Scots Taffer on 20/1/2011 at 01:48
I realised with the recent casting news there was no thread to chat about it in, so here's the remedy!
The Dark Knight Rises is the third and final Christopher Nolan Batman movie (and potentially the last Bale Batman movie too). Other confirmed facts: Two-Face is dead, he won't reprise his role, and there will be no Robin while Bale or Nolan are involved in the franchise.
But... that doesn't mean the studio is done with the franchise with this movie, and you can't expect they would drop it or reboot it given the squillions of dollars it has made them.
So this may explain the choices for the two new characters (and potential villains) in Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle (not announced as Catwoman, but we all know that story) and Tom Hardy as Bane, though I can't say I'm particularly psyched about either.
First off, the characters...
The Catwoman is arguably as iconic as the Joker but apart from being mauled twice in movie adaptations. Pfieffer did a good enough job with what she was given and definitely ratcheted up the psychosexual side of the character but pretty sure Berry undid all of that with whatever that horrendous piece of shit was that I never saw. Her character is certainly on the more unbelievable/supernatural side of the villain equation and how they will make her a convincing villain in a more "real world" Batman will be certainly interesting, but I'm naturally dubious.
Bane... ugh. Let's ignore Batman and Robin's version of Bane and pretend he's new... we don't have any of the lead-ins for Bane's existence do we? Supersoldier with superstrength? Really? If not that and something more believable then what? The speculation on how this fits into Nolan's Batverse is far less compelling to discuss and is just more confusing than anything else.
Are these going to be fully formed villains that spring up a la The Joker? There's been no foreshadowing of these two, so it's hard to slide them in like they did with him. Are they going to try and do the Two-Face character arc of person turning into a villain and being defeated all in one movie... this time in stereo? It seems like the overstuffing issues that could have capsized The Dark Knight haven't been heeded.
Secondly, the actors...
Anne Hathaway is a real blank canvas. I find her pretty empty in most things I've seen her in (not many) but it's not like Nolan's had a great track record with his females in his other movies, particularly the Batman flicks. Tom Hardy seems like a potentially solid character actor so that speaks more to casting him in a supporting role rather than as a villain, particularly not a brutish dull-headed villain, unless they totally reinvent the character as a wise-cracking dream-invading shape-shifter in a Batman/Inception cross-over. Again, not particularly jazzed about these choices.
To cap it all off, then you've got to tell a story that's a fitting conclusion to the Nolan Batman saga for Bruce/Bats after dealing with the aftermath of TDK. :erg:
I love Nolan's work, but I'm seriously left scratching my head after these announcements. Thoughts?
SubJeff on 20/1/2011 at 02:12
I was quite pleased with the casting, and I think Nolan has chosen these two characters because he has a good idea about what to do with them and by that I mean translate them into something that
does fit in the universe.
It's going to be very, very hard to top Ledger's Joker because damn he was good. But Hardy IS a great character actor and in that respect he's puuurfect (oh yes I did) for this role. He has the ability to get buff and nasty. Did you ever see that BBC2 London East End gangster drama? He was was proper naaarsty in it.
Hathaway has the ability but more important the gravitas, the presence. I doubt Nolan'll make her into something too crazy though and she'll probably make Pfeiffer look really over the top. I know what you mean by the blankness though - she's all big eyes and smiles all the time. I'll give her a chance though, and I like her look.
Quote Posted by Scots Taffer
Tom Hardy seems like a potentially solid character actor so that speaks more to casting him in a supporting role rather than as a villain, particularly not a
brutish dull-headed villain
a. You've not seen Bronson have you?
b. You don't really know about Bane's character do you? Find out and then rethink it. Hardy is an excellent choice for it.
Scots Taffer on 20/1/2011 at 02:15
a. no
b. the character summary given EVERYWHERE is "supersolider addicted to venom which gives him superstrength" and his depiction in games/movies thus far definitely falls into the dull end of the spectrum
Scots Taffer on 20/1/2011 at 02:19
So what are we thinking... protégé working for Lucius? Goes off deep end when Wayne scraps the work?
SubJeff on 20/1/2011 at 02:24
I doubt it. Nolan is more likely to take some flavour of the comic book character origin so I think these characters, like the Joker, will come fully formed. He's unlikely to do origin stories on them, or at least I hope he doesn't - especially not on Bane! It'll be really lame because the characters should be mature and doing their own thing when Batman meets them.
In fact you've just mentioned one way to mess it up - having Bane as some disgruntled Waynecorp employee who gets the superserum from Wayne's own experimental division! Oh lord!
Scots Taffer on 20/1/2011 at 02:26
Still wish it'd been The Riddler. :(
edit: ah, I see I've been sledged for a totally off-the-cuff suggestion... well, let's just say it doesn't sound any worse than his wiki bio
Quote:
During his years in prison, Bane carries a teddy bear he calls Osito (Spanish for "little bear"), whom he considers his only friend.
Doesn't seem to mention he's a genius, just a voracious reader of books and a murderer who spent most of his life in prison.
SubJeff on 20/1/2011 at 02:30
Actually a Nolan Riddler would have been great. I can imagine some really intelligent and twisted schemes coming out but I worry that there would be a whole riddle me this thing where people, or a person, will die if Batman mess it up. And in Nolan's vision so far it'd be a little bit dark, a little bit grim. And remind me of Saw.
gunsmoke on 20/1/2011 at 03:24
Quote Posted by Subjective Effect
b. You don't really know about Bane's character do you? Find out and then rethink it.
Hardy is an excellent choice for it.This. I agree 100%!
fett on 20/1/2011 at 03:42
Just so it's been said out loud: Bane sucks. He sucked in the comic books, he sucked in the TV series, he sucked in the Lego Batman game. His backstory is boring as fuck, he looks like a pro-wrestler who couldn't afford a decent speedo, and he's always come off as a lazy default bad-guy who crawled out of a pot-smoking session by the writers.
Bane sucks. It's really hard to fix suck.
