batman | the m0vie blog

(Big) Daddy’s (Hit) Girl: Kick-Ass Controversy & The Art of Completely Missing the Point…

Posted on April 6, 2010 by Darren

Last week I remarked on how ridiculous it was that people were getting freaked out by the use of a certain c-word (and, no, it’s not a misspelling of the words “kick ass”) by a certain pint-sized assassin in a certain superhero spoof movie. In said article, I had the audacity to state that – although I wouldn’t agree with it – I could understand if they were upset by the gratuitous violence the little kid commits, rather than her choice of language. It appears my appeals to sanity within the moral guardian community has been somewhat answered and various commentators have begun decrying Kick-Ass for the way it treats and portrays Hit Girl, the eleven-year-old sidekick to wannabe Batman by the name of Big Daddy.

Opening Soon: The Nicolas Cage School of Parenting - Enroll Now!

Note: This article contains slight spoilers for the movie and probably bigger spoilers for the graphic novel. You have been warned. But don’t worry, if you want to wait to see the film, this article will be here when you get back.

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Filed under: Comics, Movies | Tagged: all-star batman and robin, batman, batman & robin, big daddy, comic books, hit girl, kick-ass, lecturing, mark millar, moral outrage, morality, Movies, robin, sidekicks | 8 Comments »

Why Nolan Saying ‘No’ To The Justice League Is A Good Idea…

Posted on March 13, 2010 by Darren

An interesting snippet of news came out during the week regarding Christopher Nolan, the director of the two recent Batman films and now godfather to a to-be-relaunched Superman franchise (we’re hoping he can figure out how to make it a good film). The director, usually unbelievably coy about his work (he’ll flat out refuse to answer any particularly prying questions, which is great in an era of spoilers and speculation and so on), gave a succinct answer on whether his Batman and Superman will exist within the same universe. His answer was a flat-out ‘no’. And I think that’s great.

This looks like a job for Christopher Nolan!

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: batman, Batman 3, comic books, films, justice league, Movies, nolan, superhero, superman, superman 3.0, The Dark Knight, the dark knight sequel | 2 Comments »

Stories That Mattered: Essential Stories From DC Comics’ 75 Years

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Darren

We’re a bit late to the party, but this week we’ll be celebrating the 75th anniversary of DC Comics, with a look at the medium, the company and the characters in a selection of bonus features running Monday through Friday. This is one of those articles. Be sure to join us for the rest.

It’s been 75 years since DC burst on the scene. I don’t imagine too many of the suits behind the scenes expected it to last quite this long. The wonderful folks over at io9 came up with a 75-book list of essentials and it’s a pretty good list, but it’s heavily toned towards “important” narratives rather than “good” narratives. It’s a fair distinction. Comic books are a young medium, and – being frank – most of the early writing sucks. The Golden Age Batman and Superman narratives were semi-decent stories (in many ways better than those that followed), but the truly awful dialogue makes them nigh impossible to read. I thought I’d just put together a list of some of the highly recommended DC stories I’ve picked up over the years.

Definitely important... not so sure it's essential...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: alan moore, batman, comic books, Comics, dc comics, green lantern, sandman, starman, superman, swamp thing, watchmen, y: the last man | 3 Comments »

The Starman Omnibus, Vol. 4

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Darren

It did take me a while to get into the series, but it’s hard to describe James Robinson’s fantastic superhero saga as anything other than mandatory reading material for anyone with an interest in the genre, its history or its evolution. Starman was the comic book of the nineties, and a fresh look at an already classic concept. Alan Moore picked apart the superhero genre in Watchmen, declaring that the medium was growing creatively bankrupt. Robinson seems intent to prove otherwise. Brick by brick and strand by strand, Robinson has painstakingly given us one of the most interesting and complex creations in the medium. Often exploring and questioning the roots and the clichés of the superhero genre, Robinson is prone to revel in them. If we are interested in the evolution of the genre, Starman is the book for you.

Everything is better with Nazis...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: batman, captain marvel, Comics, dc comics, hellboy, james robinson, magic, power of shazam, review, science, starman omnibus, starman omnibus volume 4, the power of shazam, The Starman Omnibus, the starman omnibus: volume 4, tony harris | Leave a comment »

Batman 3 and Superman Reboot Confirmed…

Posted on February 11, 2010 by Darren

Wow. It looks like getting Nolan to sign on for Batman 3 wasn’t the hard part. It was getting him to sign on to be the brains behind the new Superman reboot. Yes, there’s a new Superman reboot coming. Guess DC is finally doing something with the Man of Steel. Looks like it’s no longer just fanboy hopes riding on Christopher Nolan – it’s the future of DC comics on film.

Forget Clark Kent, Christopher Nolan is the real Superman...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: batman, Batman 3, batman begins, dc, dc comics, news, superman, superman 3.0, superman returns, The Dark Knight, the dark knight sequel, Warner Brothers | Leave a comment »

Daredevil: Yellow (Review)

Posted on February 4, 2010 by Darren

The rest of the story you know too well. It’s been told a lot of ways, with many other people in my life, but this is the way I choose to remember it when I think of you.

– Matt Murdock

The first part of Tim Sale and Jeph Loeb’s informal ‘colours’ trilogy (Spiderman: Blue and Hulk: Grey being the rest of it), Daredevil: Yellow has a lot going for it beyond the two talents behind a trilogy of iconic Batman stories (Haunted Knight, The Long Halloween, Dark Victory). Cynics would describe it as the last classic that Loeb wrote. The truth is that it offers a wonderful eulogy for the carefree comic book stories of old, simple and ridiculous fare with simple storylines and clear-cut good guys and bad guys. It’s a nostalgia trip – which means it isn’t quite as compelling as the duo’s work on Batman – but it does lend the collection a nice feel to it. If you are in anyway interested in the olden days of comic books without the retro-post-modernism that typically accompanies such fare, this is the story for you.

Daredevil's come on leaps and bounds from his early days...

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Filed under: Comics | Tagged: batman, batman: the long halloween, comic books, Comics, daredevil, daredevil: yellow, ed brubaker, frank miller, guardian devil, jeph loeb, karen page, marvel, matt fraction, matt murdock, review, stan lee, the man without fear, tim sale, yellow | 4 Comments »

Is Iron Man 2 a thematic successor to The Dark Knight?

Posted on February 2, 2010 by Darren

As anyone who reads this blog is probably aware, we’re still eagerly awaiting news of any sort of announcement about Batman 3, the sequel to Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight that was rumoured to arrive this January. Be it that he was leaving or staying or what have you. Still, part of me wonders if there might be quite a significant amount of stuff in Iron Man 2 for those looking for a further exploration of the themes in the 2008 blockbuster. With recent discussions about the project and the first trailer, I can’t help but get the fantastic feeling that the second Iron Man movie may pick up and explore some of the wonderful threads which Nolan’s dark epic set up. That’s not to say that there isn’t reason to get excited for the film in it’s own right – Robert Downey Jnr! Sam Rockwell! Mickey Rourke! Jon Favreau! – but it’ll be interesting to see if the themes overlap or echo with the film’s 2008 summer rival as well.

Who says darker and edgier is the way forward?

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: batman, Batman 3, Christopher Nolan, films, iron man, iron man 2, jon favreau, Movies, robert downey jnr., sam rockwell, superhero, The Dark Knight, the dark knight sequel, tony stark | Leave a comment »

Will Warners Reboot Batman?

Posted on December 10, 2009 by Darren

My spidey-sense is tingling. Word on the rumour mill is that we’ll know next month if Christopher Nolan will be making a Batman trilogy, or simply leaving it at a duology. There’s all manner of discussion about what will happen if he isn’t back – but I think it’s looking increasingly like we may be moving away from the Zack Snyder’s The Dark Knight Returns approach, which means a new Batman movie relatively similar to the last two (because nothing succeeds like success). But part of me is wondering what the plan is beyond that. Are we going to see a direct sequel or a reboot? Would Warner Brothers reboot Batman so quickly?

Not only the director we deserve, but the the director we need right now...

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Filed under: Comics, Movies | Tagged: batman, Christopher Nolan, continuity superman, earth one, film, green lantern, justice league, Movies, reboot, relaunch, ultimate marvel, ultimate universe, Warner Brothers | Leave a comment »

My Top 50 Movies of the Decade…

Posted on December 7, 2009 by Darren

Alright here it is, my top fifty films of the decade. I’ve decided to stop complaining about Donal Clarke’s list in the Irish Times and just let rip myself. There’s more than a few crazy choices down there, but – after a week in the works – I’m happy with it. I doubt that a lot of other people will be.

Like the Oscars, but... you know, better...

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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: (500) Days of Summer, 1 hour photo, 28 days later, a history of violence, anchorman, apocalypto, batman, batman begins, battle royale, best movies, best movies of the decade, best movies of the naughties, burn after reading, casino royale, collateral, coraline, crash, crouching tiger hidden dragon, dark knight, doubt, downfall, eternal sunshince, eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, finding nemo, frost nixon, frost/nixon, gladiator, gone baby gone, good movies, history of violence, in bruges, infernal affairs, inglorious basterds, inglourious basterds, inter mission, intermission, juno, kiss kiss bang bang, little miss sunshine, Momento, moon, mystic river, naughties, no country for old men, one hour photo, pans labyrinth, phone booth, prestige, shaun of the dead, sin city, spider-man 2, spider-man ii, sunshine, team america, team america: world police, The Dark Knight, the departed, the good the bad & the weird, the good the bad and the weird, the incredibles, the lord of the rings, the lord of the rings: the two towers, the mist, the naughties, the noughties, the prestige, the two towers, there will be blood, top 50, top fifty movies of the decade, training day, tropic thunder, twenty-eight days later, zoolander | 16 Comments »

Non-Review Review: Batman

Posted on November 28, 2009 by Darren

I have to admit, I have a soft spot for Tim Burton and Michael Keaton’s Batman. I mean, I hate what the series became with Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, but I think that Burton managed to craft a unique and yet suitable visual and design aesthetic for the character and his world, while Keaton managed to embody a tragic Batman who really seems quite distinct from most iterations either before or since. While I wouldn’t argue this take on Batman should be “definitive”, or that it fits as comfortably as Nolan’s Batman Begins or even Batman: The Animated Series, I do think it’s a valid and intriguing exploration of one of pop culture’s most enduring and evolving characters.