Christopher Nolan | the m0vie blog

Justice League Unlimited – Epilogue (Review)

Posted on September 28, 2012 by Darren

At the time Epilogue was written, the creators didn’t know that Justice League Unlimited would get another season. The show ultimately got another year on television, but Dwayne McDuffie and Bruce Timm constructed Epilogue so that it would serve as something of a coda to the entire animated DC universe, stemming as far back as On Leather Wings. It actually works almost perfectly, bringing everything a full circle. Justice League and Justice League Unlimited consciously pushed Batman to the periphery, which made a bit of sense. After all, the character had anchored two shows already. However, Epilogue moves Batman back to the centre, re-establishing Bruce as the core of the animated DC universe and giving him a (mostly) happy ending a few years before The Dark Knight Rises would do the same thing.

One final spotlight on Batman…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Barbara, barbara gordon, batman, batman animated series, Bob Haney, Bruce, bruce wayne, Brucetimm, Characters of Friends, Christopher Nolan, Counties and Districts, Dark Knight Rises, DarkKnight Rises, dc animated universe, Dwayne McDuffie, gotham city, joker, justice league unlimited, kevin conroy, Ontario, robin, Royal Flush Gang, Selina, Terry, Tim, Tim Drake | 4 Comments »

Batman Beyond – Rebirth (Parts I & II) (Review)

Posted on September 28, 2012 by Darren

This September marks the twentieth anniversary of Batman: The Animated Series, and the birth of the shared DC animated universe that would eventually expand to present one of the most comprehensive and thorough explorations of a comic book mythology in any medium. To celebrate, we’re going back into the past and looking at some classic episodes.

Batman is one of the very few of DC’s major superheroes who faces his own mortality. Superman knows that he inspires the Legion of Superheroes, and his alien physiology could allow him to live forever. Wonder Woman is an immortal. Green Lantern comes from an entire deep space police force. Even Hawkman and Hawkgirl live through a perpetual cycle of reincarnation. Bruce Wayne is just a man, and – as such – he will eventually die. Due to this simple fact, a lot of people have wondered what might happen if Bruce Wayne were confronted with his own mortality.

Batman Beyond explores that potential future.

A flying start?

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: batman, Batman Beyond, Bruce, bruce wayne, Christopher Nolan, ChristopherNolan, dark knight returns, Dark Knight Rises, DarkKnight Rises, dc animated universe, Derek Power, green lantern, Hawkgirl, joker, Jokerz, Terry, Wayne, Wayne Enterprise, Wayne Manor | Leave a comment »

Batman Beyond – Ascension (Review)

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Darren

Batman Beyond worked quite hard to establish its own identity, as distinct from Batman: The Animated Series. Sure, occasionally familiar villains and characters would make an appearance, and Terry had a fair share of his bed guys who were at least partially inspired by Z-list Batman baddies, but Batman Beyond managed to firmly establish itself as its own thing over its first season. Ascension is a finale that wraps up narrative threads that have been building since Rebirth, giving Terry some measure of emotional closure and also tying up some loose ends that have been dangling since the show began.

Not quite the healthiest form of green energy…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: art, batman, batman animated series, Batman Beyond, Bruce, Christopher Nolan, comic book, Comics, dc animated universe, Derek Power, Freeze, justice league unlimited, Terry | Leave a comment »

Batman Beyond – Meltdown (Review)

Posted on September 20, 2012 by Darren

I was less than impressed with Victor Fries’ last appearance on Batman: The Animated Series in Cold Comfort, written by Hilary J. Bader. So I’ll admit to being quite surprised when she produced the story for Meltdown, a fairly effective conclusion to Mister Freeze’s character arc. Perhaps it’s a result of the bold new setting, or perhaps Alan Burnett’s work on the teleplay, but Meltdown does a rather excellent job wrapping up all sorts of loose ends and fairly effectively using Freeze as an unlikely, yet effective, counterpart to Bruce Wayne.

He never lost his head, and he always kept his cool…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: art, batman, batman animated series, Batman Beyond, Bruce, bruce wayne, Christopher Nolan, comic book, dc animated universe, Freeze, Michael Ansara, Nora Fries, paul dini | 2 Comments »

The Adventures of Batman & Robin – Showdown (Review)

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Darren

Bruce Timm’s animated DC universe introduced me to a wealth of comic book characters I would never have encountered otherwise. While I was familiar with most of Batman’s iconic selection of bad guys, The Demon’s Quest introduced me to Ra’s Al Ghul. Later on, you could see Superman: The Animated Series making a point to introduce other iconic characters like the Flash or Green Lantern. However, Batman: The Animated Series also did its shared of universe-building. While Zatanna introduced the magician as a co-star with Bruce, Showdown is notable for introducing another DC hero with whom Bruce never directly interacts.

Showdownworks superbly as an introduction to the character of Jonah Hex. It certainly works much better than the recent feature film carrying the character’s name.

He’s a sharp one…

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Filed under: Movies, Television | Tagged: Al Ghul, art, batman, batman animated series, Bruce, Brucetimm, Christopher Nolan, comic book, Dark Knight Rises, dc animated universe, Freeze, jonah hex, justice league unlimited, paul dini, robin | 2 Comments »

Batman: The Animated Series – Dreams in Darkness (Review)

Posted on September 17, 2012 by Darren

One of the fascinating things about Batman: The Animated Series, apart from the shrewd writing, the careful character development and the skilled animation, was just how well it worked within the grand tapestry of the Batman mythos. The writers would frequently take ideas and concepts scattered across the breadth of the character’s rich publication history, tweak and update them for the small screen, and then go on to rework the concepts for the next generation of writers and creators working on the character.

Dreams in Darkness feels like the perfect example of this chain approach to reworking concepts and characters. It’s very clearly inspired by Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle’s Shadow of the Bat story The Last Arkham, but it went on to be a major and obvious influence on Batman Begins. It’s an interesting perpetual character cycle, where the character is constantly renewed and reinvigorated by successive adaptations.

We all go a little mad some times…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Alan Grant, Arkham, batman, batman animated series, batman begins, Christopher Nolan, ChristopherNolan, dark knight returns, Dark Knight Rises, DarkKnight Rises, frank miller, joker, List of Batman animated episodes, paul dini, robin | 2 Comments »

Batman: The Animated Series – Perchance to Dream (Review)

Posted on September 14, 2012 by Darren

Given how much care Batman: The Animated Series put into crafting and caring for the Caped Crusader’s iconic selection of bad guys, it’s often easy to overlook just how skilfully the series handled its central character. Batman has frequently been accused of being far less interesting than his costumed adversaries – particularly in Batman and Batman Returns – so it’s reassuring to note that Bruce Tim and his stable of writers had a very firm grasp on the character of Gotham’s Dark Knight. Perchance to Dream is one of the stories that offers perhaps the greatest insight into who Bruce Wayne is and what he wants. And, perhaps, why he could never have it.

Sweet dreams…

Note: This review contains spoilers. Given the episode aired twenty years ago, I consider it fair game. If you haven’t seen it already, please feel free to come back when you have. It is very good.

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: alfred, alfred pennyworth, batman, batman animated series, Bruce, bruce wayne, Christopher Nolan, dark knight returns, Dark Knight Rises, dc animated universe, FrankMiller, Hatter, Lucius Fox, robin, Selina, superman, thomas wayne, Warner Bros, Wayne Enterprise, Wayne Enterprises | 4 Comments »

Superman: The Animated Series – The Demon Reborn (Review)

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Darren

I’m generally not a fan of excessive continuity in comic book storytelling. I find it insular and exclusive. One shouldn’t need to pick up a twenty-part crossover involving books they’ve never heard of in order to read a story featuring an iconic character, and one shouldn’t feel left out because they weren’t reading comics written twenty years ago receiving an obscure but vital reference in this month’s issue. That said, I do think there’s an element of fun that comes from the idea of all these pulp characters sharing the same fictional space. It allows for a curious mixing and matching of archetypes and ideas, turning old matches into something a bit more exotic. The Demon Reborn finds Superman facing off against Ra’s Al Ghul, and the result is quite fascinating.

The Demon you know…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: Al Ghul, arts, batman, batman animated series, Bruce, bruce timm, Brucetimm, Christopher Nolan, comic book, Comics, Dark Knight Rises, David Warner, dc animated universe, joker, League of Assassins, ra's al ghul, superman, Talia, Talia Al Ghul | Leave a comment »

Batman: The Animated Series – The Clock King (Review)

Posted on September 6, 2012 by Darren

One thing I really liked about Batman: The Animated Series was the way that it was constantly rehabilitating all these classic gimmicky villains, the type of stereotypical one-dimensional comic book baddies that would inevitably serve as event fodder to prove just how serious the current big threat was. Mister Freeze is the most obvious example, with Heart of Ice really setting the standard for a Z-list villain rehabilitation. Surprisingly, I find myself returning to those smaller episodes more than I’d watch the Joker-centric adventures or even some of the more popular instalments. While not quite as definitive as Heart of Ice, The Clock King does an excellent job introducing the eponymous bad guy.

Like clockwork…

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Filed under: Television | Tagged: alfred, alfred pennyworth, batman, batman animated series, Bruce, bruce timm, Christopher Nolan, Clock King, Dark Knight Rises, David Wise, Freeze, Gas mask, gotham, gotham city, Home and Garden, mad hatter, paul dini, riddler, Shopping, Temple, Walter Slezak | 5 Comments »

Superhero Movie Fatigue? I Tire of This Argument…

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Darren

It’s becoming a frequent complaint that there are “too many” superhero films. When Green Lantern crashed and burned last year, there were a rake of articles lauding it as “superhero fatigue.” Even before this summer kicked off, people were asking if “fatigue” had kicked in. Ignoring for a moment that The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises are the two most successful films of the year, I’ve never quite understood that argument. There were, after all, three (or four, if you count the dire Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance) superhero-themed blockbusters this year. Do audiences get “period drama fatigue” if more than four high-profile period dramas are released in a year? Are there widespread cases of “cop movie fatigue” if more than half-a-dozen movies feature a law enforcement official in a lead role? Is there a cap on the number of films that Ryan Gosling can produce, lest he inspire an epidemic of “Ryan Gosling fatigue”?