And The Sun Is There! (That’s their copyrighted image to the left, btw, used without permission and please don’t sue me; I thought it was brilliant.)
I’ve got to say I can think of a lot worse people to play the Riddler in the next Batman film, “Gotham”. Actors known for their comedy are often some of the best dramatic actors in the right role– look at what Jonathan Winters did in the Twilight Zone episode “A Game of Pool“. And I like the choice of the Riddler as the next villain as it is in keeping with the stated intent of the new series to be less campy and less fantastic. Sticking with a villain who doesn’t have a sci-fi origin (like Mr. Freeze) is a good choice.
What bothers me is the insistence that a single villian can’t sustain an entire movie. Jack Nicholson proved that wrong in “Batman”, and it pains me that the new series is sticking with the necessity of throwing in Catwoman. And they’re introducing Robin! The first two films got away with this gimick by linking the two villains in each, but it’s getting old. Riddler or Penguin or Catwoman could carry an entire film by themselves, especially when you include a lot of deep character development of Bruce Wayne and his friends which has been some of the best parts of the new films. I wish the producer would have enough confidence to realize that.
I must say I love the decision not to include the name “Batman” in the title of the sequels. Beautiful move; we don’t see “James Bond and the Diamond Laser Weapon”. But Shia Labeouf as Robin? I think we could have done a tad better with the casting on that one, guys.
UPDATE: Apparently this is a false rumor floating around teh intarwebs. PHEW! The comments on multiple villains per movie, of course, still stand.
Shia Labeouf? Fuck, when are people going to realise: the Emperor has no clothes!
Yeah these stories are false: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/39487
Hopefully the Robin rumors are false as well. I remember reading a pre Dark Knight interview with Bale and he said if they intro Robin, he was out.
As a fan of the Comicbook, I am thrilled with the direction that the films are going. Staying true to BATMAN as the focal point guarantees results, and the team behind it genuinely enjoy Batman, and are fans themselves.
If you ask true comicbook fans who their favorite character is, you will get some weird answers, we don’t go after the obvious choices. For me, my favorite character has always been Robin.
It stems from when I was a boy; One had to grow up to become Batman, but a kid could be Robin today!
In the past I could put myself in the place of Robin, helping Batman fight the Joker! But as an adult, I really look at the character and really delve into what makes the character himself tick, and ponder why he is there.
Batman NEEDS Robin because he was going insane. The darkness was swallowing him up and it was just a matter of time before it would drive him to become a villain himself.
Batman had nothing to lose, nobody to depend upon out in the field, all of his relationships crumbled because of who he was. Bruce saw the path that he was on, and then sees Dick Greyson and he sees himself.
This stops Batman’s self-destructive behavior. Robin is lighter then Batman, he is more physically skilled then Batman. Robin would do what he does, with or without him, and Bruce takes it upon himself to train him, but this relationship grows to a true partnership. It turns Bruce into a father, while women come and go Robin always stays.
There have been 3 Robins, but the one that I enjoy above all others is the original. I would love to see him on the screen, but I doubt that I ever will. Robin is a boy of 12 years old, Movie people just don’t seem to get that. They see him as some sidekick whose job it is to bumble his way through adventures and give Batman somebody to talk to. The modern Robin isn’t a sidekick, he is a foil to further the story of Batman and Gordan, who gets angry because he believes that Batman is placing the boy in harms way, never seeing how competent that Robin truly is.
I doubt that I’ll ever get that story, but I can always hope to.
In regards to the Villains, well, the movie is about BATMAN, not about the Joker or whatever villain that he is fighting that day. The original Batman movie failed to deliver Batman, it should had been called The Joker. Batman usually works on 5 or 6 cases at a time, minimum. By focusing more on the character of Batman, just having one villain isn’t enough, and we can’t have all of the villains brought to life this way, Batman’s villains aren’t like Superman’s or Greenlanter’s, they are different. Harvey Dent was Batman’s friend, the story of Two-Face is one the the greatest stories ever told!
Is Catwoman a villain or a hero? Not even she knows, she has Batman’s courage, but lacks his discipline. The Riddler is a shadow of the Bat as well, but while Batman is an ever-evolving character, Riddler is stagnant genius who never rises above his own selfishness.
Gotham City villains all have something in common with Batman, at least the really good ones. Batman handles the cases that would drive the likes of Superman and Wonderwoman insane. They are cruel, fiendish, and mad. Even Batman struggles with dealing with this everyday, knowing full well that he belongs in Arkame himself, but thankfully, he has found Robin. Robin, unlike Batman, seemed to be born to handle the predators which stalk Gotham City.