Raiders of The Lost Media - Ben Affleck's The Batman

Before Matt Reeves' The Batman is released, it's important to tell you about Ben Affleck's verison of the movie since that's how it all started.

Part One - What is Ben Affleck's The Batman?

Ben Affleck's The Batman is a cancelled comic book movie. It was based on the DC Comics' character Batman. The movie supposedly took inspiration from comic storylines such as Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, Knightfall, and even would've taken elements from the 2009 action-adventure video game, Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Part Two - The Script

The plot goes Deathstroke wants to ruin Batman's life because his believes that Bruce Wayne is responsible for his son's death. Deathstroke would've planned a breakout for the inmates at Arkham Asylum, this would've tired out Batman and made him more vulnerable.

Many people came forward and would describe what was going to be in the movie. Such as the climax of having Batman and Deathstroke fighting in the streets, and Batgirl would've appeared and helped Bruce. It was also said the movie would've explored more of the death of Robin, which was hinted at all the way back in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

Both Jay Oliva and Matt Reeves had two very different ways of describing Ben's script, but they both do the job of making people interested of what could've been.

Jay on his Twitter account would respond to someone's comment on Ben's script saying, "Hi Bill! The original Affleck script was the best Batman script I've ever read. Ben had a kick ass story and I believe that the audience and fans would have loved it".

And during an interview with Esquire Middle East, Matt Reeves would touch upon what the tone of the script was. He would say that the script took an "action-driven James Bond-ian approach".

Part Three - Why Didn't It Happen?

Ben Affleck himself would later explain the reason why the movie never happened was because a combination of things. His divorce from his wife Jennifer Garner, his alcohol problems, and then there was the horrible experience with Justice League when Joss Whedon and Warner Bros. were doing all sort of things to the movie. In matter of fact, the experience with the production of Justice League would actually go on to make Ben not enjoy playing the character like he did when Zack Snyder was in charge.

The final nail in the coffin was when Ben showed the script to a friend of his and his friend would later say "I think the script is good. I also think you'll drink yourself to death if you go through what you just went through [on Justice League] again".

Part Six - Will We Ever See It?

Now we've seen many actors return to their iconic roles. Mark Hamill came back for Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and recently Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield came back to their roles of Spider-Man in Spider-Man: No Way Home. And despite his old age Harrison Ford is going to be Indiana Jones for the upcoming Indiana Jones 5. Along with many other examples of stars returning to their most famous roles.

And Ben did come back for reshoots for Zack Snyder's Justice League and will appear in The Flash. But those were just small instances so he didn't have much to do, which means there also wasn't that much pressure.

So if we have do truly get a Ben Affleck solo Batman flick it really only comes down to one person and one person only, Ben Affleck. Now I would love to see this film, Hell I even follow a Twitter account dedicated to this film, and have even used the hashtag #MakeTheBatfleckMovie.

But I would only want this movie if Ben Affleck wanted to return on his own free will. Maybe he will, maybe he won't. Only time will tell, so far now we can only dream.

So that's going to do it for me. Come back on Thursday, Mar 3rd. For that day I'll have something special planned for the 5th anniversary of my favorite comic book movie of 2017, Logan. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

No Exit Review

 

No Exit is a thriller movie based on Taylor Adams' 2017 novel of the same name. The film is produced by 20th Century Studios and Flitcraft and distributed by Hulu. No Exit is written by Andrew Barrer and Gabriel Ferrari and directed by Damien Power.

The story is a young woman was on her to go visit her mother who's currently in the hospital for a brain aneurysm, soon she's stuck with a group of people at a rest stop and waiting out the blizzard with them. Things then take a horrifying turn when the young woman finds a little girl who was kidnapped by one of the people inside the rest stop. The tension is rising as everyone is trying to figure who the kidnapper who could.

Initial Reaction

The reason why I wanted to see this movie was because of the synopsis. Sure it's a basic premise, but it still sounds interesting. And the trailer didn't do a bad job either.

Cons

I've got nothing to say. Let's move on.

Middle Ground

Now there is a very controversial moment in the film. Basically, one of the characters is a recovering drug addict. That person is pinned to a wall and they need something to help numb the pain to get unpinned. So the character takes drugs. Now, I can understand why that would ruffle a few feathers. But at the same time, I understand it from the story perspective. I don't fully agree, but at the same time I get what the writers were going for. Then we have the whole kidnapper thing. Honestly, pretty standard villain. But while the storyline of that part of the movie was standard, I don't think many people will take any real issue with it. I think maybe they'll find it serviceable.

Pros

One positive I do want to give is the suspense. It's pretty well done, and there was quite a few times when I was getting a little nervous. What I also liked was the performances. Everyone did a really good job. And there wasn't one actor or actress I was disappointed in. Even the little girl (who's real name is Mila Harris) who despite being only nine maybe ten, she was really pretty good. Then there's the runtime. If you're in the mood for a nice short and sweet thriller, here ya go. Everything you want is all nicely packaged in a perfect 90 minutes bow. I also want to give credit for the cinematography. It's nothing award winning but, it does look really nice, and really made the movie look good. Which in return made the viewing experience everything better.

Overall No Exit is a good. Nice tension, good performances, a nicely done runtime, and some pretty good cinematography. The whole thing with the kidnapper was standard, but it did do it's job. And even though I understand and don't fully agree with the whole recovering drug addict taking drugs for strength, I can understand why the writers went that route.

My final rating is Good.

Okay that's all for now. Come back on Monday, Feb 28th. For that day, I'll be talking about Been Affleck's version of The Batman. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Road to The Batman - Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Review

 NOTE: FOR THIS REVIEW I WATCHED THE PROPER VERISON. THAT ONE BEING THE ULTIMATE EDITION.

Well folks. Here we are. The final review of the Road to The Batman. And I've been waiting for this one since I first began this little journey.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is a 2016 comic book movie, based on DC Comics' most iconic characters, Batman and Superman. The movie is not only a follow-up to 2013's Man of Steel, but is also the second installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). This also marked the first time Batman & Superman have appeared together in a live-action setting. The movie was produced by Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Entertainment, RatPac-Dune Entertainment, Atlas Entertainment, and Cruel and Unusual Films and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice was written by Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer and directed by Zack Snyder.

The story is after witnessing the events from Superman's battle with Zod back in Man of Steel, Bruce Wayne aka Batman has come to view Superman as a threat to humanity. Knowing that Batman has this fear, Lex Luthor who also has an obsession with Superman comes up with plan to manipulate both men into trying to kill each other. Will Superman and Batman put the pieces together and team-up, or will Lex win in the end?

• Negatives

I've got nothing to say. Let's move on.

• Mix

Now I have seen quite a bit of complaints about how they set up Justice League. I can understand them, and I'll admit. Other than Bruce's speech at the end, I wasn't exactly blown away by it. But, Unlike what a lot of other comic book movies are doing, I am grateful that the setup didn't waste so much of the movie's time. Cause imagine if they wasted so many minutes being like "Oh that guy is this", "This guy is that", or "He's codename is this" stuff like that.

• Positives

One thing that I loved about the movie is the performances. Everyone just does a stunning job, and I really can't say there was one I liked the most. Henry Cavill was amazing as this Superman who's really questioning if he should be doing what he does, or even existing. Ben Affleck, this guy played the best Batman. I liked how he played a Batman who's fall from grace took a major fall. He played a great broken verison of the character. And I loved how Jeremy Iron not only played an Alfred who's very disappointed in Bruce's new ways, but also played a great sarcastic Alfred as well. Like I said before, everyone was just amazing.

What I also liked about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is the pacing. Much like how I praised the pacing of the Snyder cut, the pacing for this just flew by. For a "Ultimate Edition" of a nearly three hour long movie, I didn't feel like I was sitting on my couch for three hours. I pretty much just flew pass this.

Then we have our villain Lex Luthor. This is the Lex I've been waiting to see for I long time. He was a puppet master, a evil genius, he knew how to play people, and so forth. I also loved everything about his plan. And when that plan didn't work, he had a back-up plan which kind of made him the winner in some sense. I'll still have room for Gene Hackman's Lex, but Jesse's Lex is up there.

I also loved the action. Snyder gave us a great deal of action. That Batmobile chase scene was not only explosive but awesome. I loved seeing Batman & Superman duke it out. And the final fight with Doomsday was a perfect finale. But I gotta give it to that warehouse scene. That not only looked brutal, but it was by far the best showcase of Batman's combat skills.

What also worked for the movie was the music. Which I don't know what to say that hasn't already been said. Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL deserved every bit of praise. This is probably my favorite score to come from a comic book movie.

Now I want to praise the man himself, Zack Snyder. This man can really direct a comic book movie. He's one of my top directors when it comes to the genre. Don't get me wrong. I loved what Richard Donner did for Superman, what Tim Burton did for Batman, what Guillermo del Toro did for Hellboy, what Robert Rodriguez & Frank Miller did for Sin City, what Christopher Nolan did for The Dark Knight Trilogy, what James Mangold did for Logan, and I'm most likely gonna love what Matt Reeves is gonna do for The Batman, but to me Snyder can truly make his shots look like they're from a graphic novel. I mean just look at these shots....

And if by the off chance those pics didn't convince you (and I'm hoping that that's a very BIG off chance), then go read 300 and Watchmen, and then watch Snyder's film adaptations of those, and you'll see those are just the pages from the comics just ripped off and given a cinematic flair.

Another aspect I loved about Batman v Superman was the dark tone. This one criticism I never understood. Cause if you go back and watch the very first teaser, everyone should've known this was going to be a serious movie. And guess what? It works! This film isn't dark for the sake of being dark. It's more gritty because of the subjects. Batman is going by a new set of rules. Superman's being framed as something's he's not, and because of that he's questioning himself. So Zack Snyder and co. didn't make this movie "edgy" (a word that I think doesn't even fit with this flick) just because. They did it because it worked for the film.

Guys, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is one of my many favorite comic book films. It's got spectacular performances, the pacing was perfect, Lex was a great villain, I loved the action scenes, the music is awesome, Snyder's directing was beautiful, and I loved the dark tone. Have a slight problem with the Justice League setup but nothing to get too upset about.

My final rating is Great.

While guys like I said, this is the final part of The Road to The Batman. Not only was this a great way to end it, but I can't even begin to describe how excited I am for that movie. But anyways, that's going to do it for me. Come back on Saturday, Feb 26th for my review of the newest Hulu film, No Exit. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre Review

 

Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a slasher film, and a direct sequel to 1974's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre as well as the ninth installment of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise. The movie is produced by Legendary Pictures, Bad Hombre, and Exurbia Films and distributed by Netflix. Texas Chainsaw Massacre is written by Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues and directed by David Blue Garcia.

The story is Melody, her sister Lila, and her entrepreneur friends go to Harlow, Texas in hopes of renovating the small town. What they don't know is the chainsaw wielding serial killer known as Leatherface is out to slaughter them. While that is going on, the sole survivor of the 1973 massacre, Sally Hardesty has remerged and wants to put a stop to the infamous murder.

Initial Reaction

I think it's pretty obvious as to why I was looking forward to this. It's Texas Chainsaw Massacre, what more does anyone have to say? Granted I still had my doubts, but I was still curious. Although much like Scream, I wish they came up with a more original title. Didn't mind it at first when Halloween did it back in 2018, but this is the third an iconic horror franchise as done this, and it's really becoming ridiculous.

Cons

One downside with this is the post-credit scene. I didn't see the point in it. This really should've been a deleted scene, cause there's no point. It's like they wanted to do a little wink for nostalgia, but it failed. Other issue I had was with Sally. She really didn't need to be here. The character this time around was so pointless, that you easily could've written her to be anybody else. Change a little bit of dialogue here and there and boom! You got a completely different character. It was clear they tried to copy the whole thing with Laurie Strode with the new Halloween films, but they really missed the mark.

Middle Ground

Now the movie does take place in the 2020s, what with the setting taken place 50 years after the first movie. And for a good portion of the movie they not completely in your face about. But from time to time you'll get those scenes. One that I shook my head on was when Leatherface is around a group of people in a bus, they take out their phones, and one guy said and I kid you not, actually says "Try anything and you're cancelled bro". Like I said I shook my hand, that was just stupid.

Pros

The biggest positive for me with this newer installment to the franchise was it felt like a classic slasher flick. Group of people start sh*t, killer doesn't take to kindly to that, next thing you know people are getting slaughtered left and right. It was short, sweet, and to the point. I think if the audience just want to watch a simple horror movie, here ya go.

Honestly people are being way too harsh on this one. I mean... seriously? This is the worst movie out of the entire franchise? Did anybody see Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation? Talk about an awful Texas Chainsaw movie. This movie does provide a good slasher movie experience. Sometimes the modernization doesn't always work, but it wasn't too bad. The only downsides were the post-credit scene and Sally.

My final rating is Okay.

So yeah, this movie is decent. But that's all for me. Come back on Thursday, Feb 24th for the final installment of my Road to The Batman, with my review of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Been dying to review that one. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Is It True? - Wolverine Put the X-Men Out of Their Misery

 

Hey everyone, and welcome back to a brand new edition of Is It True? A segment where I take fan theories from movies, tv shows, video games, and comics, and wonder is it true?

This time I'm diving into a theory about one of my many favorite comic book movies, Logan. Enough of this opening, let's get to it.

What is Logan?

Logan is a 2017 comic book movie inspired by the Wolverine storyline Old Man Logan written by Mark Millar. The story goes it's the near future and Logan is currently taking care of an ill Professor Xavier. Logan thinks he's almost close to his goal to live on an island away from the world, but that all changes when a young mutant girl named Laura shows up. Once Logan and Xavier find out that Laura is being hunted down by sinister forces, they both do whatever they can do to protect her.

The Theory

The theory goes that somewhere before the events of the film, that because of Charles Xavier's dementia he had one of his telepathic seizures, this didn't result in the X-Men dying but they were very damaged. So damaged that what happened couldn't be reversed. And since Logan wasn't effected by that he couldn't let his teammates, so Wolverine decided that the best option was to end it all. And this would possibly be the big reason why Charles to have feelings of disgust with Logan. Cause Wolverine wanted to end it, while Charles being the pacifist that he is, was against things thinking that maybe, just maybe there was a possibly of saving them.

Is The Theory Believable?

Now before I get into if the theory is believable, I'll explain why people came up with this.

It really came down to the fact that in Logan, Charles Xavier said these two lines. Which were...

"What a disappointment you are."

"Logan...what did you do?"

So now for the big question, and that's is this possible? In all honesty it's actually hard to tell. Logan was more focused on the final days of Wolverine, then it was about the entire X-Men or the franchise itself. Because of this more self-contained story, we didn't get a lot of information about what happened to the team.

So what this really comes down to his your interpretation. Maybe Charles just killed the X-Men by himself due to poor health, or maybe Charles put them in horrible pain, and Logan had to commit an act of mercy? Until I hear James Mangold [the director of the movie], we may never know.

That's going to do it for me. Yeah know this was kind of a cop out because I didn't give you an answer, but it's still how I felt about the whole thing. But that's going to do it for me. Come back on Saturday, Feb 19th, for my review of the newest Netflix horror movie, Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Shut In Review

 

Shut In is a thriller movie. The film is produced by The Daily Wire, Bonfire Legend, and Voltage Pictures and distributed by The Daily Wire. Shut In is written by Melanie Toast and directed by D.J. Caruso.

The story is a mother of two named Jessica Nash is planning on moving so she can have a fresh start on life. However once her ex-boyfriend and his friend come over and confront her then lock her up in the pantry. Now Jessica has to find a way out, and she needs to do it quickly her kids are going to be in danger.

Initial Reaction

Now I'll admit at first I had no interest in this film. But two changed my mind. 1) The last Daily Wire movie I watched was Run Hide Fight, and I thought that was pretty good. 2) D.J. Caruso. I know him from films such as Disturbia and Eagle Eye. Disturbia I really enjoyed, and I think overall Eagle Eye is a decent enough movie. So with those two things combined I figured I give it a shot.

Cons

I've got nothing to say. Just move on.

Middle Ground

The only gray area with Shut In was the bad guys. I thought they were just standard. Which by the end of the day that wasn't too much of a problem, but cause there could've been just a little bit more. Not too much mind you, just a tiny bit.

Pros

One positive I've gotta give the movie is the overall idea. Now I'm not a parent, but if any who reading this are them let tell you this idea is pretty terrifying. Imagine being locked away somewhere, and you powerless to protect your kids from some very horrible people. Like I said I'm not a parent, but if I was one this would be one of my many nightmares if I had children. What I also want to give the film credit for is it's quite scary. Sure there are some violent moments, but what really made the scare factor here work is because 1) You're scared/nervous something might happen to this VERY young kids, and 2) I don't have claustrophobia, but seeing Jessica (our main character) just trapped in there and trying to get out did get me on edge a lot during the runtime. So what really makes the movie scary is the fact that that you just want our main star to get out of where they're trapped from, and hopefully be relieved that nothing bad has happened to the children. What also made the movie enjoyable was the performances. Mostly from Rainey Qualley, Vincent Gallo, and Luciana VanDette. Rainey really made us care about Jessica with how she handled her more emotional scenes, and Vincent even though I found his care just be okay, man did he do a fantastic job. He truly made the character of Sammy very creepy. And the reason I'm giving Luciana props is despite being no older than I think four maybe five, she was really good. Pretty hard to find a talented child actor like that. The last thing I'll give the movie credit for is the character of Jessica. At first she does start out salty and very impatient with her own kids, but once she's trapped she goes on a journey that very much changes her. She's clean after a long history of drug abuse, but now not only is she trapped, can't do much to protect her kids, but now there is a little bit of temptation with her as well. So throughout the movie you can really connect with her (especially if you're going through sobriety), and all you want to happen is for her to come out on top.

Shut In was a very enjoyable thriller flick. The premise is very scary, it keeps you on edge, the performances were really good, and I found our main character to be well written. The only mix bag was our bad guys, but it didn't hurt the movie too much.

My final rating is Good.

So that's going to do it for me. Come back on Thursday, Feb 17th for a brand new Is It True? For that one I'll be tackling an X-Men fan theory. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Kimi Review

Kimi (stylized as KIMI) is a thriller movie. The film is produced by Warner Bros. Pictures & New Line Cinema and distributed by HBO Max. Kimi is written by David Koepp and directed by Steven Soderbergh.

The story is Angela Childs has just came across a recording of a violent crime being committed while reviewing some data streams. Now she must report this to the authorities, but her problem isn't just the people trying to stop her, so also has to deal with her agoraphobia. Can she overcome her worst fear, or will a murder get away with it?

Initial Reaction

My main reasons for wanting to see this was because of the director Steven Soderbergh and the writer David Koepp. Those two have both brought us some great movies so seeing how they were teaming up got me interested.

Cons

The biggest problem with the movie is despite being a thriller, it's not very thrilling, a matter of fact calling it boring would be very accurate. The movie's tone by no means keeps you all that interested. I even stopped watching for a moment and came back to it later, that is how uneventful everything felt. The only proper way to treat this is to have as background noise while you're doing something else. They TRY to to shake things up by having the setting be part of COVID, but that was so pointless, so unnecessary that it easily could've been written out of the entire movie, and nothing of value would've been lost. It actually makes me wonder why that was even put in there in the first place? My other issue with Kimi was the villains. They were as generic as generic gets. I found nothing interesting about them. And that's really all you gotta say about them. Just call them generic and move on. The movie is also very predictable. After a couple minutes maybe when I was getting close to the one hour mark, I was starting to see things coming from a mile away. Whenever there's suppose to be an action scene, you're not really excited cause you know what's gonna happen. One moment in particular was just hilarious, because our bad guys tried to abduct Angela, while there are protesters right in front of them. I'm not lying when I say  I laughed at that. Cause how dumb to you have to be to think that was a good idea? Now I don't know if anybody else as brought this up, but it's something I noticed. But currently this has to be the most bland looking film I've seen so far for 2022. It's not really a good looking movie. The cinematography is just very uninspired. It almost came off as a TV movie, but if you threw in an extra million to the budget.

Middle Ground

One okay aspect of Kimi was Zoë Kravitz's performance. She was fine. She certainly got the job done with what little material was here. I'll give the music some credit too. It's very good but, I don't think parts of it was used properly. I remember this one scene where Angela is running from the villains inside a building, and the music didn't fit at all.

Pros

Sadly I got nothing.

Kimi is a very skippable movie. There was nothing that keeps you interested, the bad guys are generic, it's predictable, and the overall look of the movie was just bland. Zoë's acting is fine, and maybe people will like the music. But overall this is one of those movies that I don't understand why critics are rating it so highly.

My final rating is Bad.

Well that was quite the let down. But do come back on Monday, Feb 14th for my review of Shut In. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Catwoman: Hunted Review

 

Catwoman: Hunted is an animated direct-to-video comic book movie based on the DC Comics character, Catwoman. The film is produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment and distributed by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. Catwoman: Hunted is written by Greg Weisman and directed by Shinsuke Terasawa.

The story is Selina Kyle aka Catwoman, does her usual activity. Stealing jewels. Only this time it goes very differently. Cause this time she's being chased down by supervillains, Interpol, and Batwoman. Now she has to somehow survive and cash in on her new found fortune.

Initial Reaction

My main reason for wanting to see this one was because of Greg Weisman. The guy has made some really good stuff. Such as the underrated Gargoyles, the cancelled too soon Spectacular Spider-Man, and a show I'm glad came back Young Justice. So when I heard he was writing this, my interest was peaked.

Cons

I've got nothing to say. Let's move on.

Middle Ground

The only mix bag was the story. There's nothing truly awful about it, it's just very basic. Which I didn't found to be anything insulting. Would've I preferred more, sure. But by the end of the day, I think the overall story we were given served it's purpose.

Pros

Now, I thought the cast did great with the characters that they voiced. But I especially gotta give props to Elizabeth Gillies. Her voice was absolutely perfect for Catwoman. It was so good that if she ever plays the character again, I would be all for it. Another I found enjoyable was those bits of humor. My favorite parts were some of the back and forth banter between Catwoman and Batwoman. I also liked a lot of the action. Sure the fights were cool, but I was really enjoying the opening car chase. That one was really fun. The last aspect I want to give credit for is the animation. Not only is showing that DC is going to use different styles going forward, but I thought it was pretty good. There might have been one maybe two instances where I thought it looked kinda stiff, but for a huge portion of the film it was good.

Overall while I did like Catwoman: Hunted it's one of those animated DC movies I think you have to go see right here, right now. Gillies' voice for Catwoman was fantastic, the humor's good, the action was fun, and the animation wasn't too bad. But what brought the movie down a peg, was the pretty simple story.

My final rating is Okay.

So that's gonna do it for me. Come back on Saturday, Feb 12th for my review of the newest HBO Max movie, Kimi. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Cinematic Disasters - Catwoman

 

Been waiting a long time to review this one. And with Catwoman: Hunted arriving soon, now was a good time to finally review it. Let's go!

Catwoman is a 2004 comic book movie based on the DC Comics' character of the same name. The film was produced by Village Roadshow Pictures, Di Novi Pictures, Frantic Films, and Maple Shade Films and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Catwoman was written by John Brancato, Michael Ferris, and John Rogers and directed by Pitof.

The story is Patience Phillips was once a meek designer. All of that changes when she was almost murdered when she discovers a conspiracy among a cosmetic company. Now that she's been revived she wants to find out what the big secret is that almost got her killed, and she's going to do that has a new crime fighting heroine, Catwoman.

My Thoughts

The most hilarious thing about this movie the writers clearly had no idea who Catwoman is. To put it into perspective, they have the title character do this I thought Catwoman would do before I read the comics and watched the cartoons as a kid. Sniffs catnip ✔, hisses a dogs ✔, purrs ✔, and all sorts of stuff like that. Like I said this what my tiny kid brain thought Catwoman would be.

And not only is the characteristics not right but so her skill set. Apparently she actually gets cat-like abilities....from a cat that's been around for centuries....I swear to God I didn't make that up. That was all the movie's doing. I just don't understand how you could screw up a basic character like this?

What I also found funny was the editing. I'm just gonna let this basketball scene speak for itself.

Someone approved of this....someone looked at this scene and thought to themselves "Yeah. That's great, put in the movie."

Then there's the CGI. Holy crap I don't even think they were really trying. It's so obvious. The CGI for this film looked like it would've been better suited for a PS2 game.

Now let's talk about the villains, honestly this the only part of the movie I didn't like. Because even though I did have fun with this, I just found them to be forgettable. Which is rather odd given how memorable everything else is.

There is one positive I'll give the film, that being Halle Berry's performance. I never understood why her performance in this was so critical panned. She does a terrific job despite how laughable the script is.

Catwoman is just amazing. The movie doesn't come close to the source material, the editing is a mess, and the CGI is hilariously bad. Which made those things such an awesome viewing experience. The best thing was Halle's acting. The only downside was the villain being forgettable despite everything I just mentioned.

My final rating is So Bad, It's Good.

Now this was going to be a much longer review, but I thought this a bad comic book movie that you should just watch for yourself, and read me go on and on and on. Anyhow, that's going to do it for me. Come back on Thursday, Feb 10th for my review of Catwoman: Hunted. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Things to Read/Watch Before Seeing The Batman

 

Man, it's been years since I've done one of these.

Anyhow, yes folks. I'm going to give some things that'll be prepare you for The Batman. That way you'll be fully prepared and you'll know what to expect.

Although the other reason is Matt Reeves (the director) took inspiration from things that really should be read and/or watched. So I figured might as well share what I've read up on and share it with you guys. 

And since we're in early February you'll have plenty of time to check these things out. But enough of this introduction, let's get to it. Here's what you should read/watch before seeing The Batman.

The Films to Watch

Alfred Hitchcock

One of the things Matt Reeves took inspiration from and really threw me a curve ball was Alfred Hitchcock. Now he [Matt Reeves] didn't say which movies from Alfred Hitchcock inspired him. He just said "the works of Alfred Hitchcock". So that could really mean any number of his movies.

So I would say just stick with Hitchcock's most well known movies. Those being...

-Dial M for Murder

-Rear Window

-Vertigo

and of course the all-time classic...

-Psycho

Those movies should probably give both me and you a good understanding of what Matt Reeves meant by the works of Alfred Hitchcock.

70s Crime Cinema

Wasn't too sure how I was going to title this section of this post, but when I saw some of the movies that Reeves was listing I noticed a certain theme. They're all crime thrillers from the 70s.

So let's start off the list with....

Klute. Klute is a 1971 neo-noir crime film. Now I have yet to see this movie, but I will be watching this along with a lot of other movies and this list as we get closer to The Batman.

But back to the subject, anyhow, the reason I'm throwing this movie out here is because Matt Reeves said how the dynamic between Batman & Catwoman was inspired by Klute.

The next movie you might want to watch is The French Connection. Now once again I gotta admit I haven't watched this yet, but I'm recommending it because yet again, we got another story about a detective (or detectives for this case) trying to stop a crime and solve mysteries.

Now that's twice we got a detective crime thriller movie. But it doesn't stop there because now we have.....

Chinatown. Now this is the third movie about a detective. And because I've listed three of these because 1) Matt Reeves mentioned them and 2) this really proves that Reeves really is going to give a Batman movie that's all about the detective side of the Dark Knight. Now I feel this is a very big one to watch, because during DC FanDome: Hall of Heroes, Reeves mentioned that Chinatown was a "key one".

Next up is All the President's Men. At first I was confused when I did some research for The Batman, and I saw this as one of the movies Matt Reeves brought up.

Now after reading what he said I fully understand. Basically we have some politicians not being very good people (insert whatever joke you'd like to put in the comments). So if you're just as curious as I am to see what Matt is shooting for, then we should check this one out.

The last movie for this is....

Taxi Driver. The reason I mentioned this is because apparently Matt is taking influence from this all-time classic is because I do believe Matt said something like it describes a place and takes you inside the main character's head. Now I have actually seen this one, I even went a far as to review it. So I'm very curious as to what Matt Reeves has in store and how exactly are we gonna get into Batman's head this time around.

David Fincher

At first I wasn't gonna included this, but after seeing so many comparisons to David's work and The Batman, I thought it'd be fun to give out this suggestions as to why people were making such comparisons. Maybe these will help in the long run, maybe not.

The first suggestion is Seven (or as it's stylized Se7en). The reason I'm throwing this one out here is because a lot of people had this movie on their minds when the first trailer came out back in 2020. Also during this time a YouTuber by the name of "Burns Review" made a side-by-side comparison to both trailers. And after watching that video for myself, I can see why people would think both movies are similar to one another.

Maybe Matt Reeves took some inspiration from Seven, maybe not and it's all just a coincidence. Either way I do want to watch this movie before seeing The Batman, just because how similar they appear to be.

The last movie I'll request for this section is Zodiac. Why? Well it's because Matt Reeves based his version of the Riddler on the Zodiac killer. Now that's very interesting, and it also makes make wonder just how messed up is the Riddler gonna be this time around.

So you should watch this because it's not only a really good movie but, it also just give you some good insight about the Zodiac killer, and why people were so terrified of the guy.

Other

Yeah, I didn't have a good title for this part so I just went with other...don't question it any further than that (😆).

I gotta say of the films that I wasn't expecting it was this one.

Basically, Last Days tells a fictional version of Nirvana's frontman Kurt Cobain regrading the last days of his life. So why did Matt Reeves watch this movie, and how exactly do it influence The Batman?

Well apparently he's Bruce Wayne was inspired by Kurt Cobain. I gotta say I never heard something like that before. Doesn't put me off of the movie, if anything it makes me more curious.

The Comics to Read

Now you can't mention a comic book movie without knowing which comics to read. So let's begin with....

Batman: Year One. You can find this story in Batman #404-407 or you can just go out a buy the collected editions. Now what this story is about is Batman's first year as a vigilante.

We definitely get a Batman who hasn't quite found his footing just yet. It's a Batman that's not as experienced, still very young, and is in-turmoil. Which is what Matt Reeves is going with for his movie.

So even though the movie takes place during Bruce Wayne's second year as Batman, we'll still be getting something similar to how he is in Year One.

At first I didn't know if I should even put this on the list. With Year One I can kind of see why people would see that as an influence for the movie. So how does The Long Halloween fit into this?

Well this story does have a Batman who's in his second year on crimefighting. It also has Batman tracking down a serial killer, and just going off of the trailers, it seems Bats will be working closely with the James Gordon, who much like in this comic isn't the commissioner just yet, and it also features some great moments between Batman and Catwoman.

So I think you should read this one because it's mainly a detective story. And as I said previously Matt Reeves has said he's going for more of that detective side of Batman.

Next up is Batman: Ego. Now this is one you REALLY need to read. Because this story is Matt Reeves' primary inspiration for his film. And after reading it myself I can see why. It really dives deep into Batman's mind, and how he views his vigilante career.

So while we don't get very much action, it's very interesting to get a Batman story that goes for the more psychological side of the character. Matt Reeves has said many times he wants to explore Batman's mind, and I'm very curious how he does it. Especially since this underrated gem is his main source.

The next story or is this case stories I think you should read are Batman: Earth One. Mainly the first two volumes, but if you want to read volume three go right ahead.

Mainly because Earth One does share quite a lot of similarities with the upcoming film. Now I don't believe Reeves looked to this comics as an influence otherwise he would've said something, but the reasons I feel like you should read this are...

1) Much like the movie it features a Batman who's very much young and inexperienced.

2) Both the Penguin and the Riddler are the main villains. Earth One's Riddler especially shares a lot of similarities with Matt Reeves' take on the character.

3) Most importantly both Earth One and the film both take a more grounded approach to the Dark Knight and his villains.

Now unlike Year One or Ego, I don't really believe you have to read these. You could just read them fun like I did.

My next recommendation is Batman: Zero Year. You can find this story in Batman (Vol.2) #21-27, 29-33. Or just like Year One you can go out and find the collected editions which can be found in Batman Vol.4: Zero Year - Secret City and Batman Vol.5: Zero Year - Dark City.

While Zero Year does show us Bruce Wayne slowing becoming the Batman, it's not much of an origin story of him, but more of an origin story of when he officially started fight supervillains. And much like Earth One we get more of a modern verison of the characters and their mythos. And yes, Riddler is involved.

Now much like Earth One I don't really think you have to read these. The main connection people are making is the Riddler doing something huge to Gotham. I won't give it away in case you're trying your best to avoid spoilers.

The last one for this list is Batman: The Imposter. I recommend reading this not only because I liked it, but because it's kind of influenced by the movie.

Which makes sense because Mattson Tomlin wrote this. Why is that such a big deal? Because he's an uncredited writer for The Batman. So in a way we might just get a tiny sneak peak at what's in store for us with the movie.

I mean, check out the suit Bruce is wearing for this comic.

It was a little bit of a rough night for Bats.

Yeah, that doesn't look familiar at all.

It's not EXACTLY like the movie, like I said it's at best going to give you tiny glimpse at what the filmmakers might be shooting for. So if curiosity is getting the best of you, look this up and read it.

So that's going to do it for me. Come back on Monday, Feb 7th for my Cinematic Disaster review of Catwoman starring Halle Berry. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day, and probably watch and/or read some of the things I recommended.