Batman Returns...yep Batman Returns
I haven't watched this movie in like forever. For those of you unfamiliar there was a time when Michael Keaton was Batman. In his first movie, he was fantastic. A good mix of smart, crafty, secretive Bruce Wayne, creepy dark mysterious batman, and bumbling millionaire. Then the second movie came out and he was just...bumbling.
Really compared to the next two Batman flicks, this movie wasn't that bad. In fact I still believe that Danny DeVito and Michelle Pfeiffer did a pretty good job of acting. The art direction is good. The music is still good. Other than a few reality bending moments (see postscript) the movie did fine. But, Tim Burton was replaced after this movie.
Joel Schumacher then took his place. He brought the kitzch from the original 60's series. The dialogue started to lack. The acting was getting worst (although I'm still a big fan of Jim Carrey's Riddler and Uma Thurman's Poison Ivy). Even the music changed.
I realized that changing directors is pretty typical in the film business when a franchise is not doing well. TV does it too. So do professional sports teams. Why? Why do we feel the need to switch up leadership when something isn't working? Is it their faults? Is it time to give them a second chance?
There's a simple counter argument to this as well, again movie related. The Broccoli family has owned the rights to the Bond series since the first movie. My friend Eric is a big Bond fan but even he admits that at times the franchise could use a bit of a kick. I remember people suggesting that Quentin Tarantino should direct a bond flick (the dialogue and action would be sweet). Or Denzel Washington starring as bond (the man's got the style and swagger and after winning an Oscar in Training Day definitely has shedded a typecast, good boy type image).
Why do folks hold on when sometimes new breath, or a new perspective can be added? What do they fear with allowing others the chance to take a different spin on their work?
Both questions, valuable. Both questions can teach us a lot about the human condition.
Now for two football examples.
Bill Cowher. What if he were fired after his superbowl loss in 1996? And yet, after winning the superbowl in 2006 he came back. Had an average season, then retired to be with his family.
Barry Alvarez. Had been offered a handful of coaching jobs during his time with the Wisconsin Badgers. And despite never winning 'the big one' brought pride and a renewed interested in Badger football.
Examples of second chances, and maintained legacies.
We can only control our own actions. I imagine tons of Tim Burton fans really would have wanted him to direct some more. I imagine that some folks hoped the Broccoli's could find their new Bond nitch. Such is not the case. And we can only learn from those instances.
From a writer's standpoint, I can appreciate wanting to be given some time to develop your writing. You can't just sit down and expect to produce a fantastic piece of writing. In fact, the process of learning about what your writing shortcomings are is half the fun. Half the growth.
At the same time, you start to, as my writing professor once mentioned, let go of your little darlings. You start to let go of ideas you once thought were fantastic. In fact, as I'm taking poetry it's awesome to see how most poets are inspired by others, taking a piece of what someone has written and running with it in another direction. It's something new, something different.
So to this I say, no when to let go, know when to give it a chance.
pb
Postscript: I can't help but watch this movie and (fortunately for me...heavy sarcasm) Batman Forever was on after that. In fairness...time for some movie fun:
Batman: How instant killing was Smilex gas? Vicki Vale was in a car...car's aren't airtight. So what's the deal? And Knox had on his mask for like...10 seconds?
Batman Returns: So the Penguin breaks into the batmobile and finds a way to hot wire it to his control. Yet the batmobile has the ability to track the foreign object and batman has the ability to punch through his floorboards to get to the device. WTF?!?
Batman Forever: In the beginning of the movie Two Face fills a vault with acid...Batman eventually returns the vault back to the original location, sealed, seemingly still filled with acid. Did anyone tell the police that who had to open the vault?
Batman & Robin: In the two preceding movies, there's a mention of the new batman love interest mocking the previous one. In this movie there's not love interest...but can we mock Nicole Kidman's character anyway since it was pretty cheesy?
Really compared to the next two Batman flicks, this movie wasn't that bad. In fact I still believe that Danny DeVito and Michelle Pfeiffer did a pretty good job of acting. The art direction is good. The music is still good. Other than a few reality bending moments (see postscript) the movie did fine. But, Tim Burton was replaced after this movie.
Joel Schumacher then took his place. He brought the kitzch from the original 60's series. The dialogue started to lack. The acting was getting worst (although I'm still a big fan of Jim Carrey's Riddler and Uma Thurman's Poison Ivy). Even the music changed.
I realized that changing directors is pretty typical in the film business when a franchise is not doing well. TV does it too. So do professional sports teams. Why? Why do we feel the need to switch up leadership when something isn't working? Is it their faults? Is it time to give them a second chance?
There's a simple counter argument to this as well, again movie related. The Broccoli family has owned the rights to the Bond series since the first movie. My friend Eric is a big Bond fan but even he admits that at times the franchise could use a bit of a kick. I remember people suggesting that Quentin Tarantino should direct a bond flick (the dialogue and action would be sweet). Or Denzel Washington starring as bond (the man's got the style and swagger and after winning an Oscar in Training Day definitely has shedded a typecast, good boy type image).
Why do folks hold on when sometimes new breath, or a new perspective can be added? What do they fear with allowing others the chance to take a different spin on their work?
Both questions, valuable. Both questions can teach us a lot about the human condition.
Now for two football examples.
Bill Cowher. What if he were fired after his superbowl loss in 1996? And yet, after winning the superbowl in 2006 he came back. Had an average season, then retired to be with his family.
Barry Alvarez. Had been offered a handful of coaching jobs during his time with the Wisconsin Badgers. And despite never winning 'the big one' brought pride and a renewed interested in Badger football.
Examples of second chances, and maintained legacies.
We can only control our own actions. I imagine tons of Tim Burton fans really would have wanted him to direct some more. I imagine that some folks hoped the Broccoli's could find their new Bond nitch. Such is not the case. And we can only learn from those instances.
From a writer's standpoint, I can appreciate wanting to be given some time to develop your writing. You can't just sit down and expect to produce a fantastic piece of writing. In fact, the process of learning about what your writing shortcomings are is half the fun. Half the growth.
At the same time, you start to, as my writing professor once mentioned, let go of your little darlings. You start to let go of ideas you once thought were fantastic. In fact, as I'm taking poetry it's awesome to see how most poets are inspired by others, taking a piece of what someone has written and running with it in another direction. It's something new, something different.
So to this I say, no when to let go, know when to give it a chance.
pb
Postscript: I can't help but watch this movie and (fortunately for me...heavy sarcasm) Batman Forever was on after that. In fairness...time for some movie fun:
Batman: How instant killing was Smilex gas? Vicki Vale was in a car...car's aren't airtight. So what's the deal? And Knox had on his mask for like...10 seconds?
Batman Returns: So the Penguin breaks into the batmobile and finds a way to hot wire it to his control. Yet the batmobile has the ability to track the foreign object and batman has the ability to punch through his floorboards to get to the device. WTF?!?
Batman Forever: In the beginning of the movie Two Face fills a vault with acid...Batman eventually returns the vault back to the original location, sealed, seemingly still filled with acid. Did anyone tell the police that who had to open the vault?
Batman & Robin: In the two preceding movies, there's a mention of the new batman love interest mocking the previous one. In this movie there's not love interest...but can we mock Nicole Kidman's character anyway since it was pretty cheesy?
posted by Peter Brooks at 1:20 AM
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