alec Baldwin can pull off the gravitas as Shere Khan from Ducktales, if you remember him as the intimidating businessman from that show. It's an odd comparison, but I always dug the way they used that character that way.

Anyways, Affleck has the stature, heck they already had him play George Reeves, the 1st Superman I ever saw, in Hollywoodland, so somebody feels he's built like a man who could effectively pretend to be a superhero.

I honestly think it's the pitch of his voice that undermines him. We're all so used to his reedy voice, it doesn't have the heft. Even in the Town, where he has to brood most of the movie, he sounds the way he sounds. He's just not a natural baritone, and that has helped make other Batmen (especially Keaton) convincing. I remember as a 13 year old kid thinking Keaton should have been the Joker (Beetlejuice came out before Batman and was at that point the coolest kid friendly movie ever, to me and my friends).

When I hear his voice and think of him Ben Affleck seems like a good fit for a whitty comicbook hero like the Human Torch, Spiderman, Daredevil (depending on who's writing)

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grain thrower
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wilsmith wrote:

When I hear his voice and think of him Ben Affleck seems like a good fit for a whitty comicbook hero like the Human Torch, Spiderman, Daredevil (depending on who's writing)

Didn't work out too well the first time.



On another hand, I'd be willing to give Electra another shot!


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wilsmith
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The Town was a better Daredevil script than what they worked with for that movie. It was basically a "short sighted" attempt to ride Spider-Man's coat tails, then the tone that made Daredevil relevant was the Frank Miller run on the series where the character "went through hell" personally.

If ever a film would have prospered with Christopher Nolan at his Memento level best, it would have been that Daredevil film.

Personally i hope they bring back Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor.

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boone
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Joe Carnahan's Daredevil would have been pretty great.

Batfleck will be the least of this movie's problems. Everybody saw Man Of Steel, right? It was a joyless spectacle of 100 9/11s directly caused by an all-powerful sociopath who looks somewhat like Superman.

Stop trying to modernize Superman. Just because morally ambiguous superheroes are "in" right now doesn't mean everything else it irrelevant. Comic books have been doing gritty reboots for 30 years now. It's time to do something else now. Like have fun and actually be heroic.

And stop having 90 minute first acts to try to convince us that superpowers and sci-fi gadgets are possible in the real world. Nobody cares. Just tell a good, tight story and nobody is going to say, "Hey, what made up science is allowing this guy to fly?"

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wilsmith
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Fair enough. rings true to me.

The rumor now is that Bryan Cranston will play Lex Luthor. I can understand the appeal, and even understand why they'd want to sever all ties with the past, but i'm still gonna miss Spacey. I liked the casting in Superman Returns. I thought they were all embodying the characters as they should be portrayed. The story left people wanting apparently, but at least they got the tone of what a Superman movie ought to be pitch perfect.

I think remaking Superman 1 & 2 as one film (Man of Steel) was a bridge too far in an attempt to deliver on "Big Summer Movie" expectations. It's fair to cast Supes as the only thing we've got to save us from interstellar domination, but... To cast him as such a tragic figure throughout, mainly because of self-restraint/ inhabition didn't quite uplift, but i don't think Nolan wanted it to. He's a big Batman fan first and foremost, and dagnabit if he wasn't angling to make The Dark Knight Returns from jumpstreet. Too bad Bale humped ship, cause the stage is set for a morally conflicted Kal-El who could become Frank Miller's version of Superman. If that's his endgame, Man of Steel may have been a worthwhile compromise.

I think making a heavy hearted Smallville aka Superman Begins movie that plays up the ET conflict throughout his upbringing & denial of his would be Messianic potential. There's enough drama and comedy in that story to fill, what, like 10 years of network television weekly hour long programming, and they couldn't muster up 1 feature length film focused on that? It's not as if they didn't have a template they could rip off completely and few would complain (Unbreakable)?

If anyone hasn't seen the HISHE for Superman & Batman, it's one of their best, as is Pacific Rim.

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gundamit
Golly, Poster


Haven't seen the Man of Steel. But if there were a Batman/Superman movie where they both had equal screen time and the relationship was driving the plot, I would go see it.

The idea of a Superman I believe would be something Batman would have a hard time with. He might acknowledge the good work that Superman does and even like him as a person, but could he ever really trust him to the point he would not be walking around with some green kryptonite in his utility belt?

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freakinalex
Lost at Forum


wilsmith wrote:
Alec Baldwin can pull off the gravitas as Shere Khan from Ducktales, if you remember him as the intimidating businessman from that show.


I do believe you mean TaleSpin, not DuckTales.

Anyway, my take on the Batffleck thing is that people shouldn't judge him before he's even done anything in the role yet. I mean, people were up in arms when they cast Heath Ledger as The Joker and look how that turned out?

Besides, Batman's such a fluid character that it's great to see what different people can bring to the table. The character has been written by so many different people over the years in so many different styles that there's no one set way that Batman should be. Compare Frank Miller's Batman to Alan Moore's to Grant Morrison's to Scott Snyder's to Kevin Smith's, just to name a few. All very different, and all very awesome. Well, except for maybe some of Miller's more recent stuff...

Also, let's not forget this is a Superman film. Not a Batman film. That means the Dark Knight is likely just a supporting role.

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wilsmith
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Yup, Talespin.

I had Ducktales on my brain thanks to Breaking Bad.

It'll be interesting to seee them portrayed with actual personalities, something the Justce League cartoon really excelled at that the movies lack.

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grain thrower
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boone wrote:

Stop trying to modernize Superman. Just because morally ambiguous superheroes are "in" right now doesn't mean everything else it irrelevant. Comic books have been doing gritty reboots for 30 years now. It's time to do something else now. Like have fun and actually be heroic.

Hear, hear.

boone wrote:

And stop having 90 minute first acts to try to convince us that superpowers and sci-fi gadgets are possible in the real world. Nobody cares. Just tell a good, tight story and nobody is going to say, "Hey, what made up science is allowing this guy to fly?"

Well I personally DEMANDED to know the actual source of the Force, so thankfully they included the midichlorian speech to finally allow me to sleep at night after 15 years of befuddlement. Rolling Eyes Rolling Eyes Rolling Eyes

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TheAntrider
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Considering not a second has been committed to film (or hard drive, whatever), I am reserving judgment. People railed against Heath Ledger as the Joker. 'Nuff said.

I do agree that I'd prefer Superman to actually be a boy scout. This "he's too perfect" thing is against the whole freaking point of comics! I'm quite adept at making myself depressed, and don't need comic books to help me out. I like plenty of "grim 'n' gritty" comics ... but I think the realism thing is out of hand.

That said, I thought Man of Steel was fine. Batman Begins wasn't exactly earth-shattering, but it set up The Dark Knight perfectly.

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wilsmith
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TheAntrider wrote:
That said, I thought Man of Steel was fine. Batman Begins wasn't exactly earth-shattering, but it set up The Dark Knight perfectly.


QFT!

Also, I don't need to see a Superman/ Batman movie when i have this which fills every iota of entertainment I could ever want from said combination.

But seriously, a Superman movie that renders Batman to a role of costar almost seems forced at this point because Man of Steel basically establishes that Superman can basically defeat an alien invasion by beings as powerful as he is, who also have years of military training/ expertise, while he has none.

I'm sure they've got a plan, but honestly, I would have rather seen Batman show up in the last 3rd of Man of Steel, cause Supes could have used some help, but I guess that would have made it the Depth Coast Avengers?

There are plenty of ways to depower Superman as a means to make Batman of use, or you can play the whole Superhero investigating Anti-Hero angle, common enemy angle. I think The Dark Night Returns angle fits the characters as they've been rendered in these last few films, but you know what I would like to see?

Superman & Captain Marvel. I'm partial to their interactions in Kingdom Come, and the recent DC animated release is entertaining too. The conflict between the two characters is so natural, and the physicality of said conflict works. It comes down to DC being willing to embrace the "magical" side of their continuity on film. Credit to Marvel for embracing it with Thor. Who needs explanations?

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bigideas
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Is anyone watching the new CGI cartoon Beware the Batman?
I just happened to catch a rerun of the 1st episode and saw that it only had shown 6 or 7 episodes so far, so I decided to watch it. I've seen the first 4, but they're going back to new episodes before rerunning the rest.

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wilsmith
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First i heard of it. Is it any good?
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bigideas
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wilsmith wrote:
First i heard of it. Is it any good?


I don't watch much CGI animation, so I don't have anything to compare it to. I also don't have much Batman knowledge either.

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wilsmith
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I'm not picky about the animation. They key thing with me is stories. I was never really a big Batman fan as a kid. When I was really little the only exposure I had was the Adam West series which they showed right after cartoons and Double Dare around here, and his appearances on Super Friends. It wasn't until Tim Burton's movie came out that Batman seemed like a big deal. Then when the original animated series launched, the story telling was great, it was very heavy on noir, but also drama. The Clayface 2 parter was on of the first episodes I remember being floored by.

It would figure that the portrayal of the more obscure villains was the most compelling thing on the show, at least for me. I would say the litmus test for this new series is, would the stories they are telling be engrossing or entertaining if you swapped out Batman for another hero you didn't already know about?

I was thinking yesterday about who my grievance with the idea of Superman was that there was really nothing that could challenge him. I got to thinking, and it dawned on me that you could say the same thing for Batman, except that Batman's in a different "weight class"? Batman is basically a Sherlock Holmes, Snake Eyes (From GI Joe), and Forge (From X-Men) all wrapped up into one character. For not having "powers" that's a pretty superhuman combination of expertise and genius.

So, will Ben Affleck be able to convincingly convey those traits? After seeing Star Trek, I'm thinking Benedict Cumberbatch would have been a good pick, if he was willing. I have a feeling in a few years he'll be the next James Bond anyways, and James Bond is pretty much Batman at this point, isn't he?

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