Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Have your webbing cake and Batarang it too

I am excited for both "The Amazing Spider-Man" AND "The Dark Knight Rises".  Never mind that pronouncing both titles in one sentence requires a masters degree (lies, I only have a Bachelors), but I can't wait to see the Spider-Man reboot and  The Dark Knight Rises.

I mention this because I've noticed a trend both in the online community and my friends.  When the first ASM trailer showed people actually booed it in theaters.  But recently I notice more talk of wanting to see The Amazing Spider-Man and less wanting to see The Dark Knight Rises.

My theory is that people just don't want to see the ride end for Christopher Nolan.  We had an amazing and well done reboot in one film, an incredible portrayal of both the Joker and Two-Face in the second film, and now we're going to be given the possible film debut of Batman being broken by the only villain capable of the deed.  It's like getting to the end of a good book and wishing more pages would magically appear.

I still think TDKR will sell like crazy, but not as much as TDK due to the lack of Heath Ledger.  I spend many an hour wondering if The Dark Knight Rises would have a Bane and Joker face off, but I must accept there's no more film Joker in any project Christopher Nolan is involved with.  Still, Bane is a great villain, Tom Hardy is an amazing actor, and the entire team is top notch.  So it's possible that the acting and drama have been kicked up a notch to make up for the lack of "Bwa hahahaha" and "Let's put a smile on that FACE" from the man who made a million Halloween costumes the October after The Dark Knight hit theaters.

I will reiterate, I am looking forward to both films and regret being out of the country for the premier of TDKR (I'm not paying to watch a movie in France with goddamn subtitles) but I can't wait for the beginning of Marc Webb's vision and the end of Christopher Nolan's vision.  Oh shit!  There's a theme there!  Engage!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Spoiler Alert: Code Reddish-Orange

I recently saw a comment for a trailer that claims the trailer gave away too much of the story.  To that person I ask what did you expect from a trailer? 


Now I will go on the record as saying spoilers are the worst plague on humanity.  It sucks when someone tells you the big twist or the end of a movie.  Spoilers take you out of the story and destroy any tension you would have felt with the main character.  It's hard to maintain that feeling when you know that the hero is going to survive the terrorist attack and marry the damsel in distress.




Spider-Man vs Koopa Troopa Prime

Another reason to abolish spoilers is to let the movie goer unleash their imaginations.  When I saw the first trailer for "The Amazing Spider-Man" I couldn't help but consider how other villains beyond the lizard might make an appearance.  We might finally get to see Mysterio, or Electro!  Could there be a new Doc Ock?  And seeing the bit of story in the trailer allowed me to rest easy that the Lizard is going to be a great villain and I don't have to worry about him until opening night.




Also the limitations on spoilers needs to be defined.  Can you spoil a movie after five years?  Ten?  More?  Is it a spoiler to say that King Kong dies at the end?  Doesn't everyone know that Bruce Willis is dead in Sixth Sense?  I feel it's safe to say that when something is spoofed a thousand times over you can call it on that.  There were actually people who were outraged when they had "Titanic" spoiled for them when others mentioned how the boat sinks.  It's not a spoiler if it actually happened in real life.  Retards.
Spoiler: They get Kong off the island.




Well, that's all I wanted to say for now, I'll hop off my soapbox and watch some movie trailers.

Friday, May 11, 2012

My thoughts on "The Batman Voice"

Hello all.  No goofy essay this week, instead I wanted to share my thoughts on one of my favorite things to come out of comics, and that is what I'm calling "The Batman Voice".

If you're unsure what I mean by "The Batman Voice" (TBV for simplicity sake) I'm referring to how Christian Bale (and a good decade before, Kevin Conroy on the Batman Animated Series) use their regular voice to portray playboy Bruce Wayne, but then drop to a lower register and harsher quality for when they portray Batman.

While I do poke fun at the voice and how saying regular things in TBV brings infinite joy to my day, (examples are "I don't want fries" and "Bane you're a dick") the voice is important for the character.  When Bruce Wayne has to get into the mindset to brutally attack thugs, mod bosses, and psycho villains, he needs to do something to shift beyond the practice of suiting up.  He needs to trick his brain into think he is a different person altogether.

Ignoring the obvious physical strain of a dual life as the face of a company and the shadow of Gotham's justice, the mental strain can be, and usually is, enough to shatter any man.  If Bruce Wayne wore the bat suit and kept his regular voice, he would never sleep simply due to the night life he leads.  But combining the cowl and alteration of his voice, Bruce Wayne ceases to exist for a few hours, and Batman comes out to save the day.  Now Bruce can sleep a little easier and Batman gets the job done.

If this sounds familiar, I would agree.  I would not doubt that the premise of Fight Club borrowed from this idea of Batman and Bruce Wayne, or any hero with an alter ego barely co-existing, as we see with The Narrator and Tyler Durden.

That was all I wanted to say, thank you for reading this far (or even clicking on the link) and I hope everyone enjoys The Dark Knight Rises as much as I expect to.