Holy Rebooting Starring the Star of
Argo, Batman!
So by now, the worst of the hounds have been called back to their pens, the dust has settled, routers around the world are no longer red-hot and people (The Internet) seem to be accepting the fact that Ben Affleck, or Bat Affleck, or Benman, or Batfleck or whatever, is going to be playing The Caped Crusader in the Man of Steel sequel, Superman Vs. Darede-… Batman.
So by now, the worst of the hounds have been called back to their pens, the dust has settled, routers around the world are no longer red-hot and people (The Internet) seem to be accepting the fact that Ben Affleck, or Bat Affleck, or Benman, or Batfleck or whatever, is going to be playing The Caped Crusader in the Man of Steel sequel, Superman Vs. Darede-… Batman.
I
can’t really get as pissed about it as everyone else does. I can’t really get
pissed about it at all, to be honest. Not yet, anyway. I really don’t feel as
if I have any proof that they fucked it up yet. They still might, of course.
But it might just be really good, too. And whatever the case, you can be damn
sure that even if it sucks, it won’t be the worst super hero movie Ben Affleck
has been in.
Sure,
if I had been doing the casting, Ben Affleck wouldn’t have been my first
choice, either. Personally, I would have liked to see Josh Brolin, Jensen
Ackles or even David Boreanaz get the role, but that doesn’t mean I think Ben
Affleck is a bad choice. Sure, he’s been in some stinkers. I’m hard pressed to
find ANY current high-profile actor who hasn’t been in something that was shit.
And I mean really shit: Ben Kingsley has been in Hugo, Gandhi, Shutter Island,
Schindler’s List, Lucky Number Slevin… and BloodRayne. Think about that. Ben
Kingsley was in BloodRayne. It has a well-deserved Metacritic score of like,
13, and a 2,9 on IMDB. And Kingsley can act, dawg.
Not convinced, you say? Okay: Christopher Lee was in Star Wars II and III (screw you guys, they’re not that bad – and even if they are, he’s one of the redeeming factors), The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, Hugo (like Kingsley)… and Season of the Witch. Which, incidentally (it’s not an incident, I totally planned this) also stars someone else, who, frankly, has for a long time been getting the same treatment as Bruce Affleck is getting now.
Yes. That guy.
Nicolas Cage.
I love Nicolas Cage. It’s out there. But please, stay with me, and don’t feel so dirty you have to clean your browser history just yet. I mean, I recognize that Nick Cage, or One True God, as a certain reddit group calls him[1], has been in some stinkers.
The aforementioned Season of the Witch, Ghost Rider, Knowing, Next, The Wicker Man remake (which even if it is hilarious, is not good[2])
But then, who liked Kick Ass? And that’s not the only one. Face/Off. The Rock. Con Air. Lord of War. Doesn’t he even have an Oscar for Leaving Las Vegas? And then there’re all the somewhat disputed ones, like Gone in 60 Seconds and the National Treasure movies, which I personally dig, even if people in general do not.
My point is that even great actors sometimes phone in a project, and even if Nick Cage is an extreme example, it illustrates the point well. And sometimes, the movie is just so bad that it’s pointless for the actor to do anything about it. That’s the case with Daredevil. You can’t really put all the blame on Affleck for that one.
Not convinced, you say? Okay: Christopher Lee was in Star Wars II and III (screw you guys, they’re not that bad – and even if they are, he’s one of the redeeming factors), The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, Hugo (like Kingsley)… and Season of the Witch. Which, incidentally (it’s not an incident, I totally planned this) also stars someone else, who, frankly, has for a long time been getting the same treatment as Bruce Affleck is getting now.
Yes. That guy.
Nicolas Cage.
I love Nicolas Cage. It’s out there. But please, stay with me, and don’t feel so dirty you have to clean your browser history just yet. I mean, I recognize that Nick Cage, or One True God, as a certain reddit group calls him[1], has been in some stinkers.
The aforementioned Season of the Witch, Ghost Rider, Knowing, Next, The Wicker Man remake (which even if it is hilarious, is not good[2])
But then, who liked Kick Ass? And that’s not the only one. Face/Off. The Rock. Con Air. Lord of War. Doesn’t he even have an Oscar for Leaving Las Vegas? And then there’re all the somewhat disputed ones, like Gone in 60 Seconds and the National Treasure movies, which I personally dig, even if people in general do not.
My point is that even great actors sometimes phone in a project, and even if Nick Cage is an extreme example, it illustrates the point well. And sometimes, the movie is just so bad that it’s pointless for the actor to do anything about it. That’s the case with Daredevil. You can’t really put all the blame on Affleck for that one.
Is
it then fair to assume that the MoS sequel will be shit because one of the guys
involved in it (albeit prominently involved) has once been in something crap?
No, it’s not. People weren’t particularly happy about Heath Ledger prior to The
Dark Knight, and if you look at 10 Things I Hate About You, you get why. But
that one turned out quite alright, didn’t it?
That being said, there are things Ben Wayne and the rest of the crew behind MoS2 will have to do differently for a Batman character to work in this setting. Because I do believe it CAN potentially be really good. The most important thing here is that they do not try to invoke Nolan’s Bat-trilogy, because if they do that, they WILL fall on their asses. Hard. And they’ll deserve it. Not that those are bad movies to be compared to – all three of them are among my favorite movies of all time. But it’s a more grounded, realistic (relatively…) Batman, and Bale does it brilliantly. If they go for the same effect, they will fall short, and it will seem out of character in this different universe. I think the trick will be to try and show a Batman that is gadgety without being camp. Not as in Shark-Repellant Bat Spray-Batman[3], but as in “When Batgirl was shot a few years back, the League designed and installed specialized security systems for the families and friends of any member who requested it. Thanagarian, Martian, Apokoliptian and Kryptonian technology. Plus the really scary crap Bruce invented.”-Batman[4]. This Batman is a guy who can take on Superman (in essence, a god) because he’s that damn smart, but can also, as per usual, strike fear into the hearts of criminals, suspicious and cowardly lot that they are.
That being said, there are things Ben Wayne and the rest of the crew behind MoS2 will have to do differently for a Batman character to work in this setting. Because I do believe it CAN potentially be really good. The most important thing here is that they do not try to invoke Nolan’s Bat-trilogy, because if they do that, they WILL fall on their asses. Hard. And they’ll deserve it. Not that those are bad movies to be compared to – all three of them are among my favorite movies of all time. But it’s a more grounded, realistic (relatively…) Batman, and Bale does it brilliantly. If they go for the same effect, they will fall short, and it will seem out of character in this different universe. I think the trick will be to try and show a Batman that is gadgety without being camp. Not as in Shark-Repellant Bat Spray-Batman[3], but as in “When Batgirl was shot a few years back, the League designed and installed specialized security systems for the families and friends of any member who requested it. Thanagarian, Martian, Apokoliptian and Kryptonian technology. Plus the really scary crap Bruce invented.”-Batman[4]. This Batman is a guy who can take on Superman (in essence, a god) because he’s that damn smart, but can also, as per usual, strike fear into the hearts of criminals, suspicious and cowardly lot that they are.
Another
thing I believe they must play up in order for a proper movie to come out of
this is the Experienced Crimefighter Personality that apparently was one of the
reasons for casting Affleck in the role. This could be done in many ways – having
Bats be central in advancing plots because he’s the one who deduces what’s
going on, or maybe (as I’m hoping) by showing his expanded network of the
Batfamily (I’d love to see Oracle and Nightwing make big screen appearances!)
When
it comes down to it, the most important part is playing up the personality
traits that really make the characters. For both the characters, I’d love to
see the writers take inspiration from Grant Morrison, who’s written both
characters brilliantly, and both of them in settings far removed from realism
(think Final Crisis). In this, Batman is the grizzled veteran, the brains of
the operation, dedicated to a degree that will probably spell his own doom at
some point. If anyone’s going to go the extra mile, it’s him, simply because he
already is so close to the edge, and more than any other of the heroes walks
the line between hero and vigilante.
In
some ways, Superman is simpler: He needs to have weaknesses, because if there’s
one thing that’s boring, it’s a Mary Sue. Simple as that. No weaknesses makes
for a boring-ass character.
And, of course, they’ll need something to be in conflict about. Here, it seems obvious to take a starting point in MoS’s destruction of Metropolis, or maybe even Superman’s killing of Zod at the end.
Finally, they need a common threat to unite against. Personally, I’m hoping for a villainous duo of Lex Luthor as brains with Metallo as the muscle, but, yeah… Well, a guy can dream, can’t he?
And, of course, they’ll need something to be in conflict about. Here, it seems obvious to take a starting point in MoS’s destruction of Metropolis, or maybe even Superman’s killing of Zod at the end.
Finally, they need a common threat to unite against. Personally, I’m hoping for a villainous duo of Lex Luthor as brains with Metallo as the muscle, but, yeah… Well, a guy can dream, can’t he?
[1]For real: http://www.reddit.com/r/onetruegod
[2] You know why: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1GadTfGFvU
[3] The old Adam West Show.
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