Ben Affleck as Batman?

Since news dropped that Batman would be featured in the next Superman movie I have been filled with excitement and anticipation.  When that ridiculous rumor that Christian Bale had been offered $50 million to reprise the role got started I was hopeful despite knowing better.  That’s far and away more money than any actor has ever been offered to play any role and it was just wishful thinking.  I never really expected Bale to come back to the role but I was certain that the casting would be great.  Far too much hinges on who is chosen because it’s not just about the Superman sequel, it’s about The Justice League. Warner Brothers has to be smart about how they eventually bring all these characters together and they have already made many costly mistakes.  With one character franchise already failing miserably (Green Lantern) and allowing their most successful character franchise to finish and not be incorporated they are already at a disadvantage. Choosing a new Batman was necessary under the circumstances but was not a decision to be made lightly.  When I woke up this morning and saw the news of Ben Affleck being cast I literally wanted to go into a dark room and hide from the world.

I am literally depressed by this development because it crushes all the hope and optimism I had invested in this movie.  All I want to know is who the hell thought this was a good idea? I know that Affleck has made a nice comeback and showed promise behind the camera but what has he ever done as an actor to garner this kind of significant role? I read this article about how they wanted an older and wiser Batman and an actor with the “acting chops” to pull off the role.  Which one of those qualifies Affleck? Not only has he never come off as wise but who in the world thinks Affleck has “acting chops?” I remember a time when the best role he could get was a small part in Smokin’ Aces, and he got killed thirty minutes into that movie.  I also remember the last time Affleck tried to pull off a superhero and destroyed what might have otherwise been a promising franchise.  I also remember the things I heard about that role including the fact that against the norm Affleck opted to wear shoulder pads in lieu of bulking up for the role.  I literally think this is the worst decision with the Batman character since George Clooney was cast in the role.  I don’t think Affleck will be as bad as Clooney was but I do think he has the potential to challenge Clooney for worst Batman ever.

Something I think is really important to consider about Batman is that the lower half of his face is all that is visible when he is in costume.  This is what made Michael Keaton the best Batman because if nothing else the man had the right mouth and jaw line for the part. My only hang-up with Christian Bale as Batman was that he had no upper lip.  Batman with no upper lip looked silly but the movies were so good they made up for it.  All I can think of now is that enormous chin Ben Affleck has and how stupid it will look jutting out from under the Batman cowl.

I have no reason at all to think I am alone in my outrage at this decision so please someone back me up here.  This is the worst right? Is there any hope at all to be had in the potential this movie did have? I read many supportive comments this morning and was shocked.  I know Affleck has found great success as a director and respect him for it but we can’t let that blind us from the truth.  He is and never has been a good actor and his track record offers absolutely nothing acting wise to explain this decision. So please sound off in comments and let me know if I am right or wrong on this.  I need hope if there is any left to be had because all of mine is gone now.

The Dark Knight Rises

Year: 2012
Directed By: Christopher Nolan
Written By: Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan, and David S. Goyer

Like many people I have been a huge fan of this franchise over the years.  I have spent over three years waiting patiently for this movie and had every certainty that it would be awesome.  The news that broke with the release of this film was tragic.  It was hard to sit down in the theater today without thinking about what had happened to the innocent people in Aurora.  To make matters even worse there is hardly anything this film will ever be able to do to distance itself from that tragedy.  It will be forever remembered as the movie that people were watching when that mad man decided to do something so awful.  It’s unfortunate that a second Batman movie has come with such darkness looming over it.  No matter how great this franchise has been I fear it will always be shrouded with sadness and disaster.  We did our best not to think about the news when sitting down to watch the movie, but it wasn’t easy.

In all the time I spent following this movie through production I never had any doubt that it would be awesome.  I have absolute faith in Christopher Nolan after seeing his first two installments.  I also thought the cast is too great to disappoint. Bale makes a great Batman and guys like Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, and Gary Oldman can only make a movie better.  I also liked all the new characters made up of several actors from Inception and Anne Hathaway. I watched all the trailers as they were released and they served to build my anticipation even more.  It looked just as good as the others and seemed to offer more adrenaline and excitement as well.  However I have to admit that after sitting through the TWO HOURS AND FORTY TWO MINUTES I left feeling more disappointed than anything else.

I think this movie was far too long, and there was not enough action, or Batman for that matter.  Thinking back over it on the way home I don’t even know that I would even say this movie was about Batman at all.  I hate that he was so Howard Hughes like in the beginning. I think it is ridiculous that he goes from needing a cane to walk around to suddenly suiting back up as Batman.  I won’t go too far in this discussion because I don’t want to share spoilers.  I am not out to discourage others from seeing the movie I am just in straight up SHOCK right now. I am in shock at the fact that I find myself so disappointed, I really believed it would be otherwise.  There is just not enough of Batman in this one, he has no new gadgets to work with aside from “The Bat” and we do not see enough of the rebuilt Batcave.  Batman is almost like a side character in this one jumping into a larger story about Gotham as a city.

I thought Tom Hardy was great as Bane but I do not think Bane was really great.  I think he could have been great but we don’t really get to know him well enough.  What are his actual motives anyway? I understand the why in the end but it doesn’t seem good enough to me.  I think Anne Hathaway was terrific as Catwoman too but like Bane I think she could have been better. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman both saw smaller roles and I don’t think either shined as they have before.  Caine more so than Freeman. I love Michael Caine, but he is usually the comic relief in this franchise and here I only saw him as a bleating drama queen.  These great characters were pushed to the background to an extent in favor of the newbies Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard. I think this was a mistake but I do think Gordon-Levitt was great.  He continues to rise as an actor and he stole the screen for most of this movie.

If the franchise does not intend to make a fourth installment then much of the story in this movie seems unnecessary.  I have read time and time again that this is the last film of this franchise. Both Nolan and Bale have both said they were done no matter how much money is on the table and I believe it coming from them. So why did they waste so much time in this story the way they do?  I know without doubt we will see more Batman movies in the future but I don’t see much reason to have hope for them at the moment.  The studio will look to make more money and the film will suffer for that reason alone. They will “reboot” it again and we will see a whole new cast the next time around.  That is what will most likely happen but at the end of the day anything is possible.

I think if you are a Batman fan you should go see this movie, and I sincerely hope you enjoy it more than I did.  I am shocked and at a loss of words over how disappointed I am. The word flabbergasted comes to mind.  The more I think about it the more disappointed I am.  I think the movie lacked the intensity of the first two films, and the clever writing that tied everything together so smoothly.  I think that we would have seen a much more incredible film had Heath Ledger never died because I think the story obviously would have continued with the Joker.  We will never know though, and this will be what we always have.  If you are reading this and disagree with me please reply with an argument.  I might need to be talked into seeing this one again, and that too is so disappointing.

I would like to mention as well, The Avengers was a better movie and I think it is now without doubt the best movie this summer had to offer.  Click on the title to read our review of that movie, and if you haven’t seen it there might still be time to catch it in the theaters.

UPDATE #1

This movie was easier to stomach a second time around when my expectations weren’t so high.  I still stand by everything I said above but I can see now that it is not as awful as I implied the first time.  I think my biggest problem is that I just didn’t like the story in general and expected more.  Bruce Wayne is just so weak in this movie.  I think a movie that directly followed its predecessor involving a Batman in his prime fighting some new villain as well as cops would have been much more exciting.

I have read that there is a possibility of Joseph Gordon-Levitt taking on the role of Batman and continuing the franchise.  I really like this idea although Gordon-Levitt really doesn’t have the stature to don the cape and cowl. I think it would be a much better plan than him simply being a Batman-less Robin despite his size.  I do not know what Warner Brothers is doing as far as their Justice League movie goes but I think they have to find a way to connect everything in order to compete with what Marvel did with The Avengers.  Using Gordon-Levitt as Batman would be a good way to get that done.