Keaton sucked
In fact that whole fist Burton Batman movie sucked. I know that people think the first Burton one is so great now because they are used to having grown up with it, but I can tell you that when it first came out everyone thought it sucked. I remember going to see it at the 12:00 a.m. showing, before the official opening night, on June 23, 1989 in a theater filled with Batman fans. We were all hyped for the movie, and the whole audience was singing the Batman series song. But when the movie was over, almost everyone in the audience was comlaining "God that sucked!" People where talking more about the Lethal Weapon 2 preview before the movie than the movie itself. I remember talking to people that week from all over town who had said how disapointed they were with it. I personally wish hey had made Tom Mankiewicz's (This is the same guy who wrote the first two Superman Movies)script, which he was commissioned to write by Warner's in 1983 (
Tom Mankiewicz Batman Script). Now that would have been a Batman Movie. I had been shown this script in the summer on 1990 by a friend who was to have worked in the special effects animation department for this version before Burton was signed on. I remember reading it going "Damn. Why the hell didn't they make this one?" Sure the ending battle needs some work, or to be redone, which even Mankiewicz states in the screenplay as this is just a first draft. But the rest of it would have kicked ass as a Batman movie. Thanks to Tim Burton (
I am being sarcastic as hell with this comment) for comming in and saying that he didn't like it because it wasn't "psycholigical enough", thereby thowing out the only decent Batman movie script till this new Batman Begins one. In fact, from what I have gleaned of the Batman Begins script, alot of the structure of Mankiewicz's script seem to be in it. So in a way, Warner's in going back to doing what it should have done with this script. And everyone who thinks Burton is so great should know that the news came out later from someone on the set that Burton didn't even direct alot of the first movie anyway as he wasn't comfortable directing action scenes. That chore fell to second unit director Peter MacDonald, who had to do a similar thing stepping into the directors chair halfway through production on Rambo 3. He tried to mimick Burton's camera style and have it action packed, but it just doesn't work as the styles don't mix. Refference the scene where the Joker is dancing with Bassinger while Batman is fighting the thugs. Joker dancing directed by Burton, Fighting directed by a toned down MacDonald.
I believe I had read in the trades (although it never really is mentioned now) that Mel Gibson (still young and right after Mad Max 2) was being aproached to play Bruce Wayne/Batman. He could have played Moody and disturbed, suave and sophisticated, and pissed off ass kicking hero very nicely. Just look at his performance in the Mad Max movies. And as you can see below (As he looked back then), he would have matched what Bruce Wayne is supposed to look like to a T:
He just looks like Bruce Wayne. An artist friend of mine, who was equally ticked off at the Burton movie, took this pic and drew that Batman costume on it back after I told him that Gibson had been in talks to play Batman, and I can tell you that with the cowel on he looked like Batman. Willem Dafoe was supposed to be the Joker. I know, everyone thinks Nicholson was so great in it. I think he sucked as the Joker, and it was a picture deal role for him. Go watch Dafoe in 1983's Streets of Fire to see how naturally psychotic he can act. See a picture of him here, at the time the script was being written, in Streets of fire:
Tell me he couldn't have played the perfectly insane Joker? Now that would have kicked ass. Mankiewicz had his idea for actors to play the parts, and some of them good (Peter O'toole as Alfred would have been as great as Micheal Caine playing Alfred in this new movie. William Holden would have been perfect as Commisioner Gordon too.), but Warner's wanted a younger crop of actors than his choices in the leads.
Hell, I also would have loved to have seen Orson Welles version of Batman in the 40's (
See info on Welle's Batman here). "James Cagney as The Riddler, Basil Rathbone as The Joker and Welles' former lover Marlene Dietrich as a very exotic Catwoman". Wells stopped working on it as he wanted to play Bruce Wayne/Batman and the studio wanted Gregory Peck. I feel the studio was dead on wanting Peck for the role (Peck as he would have appeared in the movie had it been made):
But man, can you imagine what a classic film that would have been? An Orson Welles Batman with the same feel, emotion, depth, and impact that he had done with Citizen Kane? Damn, that would have been good.
The only good thing about the first movie was the suit, the car, and the Elfman's score. Everything else just plain sucked. I remember watching and interview with Keaton and Burton on MTV a week after the movie had come out and they were both saying 'Nicholson as the Joker is so evil because the things that he says makes him evil." I am watching this thinking to myself "I'm of a mind makes a mookey." makes someone evil? Even the Batcave made no sense. If you look at it, it has the cement footings of downtown Gotham buildings as some of it's walls. Didn't Batman drive out of the city to get to the thing? I mean, isn't Wayne Manor outside the city. Why then is the walls of the Batcave made up of the cement foundations of the downtown buildings then? Burton didn't even know what the hell he was doing. I think he has progressed into a much better director now, but back then he was way too green to be even considered to direct it. Even Kevin Smith, while working on the screenplay for "The Life and Death of Superman" with Batman's producer John Peters told him to his face when he was bosting about Batman 1 "That movie sucked!" God I can go on forever on how badly that movie sucked. I also remember seeing Batman Returns on it's opening day in the Summer of 1992 as well with high hopes that Burton had done it right this time because he said "I didn't liek the first film. This one is much better." Man was I wrong cause that one sucked ass even more. Representatives from Warner Brothers were there handing out score cards for us to rate the film at the end. I was one of the last people to hand my card in, and the person who was tabulating the votes on the already handed in cards had said something like "Almost everyone who has seen this movie today hated it." I distinclty remember the scene at the end of "Returns" when the big penguins come out to drag the Penguin to the water that people where saying things like: "God this movie is dumb!" and "Okay. It is official. This movie sucks." I think out of all of the actors to play Batman so far, Kilmer is the one that came closest to the character as he is in the comics. I mean, don't get me wrong, Batman Forever wasn't a great movie but at least they were trying to make the movie, and character, as it should be. Clooney should have been perfect for the role but he totally sucked ass. "Hi." (Bob head) I'm Batman. (Bob head 4 more times) It was like watching one of those ceramic sports dolls wiht the head on a spring. I wanted to walk out of Batman and Robin when the Batman credit card showed up. And silverstone sucked as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl. I kept saying, along with most fans on the web at the time, that they needed to cast Dina Meyer as Barbara, and I guess they finally listened when when Birds of Prey was being cast. It's too bad the series wasn't good because, like Christopher Reeve as Superman, or Toby as Spiderman, she literally looked like Barbara walked off of the comics. The only thing Warners ever got right was the animated series, and alot of us fans have been upset that they didn't just let those guys do a film, or at least write the script. This new one, other than the car, looks good, and I hope it finally rectifies all of the flawed and stupid previous movies. Everything but the car is looking real good. Now lets hope they fix up what they want to do with Superman and abandon that stupid J.J. Abrams script and get a real script. Hell, bring Mankelwitcz back to write the new one. He kicked ass with Superman 1, and his script for the original Superman 2 was alot better than that bastard child of a film they released.
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Krypton doesn't explode! Lex Luthor is an evil Kryptonian! Jor-El is still alive and commits harry karey! Kal-El is the prophecy that will come back to Krypton to save it! Jimmy Oleson Gay! Beyonce Knowles as Lois Lane! That hack McG, who directed the Charlies angels movies (the worst pieces of crap I ever seen) directing it!!!!!!!! Or how about this brainiac storyline that was in one script version-"The worst I ever heard was of a script where Superman was killed, Lois became pregnant, gave birth to a reincarnated Superman within a matter of days who then grew up in days to beat the bad guy. You've really got to wonder about those Hollywood types." Kivin Smith had been asked by a Warner's exec. at a comic convention "Did you work on the Superman script with Jim Carey in it?" Jim Carey?!!!!! Come on Warners! There already is an excellent movie to make reffernce to. Look at why Spiderman and Lord of the Rings is making so much money. People don't want changes to the storyline. They want the original origons, but they want good story's that have character depth and emotion, and not just a crapfest of special effects like Batman and Robin was.
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Oh, and HE-MAN. People who saw the test preview of Catwoman said it is as bad as you think it is, it's worse.
We saw it. After six grueling, cock-teasing weeks of trailers, laughable TV spots and ridiculous one-sheets, The Burbank Bandits witnessed first-hand the train wreck that inevitably happens when you give a one-named, metrosexual Frenchman a $100 million and a script not worthy of lining a litter box.
If your a glutton for punishment, go here:
Catwoman review from someone who saw it
