I didn't have much trouble understanding. Maybe two lines in the entire trailer.
The Batman trailer is here
- Thread starter Ezekiel
- Start date
Look, it's no secret that I'm not the biggest Batman fan out there... but those action scenes.
Dear God. Nothing looked impactful. Nothing looked precise. It was like Backstreet Brawler Batman.
I hope the fans will get what they want out of this.
...0:42...Ow...just ow. Good god, who greenlit that shot? That physicality is so stiff and ineffective with that build and I hate it. That kind of walk only really works if you're already a goddamn mountain (eg. the first iron man suit). And the shot composition (which is to say, how empty it is) and camera angle only serve to make Pattinson look smaller and less physically imposing. It makes him look like a kid in a Halloween costume...Or maybe Damian Wayne testing out the Batman identity himself.
The complainers and those who constantly want "Batman was always dark and gritty" are never satisfied. I know I don't care much right now, because Batman has been done enough already. I say this a big Batman fan.
So Batman can tank a couple dozen assault rifle shots at point-blank range now? That P90X regimen be working out for him, yo. Solid abs.
Batman being bulletproof, eventually after a few years of crime fighting, I can deal with. Year one, he should be a rookie and get injured, and get things wrong. Like remember Batman Begins, the whole thing was using stealth and fear, not just superman in a batsuit.
I dunno, Im not feeling this one yet. I think he's a good actor, but that won't save a poor script or bad directorial vision.
I wonder if he's meant to be...shy? Embarrassed? Like he's supposed to be year one Batman, yeah? Like this is one of the first times he's worn the suit. I'd be pretty fucking nervous if I was a scrawny guy in a bat suit walking up to a dozen+ armed street thugs thinking Im gonna intimidate them. No way I would be swaggering like James Bond at a blacktie event.
When I rewatched Batman Beyond a few years ago, I complained about Terry being overpowered and even a bullet in the torso only dazing him. I don't feel any better about seeing it here. Actually, I kind of feel worse, since the barrage of bullets don't even daze him.
Im reminded of a very good line from Batman Begins:
"We start carrying semi-automatics, they buy automatics. We start wearing Kevlar, they buy armor piercing rounds. And you're wearing a mask, jumping off rooftops. You'll take this guy"
To me that says Batman's escalation isnt about equipment, its about scale and lethality. Batman can ignore the mooks with rifles, he has to deal with super criminals.
I liked the trailer well enough, except Bats absolutely tanking what looked like a full magazine of bullets. That seems really out of place in what looks to be a more grounded Gotham.
The suit is growing on me though. Looks like he can move much better in it.
The suit is growing on me though. Looks like he can move much better in it.
Nerves...I wouldn't like it because Batman is more performative than most superheroes, but I could deal with it. My problem is that it's just bad direction and cinematography.
To the former, it's like the director told Pattinson "ok, try to square your shoulders a bit more, now angle your face down a bit more, and slowly walk forward...NO! Don't move your arms or your head! I want you to stay as still as you can from the waist up as you inch forward..." Generously, it's the direction you might have given for a photoshoot, trying to get that one picture you'd use for a poster or promo image. But in video it feels very stilted and unnatural. That is not a confident walk, it is not a "fear me" walk, nor is it a "ok Bruce, act confident and they won't hear your heart trying to beat its way out of your chest" walk. It's a "I'm being careful not to move these parts of my body" walk.
To cinematography, it's down to the shot composition. I've said it before, Pattinson doesn't have an intimidating build and in terms of physical presence (and let's be honest, octave too) he'd have probably been a better match for Dick Grayson or Terry McGinnis than for Bruce Wayne. There are ways to compensate for that, however, with the simplest trick being an apple box, and getting the camera shots from the right angle. Fun fact, Robbie Coltrane - who played Hagrid in the Harry Potter films - is only 6'1" (185cm), and they made him seem upwards of 8' (244cm) through simple techniques like having him functionally wear stilts (the apple box technique) and forced perspective. For a cooler example though, I'd point to the effects work on Lord of the Rings. It's the same principle, but they just built a better mousetrap, so to speak.
Back to the point however, pause the video and look at 0:43 and just look at it for a minute. The camera's high, it makes the actor look shorter by having the camera look down at him at medium-long range, and the shot is just empty, which draws further attention to how little space he takes up in it. I sincerely doubt was their intent, and that's exactly what makes it frustrating. It's something that they absolutely should have caught while shooting.
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4k trailer
I think its almost disingenuous for me to even have an opinion about it because it would have to be literally terrible for me to seriously say "gee idk might skip this". Pure horseshit, no self-respecting nerd is going to skip a Batman movie.
That said I think it looks cool. I wasnt expecting them to pull off a different tone thematically for this one, but I think they nailed it. Difficult not to compare this and Nolans and say it isn't significantly darker. It shares more in common with The Crow that any previous Batman. They seem to be hinting that this will be a homage to Se7en and that this will be a bit more psychologically driven. I hope they manage to pull it off.
I think its almost disingenuous for me to even have an opinion about it because it would have to be literally terrible for me to seriously say "gee idk might skip this". Pure horseshit, no self-respecting nerd is going to skip a Batman movie.
That said I think it looks cool. I wasnt expecting them to pull off a different tone thematically for this one, but I think they nailed it. Difficult not to compare this and Nolans and say it isn't significantly darker. It shares more in common with The Crow that any previous Batman. They seem to be hinting that this will be a homage to Se7en and that this will be a bit more psychologically driven. I hope they manage to pull it off.
The 4K trailer Matt Reeves uploaded to Vimeo is of higher quality.
I don't know where ONE Media got that YouTube one. If they're like some official kind of channel. But YouTube's compression is more brutal anyway.
I'm just not feeling this Batman movie.
I feel like it has nothing new to say for me.
And resentment because I wanted a Ben Affleck Batman solo movie, but NO I get fucking Twilight Batman. And I don't give a fuck if Robert Pattison disavows Twilight.
I feel like it has nothing new to say for me.
And resentment because I wanted a Ben Affleck Batman solo movie, but NO I get fucking Twilight Batman. And I don't give a fuck if Robert Pattison disavows Twilight.
Im more worried about the fact the script for this movie was what was left over after Ben Affleck left the Batman DCEU movie because he didn't like the script, and DC just removed all references to the DCEU and gave it to the planet of the apes director to do something with it.
I have a feeling this movie is going to feel an awful lot like DC was contractually obligated to make it because of the various unions involved in production are promised jobs.
And apparently they're already planning a TV show tie in and two sequels, because I guess no one learned from Divergent not to plan on having a multi-movie franchise before you know how the first one is even going to go.
DC continues to struggle with the idea you have to make movies people like first, THEN you can try to make a cinematic universe.
I think this looks pretty great. Knowing that it (currently) does not appear to be linked to the DCEU in any way, makes me extra excited, too.
Im looking forward to this, honestly.
Im looking forward to this, honestly.
Did you catch the flash trailer? Sounds like the do over is confirmed so nothing really matters now continuity wise though it's funny that Batman is one of those characters that's strong enough he can exist without continuity and is at his best without DC dragging him down.
I did.
I've known that they have been planning on doing Flashpoint/multiverse for a while, but it seems a little bit early to be messing with alternate realities, before they have even properly established a "main" reality.
At the same time, I am also happy that this means that they are potentially aborting Synder's dumpster fire of a continuity, so im 50/50 on it.
I think there is some decent stuff in the current DCEU, but they will really need to trim the fat (hopefully in the Flash movie) so that they can settle on a decent universe to spawn movies in.
Ultimately I think it is the best step to take, but if anything, it really shows how bad the current DCEU is, if they are already looking at retconning/ditching most of it.
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To be fair, 99% of my exposure to Batman, is when he is going solo.
Primarily, the Dark Knight trilogy, and the Arkham games.
In my eyes, Batman has never really belonged amongst actual super heroes, anyway, so this reboot works just fine, to me.