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Matt Reeves on his take of Batman

M

MHWilliams

Member
Veelk said:
Can you show me the scene in the movie where they do that? I don't recall it ever showing up in the movie.
Click to expand...

Veelk said:
Well, there you go. It's not even explained, just implied. Spiderman wears ordinary googles for bad eyesight reasons and Tony says "you need an upgrade", so you infer that the reason that happens is for that, and it's done.

Even assuming that there is some desperate need for an explanation to occur, why are we acting like this is some herculean task that writers can't pull off? Marvel did it with a few sentences. Why can't DC?
Click to expand...

Here's the scene in question queued up to the right moment.
 
H

Hex

Banned
Words words words.
Before every movie, be it super hero or not the powers that be come out and speak about how they get it, and read this and that and their movie will be so different.
And people eat it up, and clamour about social media and then

jFTssUH.gif




We call that pillow talk.
 
N

NotTheGuyYouKill

Member
I like the premise of Matt's take, but let's wait to see the execution.

I hope he doesn't bother with the Joker. There's no coming back from that shit fest. Suicide Squad/Leto take was so bad
 
D

Demoncarnotaur

Member
I think Matt is gonna do good things with the character.

Also, team white eyes. Seeing the actors eyes beneath has always looked goofy as fuck.
 
L

Loxley

Member
NotTheGuyYouKill said:
I like the premise of Matt's take, but let's wait to see the execution.

I hope he doesn't bother with the Joker. There's no coming back from that shit fest. Suicide Squad/Leto take was so bad
Click to expand...

Leto's Joker isn't beyond salvation as far as I'm concerned, they just need to give him a new look and Leto needs better direction. We know he can give a great performance, but I feel like he was given almost too much free-reign in Suicide Squad.

But I agree they need to introduce new villains regardless. Batman has the best rogues gallery in comics, so to keep returning to the Joker is kind of a waste. Especially when characters like Riddler, Penguin, Freeze and Poison Ivy are in desperate need of cinematic redemption. But I'd be down for Court of Owls, Black Mask, or Clayface as well.
 
A

Azazzel

Member
Why is it that when a director is chosen for one of these superhero movies we find out that they just happen to be secretly obssesed with the character that they'll be directing soon.

Anyway, let's hope Reeves is doing something more than talking about all the awesome things he wants for this movie and WB lets him do it. After Wonder Woman maybe, just maybe, this will happen.
 
G

Glass Rebel

Member
I trust that Reeves, left to his own devices, can make something really cool with Batman. It's gonna be hard to make me buy BvS Bats as detective though.

Azazzel said:
Why is it that when a director is chosen for one of these superhero movies we find out that they just happen to be secretly obssesed with the character that they'll be directing soon.

Anyway, let's hope Reeves is doing something more than talking about all the awesome things he wants for this movie and WB lets him do it. After Wonder Woman maybe, just maybe, this will happen.
Click to expand...

Are you really surprised that someone who has worked with JJ Abrams and on a pop culture staple like Planet of the Apes might be "obsessed" with Batman, a superhero who is only second to Spider-Man?
 
M

MHWilliams

Member
Dead Man said:
I get the reason for the eyes being non see through and changing size and shape, but why are they connected to his emotional state? Not aimed at you, just generally. People say this is the reason the eyes emote, but it doesn't actually explain the link between focusing and emotion.
Click to expand...

I don't think they're tied to his emotional state. I think they're tied to his actual eye movement, which just happens to also correspond to his emotional state.
 
B

broncobuster

Banned
Loxley said:
Leto's Joker isn't beyond salvation as far as I'm concerned, they just need to give him a new look and Leto needs better direction. We know he can give a great performance, but I feel like he was given almost too much free-reign in Suicide Squad.

But I agree they need to introduce new villains regardless. Batman has the best rogues gallery in comics, so to keep returning to the Joker is kind of a waste. Especially when characters like Riddler, Penguin, Freeze and Poison Ivy are in desperate need of cinematic redemption. But I'd be down for Court of Owls, Black Mask, or Clayface as well.
Click to expand...

One thing I'll give Leto is they did film a lot of him and most was removed or altered. For one, they took out nearly all the physical abuse towards Harley. Which isn't inherently bad, changing their relationship, but when awkward transitions and poor dubbing have to hide what was gutted, it doesn't work.

Leto's a good actor. I imagine if you go back to his casting announcement, people were into it. He just needs someone to say no to the honka honka stuff. That said, Joker shouldn't be the main antagonist. Maybe something like Mask of the Phantasm where he's part of other people's stories.
 
J

jelly

Member
The thing is, Keaton had the eyes for it, he looked unhinged and imposing. Affleck certainly doesn't. Bale was in between but the suit did him no favours.

I trust Reeves to get it right either white or not.
 
S

Sojgat

Member
Azazzel said:
Why is it that when a director is chosen for one of these superhero movies we find out that they just happen to be secretly obssesed with the character that they'll be directing soon.

Anyway, let's hope Reeves is doing something more than talking about all the awesome things he wants for this movie and WB lets him do it. After Wonder Woman maybe, just maybe, this will happen.
Click to expand...

It's never been the case with a Batman movie though. None of the directors had much more than a passing familiarity with the character, and some didn't understand him at all. I will take Reeves at his word. He said the right things here.
 
M

Miles Quaritch

Member
jelly said:
The thing is, Keaton had the eyes for it, he looked unhinged and imposing. Affleck certainly doesn't. Bale was in between but the suit did him no favours.

I trust Reeves to get it right either white or not.
Click to expand...

Batfleck is the most physically dominating Bats we've had so far, I think that more than makes up for the puppy eyes.
 
S

Secret Fawful

Member
I didn't realize Matt Reeves was directing this. That's a really solid choice. Hitchcockian is basically what the Animated Series was, so this is sounding promising.
 
V

Veelk

Banned
MHWilliams said:
Here's the scene in question queued up to the right moment.
Click to expand...

I addressed this in later posts. It's not explained in the sense that the movie takes time out to say "Tony Stark designed made his eyes emote because it was his way to accommodate Peter's eyes".

Tony asked why Peter wears googles, and Peter told him about his eye problem. And then later we see Tony's Spider-man designed suit. This isn't the movie explaining itself, it's the movie laying out pieces in which you can infer an explanation for why his eyes move. Which is clever storytelling because it makes the audience engage with the movie rather than stopping the story just telling the audience how a gadget works. An explanation existing isn't necessarily the same thing as the movie telling you an explanation.

Look, here's my greater point: Either you don't need an explanation because you can assume/infer that the emoting mask just helps his crimefighting. Or, if you absolutely do need an explanation, it doesn't need to be written in such a way as to be obtrusive to the movie. "Bruce, what is this new contraption you've concocted." "It's eye technology that feeds me real time data while also providing a psychological tactical advantage, Alfred." It can be done in 2 lines, it's not a big deal.
 
B

broncobuster

Banned
http://variety.com/2017/film/in-con...for-the-planet-of-the-apes-batman-1202482863/

“What I see in Batman that I find so interesting is that, in a way, he reminds me of Caesar, in that he is a character with a really troubled past who is grappling within himself to try to do the right thing in a really imperfect world, in a corrupt world,” Reeves says. “That provides an opportunity, again, if you want to take that point-of-view storytelling — and I can imagine the story as being like a noir. The originals from the golden age were detective stories. I think if you can marry that with the personal, there’s a chance to do something very exciting.”
Click to expand...

“Let’s put it this way: I’ve never worked with [WB/DC] but my experience so far is really good, and as I describe what I want to do, they seem really excited,” he says. “So it’s the beginning of a journey.”
Click to expand...

In the podcast, he also mentions having Mego dolls of Batman and Robin as a kid (???). He sort of implies the movie story could be original, influenced by a number of Batman stories.
 
S

Schweinehund

Member
I'd like to see Court of Owls adapted, loved the investigation part of that arc. The maze part was amazing, would love to see that in film.
 
C

Chained Prometheus

Member
Schweinehund said:
I'd like to see Court of Owls adapted, loved the investigation part of that arc. The maze part was amazing, would love to see that in film.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'd kill for a Court of Owls adaptation.

broncobuster said:
http://variety.com/2017/film/in-con...for-the-planet-of-the-apes-batman-1202482863/



In the podcast, he also mentions having Mego dolls of Batman and Robin as a kid (???). He sort of implies the movie story could be original, influenced by a number of Batman stories.
Click to expand...

Fascinating. This isn't at all uncommon, especially for Batman films, but I'm trying to think of what story he might have in mind.
 
S

Shaanyboi

Banned
PhantomX1313 said:
https://twitter.com/yahoomoviesuk/status/882535593238032384
Click to expand...
There were those rumors that it would be set in Arkham Asylum. I guess the Deathstroke thing may or may not still pan out.

I think there is an emotional story you can tell in that setting with Batman having to face his legacy - all these dangerous people whose lives either he has made worse, or who have endangered others by his inaction in letting them live. Gotham simply isn't getting better, no matter how much he tries.

Really curious how this turns out.
 
J

JonnyDBrit

Member
Shaanyboi said:
There were those rumors that it would be set in Arkham Asylum. I guess the Deathstroke thing may or may not still pan out.

I think there is an emotional story you can tell in that setting with Batman having to face his legacy - all these dangerous people whose lives either he has made worse, or who have endangered others by his inaction in letting them live. Gotham simply isn't getting better, no matter how much he tries.

Really curious how this turns out.
Click to expand...

It's kind of an interesting situation they have for the DCEU where Batman is meant to be this already established figure, and most of his history has already played out, whatever that may be.

What seems like the most obvious route to me, at least based in the material already established, would be Bruce confronting the idea of whether or not he has to work alone. The build up to Justice League is in large part centred around this idea already, but it's almost certain that the League won't be a part of Batman's regular crime fighting activities. And since the DCEU as a whole seems to have becoming brighter and more optimistic as an almost explicit meta-theme, what is the main method for making Batman brighter and more optimistic?

You bring in Robin.

Given Snyder's love of The Dark Knight Returns, there's obvious inspiration to draw on there in the character of Carrie Kelley, while even the more 'traditional' route of bringing Tim Drake to the big screen would whip up a storm of fan fervour. Whether or not Batman is willing to risk the life of another young ward after whatever happened with Jason and the Joker is easy to wring into emotional drama, even without having the Joker be part of the film. Which ideally, they wouldn't, because one of the benefits of an already established Batman should be getting to pick up any of his Rogues Gallery without needing to go through their origins in great detail.
 
L

LegendofDragoonLives

Member
NotTheGuyYouKill said:
I like the premise of Matt's take, but let's wait to see the execution.

I hope he doesn't bother with the Joker. There's no coming back from that shit fest. Suicide Squad/Leto take was so bad
Click to expand...
He's an amazing actor, I hope he is back. I'm sure with better writing/directing, he will do a much better job. As long as they remove the cringe tats, esp the crazy one on his forehead
 
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