Thursday, February 7, 2013

Heath Holland On...The Dark Knight Returns

BATMAN. That one word (much like DIARRHEA) conjures up something powerful and different for all of us. I wonder, what was the first image that popped into your mind when you saw it? Batman, that is. Not diarrhea. Though you could have the same answer for both.

For some, it’s Adam West’s tongue-in-cheek, kid-friendly hero with shark repellent in his utility belt. For others, it’s Michael Keaton’s crazy intensity and quirky brand of brooding. There’s Val “Real Genius” Kilmer’s approach, or George Clooney’s head-ducking humility and nippled bat-suit. (What? he gets cold.) For a whole bunch of people, it’s Christian Bale’s Cookie Monster growl firmly planted in our real world. For me, Batman clicked into place in 1989 with the Tim Burton BLOCKBUSTER and the zeitgeist that surrounded it. I grew up playing with Super Friends action figures (usually in the tub) and Batman and Robin frequently fighting the Joker, the Penguin, and the Riddler amidst a sea of Mr. Bubble. But Tim Burton’s movie was a blast of noir in my rainbow world and I COULD NOT GET ENOUGH of this new Batman, this guy who dressed in black and hung people off the sides of buildings and spent significant time prowling in the shadows (no, not Johnny Cash, BATMAN). Batman had been dark in the comics, but something happened in 1986 that changed Batman forever. That something was a four-issue comic miniseries written by Frank Miller called The Dark Knight Returns.
If you’re reading this column (I have reason to believe you currently are) then you’ve probably heard of this landmark comic book that changed the playing field of Batman over 25 years ago, so I’ll spare everybody the Yo Gabba Gabba and just give a brief overview of what made TDKR so important: it was darker than anything we’d seen in the Bat universe before, it had strong violence and a huge body count. It was a deconstruction of superheroes, getting inside their heads, telling us who they were, what motivated them, and that they weren’t perfect. In fact, it challenged us to wonder if we should be rooting for these guys at all. Tim Burton’s Batman couldn’t have been made before TDKR, and Christopher Nolan has borrowed themes and even story devices heavily for his own trilogy.

In a perfect world, TDKR would have been adapted into a live action movie years ago, instead of being pilfered by screenwriters galore (the third cousin of Pussy Galore). As it stands, this story has long been considered unfilmable, and as the years pass comic fans have held it higher and higher as some sort of golden standard not just for Batman comics, but comic stories in general.

So to say that DC Animation (a division of Warner Bros.) has now adapted the story into two direct-to-DVD movies AND that it doesn’t suck is A BIG DEAL. As of this writing, the two parts exist separately, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Brothers Warner decide to double dip on this thing and combine them together into one package to drive a wedge between me and my Benjamins sometime in the near future.

Peeps, it is REALLY SOMETHING. I have to be honest, I’ve always felt like I came to the party too late to really, truly appreciate the impact of the graphic novel (that’s what hipsters call comic books when they want others to take them seriously) but I’m a big, BIG fan of this movie. It’s REALLY adult (no, there’s no penetration, it’s just mature in its handling of issues), extremely and uncomfortably violent (as violence probably should be) and, at times, very hard to watch. Doesn’t that sound fun?
Bruce Wayne (Robocop’s Peter Weller) has been retired from being Batman for 10 years. He’s old now, probably in his 60s, his glory years behind him, his years of sacrificing himself for his city long over, and he’s looking for a good way to die. The city of Gotham is completely overrun with crime: rape, murder, riots, jaywalking on every major street. Meanwhile, in the absence of Batman as a yen to his yang, Joker has slipped into a vegetative state and spent years in a mental hospital, totally unresponsive. Far from the Clown Prince of Crime, he’s now the Clown Prince of Bedpans. So, without spoiling too much, Bruce decides that his city needs him (does Gotham ever do anything besides take, take, take?)  and that it’s time to put on the cape and the cowl for one last hurrah. He does not plan to make it out of this alive.

The next two hours of the movie (if you watch both parts together) are effectively Batman tying up all loose ends, trying to save the city a final time, and having ultimate confrontations with the people that inhabit his universe. A lot of faces return for this last joyride: Two Face, Selina Kyle, and, of course, the Joker, in what is one of the most brutal but compelling superhero vs. supervillain fights you’ll ever see. After so many confrontations, what can they do to each other to stop the cycle they’ve been playing out for decades? Joker is played here by Lost’s Michael Emerson, and the man puts a stamp on it. After Heath Ledger’s universally acclaimed interpretation, portraying that character has to be one of the most intimidating jobs in acting. Emerson steps up to the plate and really sells it, playing The Joker as an androgynous (and maybe gay), homicidal Paul Lynde. Seriously! He plays it like Paul Lynde! How perfect is that for The Joker?! What’s creepier than Paul Lynde? A Paul Lynde that kills people and dresses up like a clown, that’s what. It’s inspired, truly.
This all takes place in an alternate future of the 1980s. Given that it’s comic books…I’m sorry, graphic novels…time is played all wibbly wobbly timey wimey: Reagan is president, the Cold War is still on, and the fashions of the time are represented here as if it were still 1986. But there’s also a lot of Frank Miller’s particular brand of futuristic aesthetic, with tons of dudes in Cyclops visors, bald heads, Mohawks, iron spikes coming out of people’s skulls, and guys wearing denim vests carrying chains. The Ninja Turtles would feel right at home. (Sadly, there are no Krangs to be found, but c’est la vie, we can’t have it all.) In this world, Superman is now a hired gun for President Reagan, wiping out entire Eastern European armies and pretty much doing whatever Reagan tells him. There’s some big questions posed regarding the morality of these heroes. It puts them in a real world situation. If Superman and Batman were real, is what they do “right?” Is it acceptable that Superman follows orders to kill in order to protect America? Is he even doing it to protect America, or does he simply enjoy using his power to kill? Is Batman any better because he does what he does without any orders at all, and instead acts out of some sort of moral superiority? Who is HE to decide for an ENTIRE CITY what is RIGHT? IS BATMAN A FASCIST? WHO PUT THE BOMP IN THE BOP SHEBOP SHEBOP?! WHY AM I YELLING?! WHY WON’T CAPS LOCK TURN OFF?!

In the end, the movie doesn’t shy away from the things that make the…ahem…COMIC BOOK exceptional. It’s not afraid to ask the same questions that the book asked over 25 years ago. It’s not afraid to shy away from the violence (this is one of the bloodiest superhero stories I’ve ever seen), and it’s not afraid to leave out some of the more “questionable” aspects of Frank Miller’s story. There’s some stuff here that I actually really dislike, but it’s tough to split hairs because the stuff I don’t like is probably someone else’s favorite part. When you adapt a work as respected as this, don’t mess with it, just do it. It does take a departure from the comic, in that it drops Batman’s narration (which had some of the best lines) because it wouldn’t translate to film. As we learned with Blade Runner, sometimes the action speaks for itself.
If you like Batman, you owe it to yourself to watch this. Track down the two parts or wait for the imminent release of a combined product that has both movies in one package, but see it. Don’t wait for it to come to television, because it probably won’t. Too much would have to be cut. There could be no swastika pasties on that ladies boobies, for one thing, and who wants to even see this thing if there’s no swastikas on that ladies boobs?

No, you should buy this thing and watch it NOW. It’s on iTunes, DVD, and Blu-ray. Before I saw it, I would have said that the only way you could tell The Dark Knight Returns was in print, but darn it if they didn’t pull it off in this animated version. I have to believe that this is it -- the last adaptation we’ll get. This story would not work in a live action setting. Too much would have to be changed in order to accommodate reality. What makes this so special is that this isn’t reality. It’s comics. This animated version is a comic book come to life. Panels are recreated lovingly, and the pacing of the book is kept as well. This is as good as this story can ever be told in a film medium. If someone tries to tackle this as a live action feature down the line (Please DON’T), it will be VERY different from what you see here. This is pure, and it’s one singular vision of a story that didn’t have to get filtered through film executives, script doctors, rewrites, actors improvising or questioning their motivation, and coming up with a costume that works on a film set. Batman having white, pupil-less eye slits is something that you’ll never see in a live action movie. It wouldn’t work.

Let this film represent a major peak of storytelling for an iconic character. This is Batman as he was meant to be: dark, violent, tragic, psychotic, driven, suicidal, flawed, broken, but always striving for justice and a higher purpose. He’s not just a man dressed up in a costume, he’s a force of nature. 27 years after the story debuted, finally…The Dark Knight Returns.

35 comments:

  1. Heath, I'm behind on my Batman animated movies. Is this one better than Mask of the Phantasm? Nice column sir!

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    1. Honestly, no, I don't think this is better than Mask of the Phantasm. That movie is a real gem of a movie, particularly because it had the involvement of Paul Dini. Dini "gets" Batman more than anyone these days. But The Dark Knight Returns is a whole different animal. Mask of the Phantasm is Batman at his most pure and iconic. I mean, it's a story with an arc, but it's also iconic and very much taps into the MYTH of Batman. This movie, and the book itself, are more of a deconstruction, more about getting into Batman's head and breaking him down. So in a sense, they are apples to oranges in that they do two different things. The Bruce Timm/Paul Dini world of Batman is one I want to live in. This world presented here is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. It's too disturbing.

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  2. Damn, Heath, if your mission was to make me (personally - just ME) really want to see this then it is Mission Accomplished, sir! And not like when George W. Bush says "Mission Accomplished" and not like when Kevin Smith says "sir" (way too often to the point of being irritating not gentlemanly - I bite my thumb at you, sir!).

    My one criticism is that it also really made me want to READ the comic books (I bite my thumb at you, hipsters!). You're driving me to READ, Heath, I assume you will self-flagellate accordingly.

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    1. Hmmmm! Yes, I am self flagellating, to the point that it's starting to get raw. If I keep it up, it's never gonna heal. Now watch this drive!*

      It's weird that two of my three columns have been adaptations of well respected books. This is F This Movie,not F This Book. I swear I haven't done that intentionally. Next week: Strange Brew, based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway!

      *deep George W Bush joke, and by calling attention to it, I've taken any power it would have had.

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    2. When it comes to Bush, I can go pretty deep, Heath.

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  3. Great job, Heath! If you ask me, the Kevin Conroy-voiced Batman from "Batman: The Animated Series" deserves special mention too. Even though my first exposure to Batman was Tim Burton's version, the cartoon series kept my excitement in between movies. As far as other the direct-DVD animated films go, I recommend also"Under the Hood" and "Year One".

    Also, by listening to Kevin Smith's interview with animator Bruce Timmy on "Fat Man on Batman", that there is a push for "The Killing Joke" to become an animated film, which would be interesting as it's as revered as "The Dark Knight Returns".

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    1. I agree with you completely. I used to watch Batman The Animated Series every single day after school. I was so excited about the prime time premiere of the Catwoman episode that I counted down for a week until it aired, and to this day when I read a Batman comic book, Kevin Conroy is the voice that I hear. I've spent so many hours with him as Batman: all through the Animated Series, then into Justice League, then into the direct to DVD movies, and then into Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. He IS the voice of Batman for me.

      I also agree on Under the Hood (a personal favorite of mine, since A Death In The Family was one of the first Batman stories I read as a kid) and Year One. I showed my wife Year One and she didn't like it. Go figure. I also really enjoyed Justice League Doom, perhaps more than any of them. It's got the whole Justice League (obviously) but they are being taken out one by one using their weaknesses. How does the enemy know their weaknesses? Because Batman kept a database of those weaknesses in case he ever needed to take out his friends. He took no chances and trusted no one. It's a great one.

      I've heard the rumors of a Killing Joke animated film, too. How do you think they'd do that? I just read it again over Christmas, and it's only a 30 minute story, at best. I guess they could flesh it out, or they could keep it short.

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    2. To jump in on your private convo. If they do killing joke I agree they would run too short. I would assume they would have a lengthy prologue featuring Babs as Batgirl and with Gordon so that the stage is set for the relationships. Kinda like how the briefly covered Death in the Family at the start of Red Hood, but this time much more extensive.

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    3. My Under the Red Hood experience.

      Jason Todd: "This is the best day of my life!"

      Me: "*sniff* Fuck you Jason, I'm a man, I'm not supposed to tear up at a cartoon...... you little scamp *sniff*"

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    4. I just finished watching "Justice League: Doom" last week and really enjoyed it. I don't know how they could expand "The Killing Joke" to feature-length either, that could be what's holding it back.

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  4. Heath, thanks for the recommendation. I want to check "Sin City," "Watchman: Director's Cut" and "300" (haven't seen either) before I tackle this Batman adaptation. I don't know my tolerance for Frank Miller by proxy (the "V for Victory" movie is the closest I've come) but I know "The Spirit" doesn't look the least bit appealing to me, and that's the closest Miller has come to let his vision come out in movies without interference. Maybe this time the animators/writers of the "The Dark Knight Returns" are the right filters for Miller's work than the bottom-line-oriented mainstream filters of Hollywood executives. I'll get back to you.

    Speaking of new-to-me movies I haven't seen, here's a couple from the past few days (yes, I'm running behind).

    2/5/13: Robert Zemeckis' opus, 1988's WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT on Vista Series DVD: http://www.fthismovie.net/2012/05/f-this-movie-who-framed-roger-rabbit.html

    2/6/13: Travel back to 1960 and set the record player to 'Love' for Wong Kar-wai's DAYS OF BEING WILD (1990) at an ongoing NYC Public Library Retrospective: http://www.dvdverdict.com/juryroom/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=6028&p=74572#p74572

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    1. I can't really predict if you'll like them or not, you being such a non-comformist and all ;) but personally I find all 3 of those first ones you mention to be well-made, entertaining and very watchable flicks - all movies I'm glad to have in my collection and will re-watch on a regular basis (all three make the most of blu-ray too). Check em out duder, at the very least I'm sure you'll find them interesting.

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    2. Man, that's a LOT of Frank Miller. A little Frank Miller goes a long way. JM, watch...like...one a year (he says, only half joking). I do very much like Watchmen. That's another one that was said to be unfilmable for years, but it got made, and I think it retains most of what makes it unique. I'd say that falls in the ambitious failure category. It's not a bad movie and it tries to do SO MUCH.

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    3. Id agree that Watchmen is an ambitious failure. I think it makes a couple of fundamental decisions on how it will approach the material that is faithful to the approach of the comic, but it unfortunately directly contradicts one of the other fundamental approaches of the comic. Personally i think they made the wrong decision.

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    4. Sol O., I already own those three movies. Why do you think I'm forcing myself to watch new-to-movies everyday this year? It's so tempting for us to stay in our comfort zones watching the same movies over and over again. I won't watch all three at once, but I do want to give them (and "The Dark Knight Rises") as good and honest a chance as possible.

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  5. I started reading and purchasing TDKR, "The Killing Joke," and "Knightfall" in anticipation of the release of The Dark Knight Rises, and TDKR is my all-time favorite comic book arc, for sure (although "Batman: Year One" is great too). I feel like a bonehead for not having read it earlier. I'm going to read it when I go home tonight. Thanks HHH!

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    1. I have lived a block away from a comic book store for almost 3 years and have yet to step foot in it - thanks to HHH and his infectious enthusiasm I'll probably go in looking for TDKR today. Newer editions aren't too expensive I hope?

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    2. You're welcome, Mark! I have so much affection for Knightfall...I know it's not great and that it was just a big gimmick, but I really loved it at the time. I still have a lot of residual affection for it that's survived for the last...well, it's been around 20 years, hasn't it? Holy crap.

      Sol, I'm interested in your experience if you go into that comic shop. Most comic shops are A NIGHTMARE and are full of snobby, terrible people. There are some good ones, though, so I'm really looking forward to hearing what sort of experience you have if you go. I had a good one about 10 years ago, but it closed down. I never found another good one. Have you seen High Fidelity? Jack Black's character in that movie might as well have worked in a comic book shop. Only he wasn't fat enough and didn't have enough acne and body odor. But again, yours could be awesome. It could be the experience of your life. If you do go for TDKR (it retails in the US at 20 bucks), steer way away from the follow up, The Dark Knight Strikes Again. It was so stinky that most people don't even acknowledge its existence.

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    3. It's funny you should say that. There've been a few times that I've thought about going in and checking it out, but I look in and see the three dudes standing around the counter (store usually empty otherwise) and I'm afraid they're going to like, nerd-bully me. Like, I'll say, "Um, hey guys, are Superman comics still a thing?" And they'll be like, "Puh - Superman? I suppose you like football and the touch of a woman too, huh?"

      You'd think the fact I dabbled in Dungeons & Dragons for a few months back in high school would make me feel pretty comfortable around nerds, but I'm just so behind the times now that I feel like I'm a nerd to them, you know?

      I just have to remember that they're more scared of me than I am of them. Or is that bears? Whatever. I'll let you know how it goes!

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    4. Just go in there confidently and casually work into conversation phrases like "vorpal blade," "Crisis on Infinite Earths" and if you can ease in something like "Brian Michael Bendis is SO decompressed" then they won't kill you and may, in fact, serve you comics.

      An example:
      Bob ComicShopGuy: *looking disinterested and noisily consuming Funyons with Moutain Dew* Um....can I help you?

      Tall Hot: Actually, maybe. I'm looking for The Dark Knight Returns in trade paperback. My friend told me I should read something by Bendis instead, but I was all...like...Brian Michael Bendis is SO decompressed. I prefer the classic style of storytelling, like Crisis on Infinite Earths. Those old stories are sharper than a plus one Vorpal Blade."

      aaaaaaaaand scene.

      Good Luck!

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    5. (I got mine at a Barnes & Noble. Shhh. I'm scared of the comic shops since the two of my youth closed down. Shh. I don't know why I'm whispering. Shhh.)

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    6. Really? Go in confidently? I thought Comic Shop Guys could smell confidence. Or is that owls? Whatever. I'll give it a try!

      Mark: Shhh. I'm whispering too. It's because we're batshit crazy. Shhh.

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    7. Whew, okay, just got back - stopped into the shop on my way home from work. Here's how it went:

      I walked in, there were several people milling about the store - sweet. Figured out where the Batman TPBs were and looked for it but couldn't find it. One of the employees was actually a pretty cute, cool looking chick so I went right to her, thinking she probably wasn't used to that. "Hi, I'm looking for The Dark Knight Rises trade paperback. [crap] No wait, sorry, The Dark Knight RETURNS trade paperback."

      "Let me take a look for you," she said, walking over to where I had been looking. "Don't see it here, I'll ask Mike. Mike - do we have The Dark Knight Returns?"

      Mike looked confused for a second. "Oh yeah, for a second I thought you were talking about the movie and I didn't think they made a book for that." [vindication - even THE Comic Shop Guy messed it up]. He checked, it wasn't on the shelf, said to check back in a couple of weeks. I said thanks and left (didn't really have time to look around).

      So yeah, pretty boring, but friendly, uneventful experience but it taught me something: I don't need to be afraid of Comic Shop people, they just want to sniff me and make sure I'm not a threat. Or is that Dobermans? Whatever. I'll prolly just order it from Amazon.ca - $17!

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    8. Awesome. Sounds like you have one of the good comic shops. If you pursue the cute comic book shop chick (or Mike, I'm not judging) then I'm expecting a detailed account of your sexual exploits. I'm surprised they didn't have it, though. What kind of a comic book shop doesn't have that book?

      And what was with all the whispering between you and Mark, all the Shhh? I just assumed you guys were both drunk. Drunk people always seem to have lots of secrets, but they tell them loudly, usually bookended by "c'mere, let me tell you a shee-cret" and "shhhh."

      I'm glad the experience went well, though. It sounds like a cool shop. You can always go back in and ask Cute Comic Shop Chick if Superman is still a thing. "I heard he DIED." That one works. Or for fun you could go in and ask what they think about the new Star Wars movie news.

      You know what? Go with Amazon.

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    9. Heheh - basically married (living together for about 9 years now - my "spousal-equivalent" in robot-speak), Heath, so will not be pursuing Cute Comic Shop Chick (or Mike) in this lifetime!

      He said he had gotten a couple copies of it in the past month but must've sold em. Reading some reviews of his shop, someone said his philosophy was stocking his shelves with as much different shit as possible rather than lots of the same ole same ole. Totally nice guy though - you are right, one of the good ones - I'm sure I'll go back (and not just to stalk that chick HA HA HA HA...ha).

      Supes dying was what kicked off my few comic-collecting years - Superman #75 in December 91 (I was 11). Was into that whole story (Reign of the Supermen and all that), Batman (Knightfall especially) and a LOT of fledgling Image stuff, which I understand is a period pretty much despised by modern collectors.

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    10. Yeah, that is a period that is despised, but it's my golden age, so I love it. That stuff hit right after I got really into comics and super-hero stuff. Batman '89 and Batman Returns had happened, the X-Men animated series was on TV, there were chromium covers on everything, and Spawn, Savage Dragon, and Youngblood were HUGE. There was so much excess in the industry during that time, but that's what drew me in. I don't read too many comics these days, but when I want a burst of nostalgia, I'll go back and read some of those 90s stories. The Death of Superman was EPIC. It almost made me cry. And it felt like that Reign of the Supermen story went on for a years when it was happening, but looking back it was only a matter of months. Sounds like we're roughly the same age. Last year I went on an ebay rampage and bought a ton of the 90s Catwoman series. I still haven't really read most of them, but it just feels comforting somehow. Was it the purple spandex with the thigh high boots and the cheesecake poses? Yes. Yes it was.

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    11. Oh yeah, buddy, I feel the same way. Don't forget Gen13, The Maxx, the 5 or 6 issues of Pitt that came out over a few years and hearing about Wetworks coming for forever. And I'm still holding out hope that those chromium covers will be worth millions some day.

      The Death of Superman was fucking epic with nothing but one and two-page panels and I'm pretty sure I DID cry a little - I'm crying right now just thinking about it!

      I definitely had the first few of that Catwoman series - did Issue #1 have like a thick stock embossed cover deally, you know, like EVERY #1 issue back then had? I was a sucker for those covers.

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  6. TDKR is THE greatest book ever! Ok, maybe not but it's still pretty damn perfect. I enjoyed part 1 but i LOVE part 2. Part is so great and like the book, the movie made me cry at the end when superman gives that wink to carrie kelly and you're like "Oh shit...he knows...but no, wait...he's cool with it...beautiful".

    Kevin Smith said it best, "It's the 'Catcher in the Rye' of comics".

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  7. Well said HHH.
    TDKR part 1 and 2 are the best DCU animated movies to date. The comic (not graphic novel because we're not embarrassed to say we read comic) is a classic and this movie does it justice.
    When the did Batman:Year One as an animated movie last year the left the noir style voice over in. .... and it sucked. I'm very glad that they took it out for this one, despite it making we lose some classic lines.

    If you like the animated movies I'd also recommend Batman: Under the red hood.

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    1. Yep, I agree. Shannon was talking about Under The Red Hood a few posts up, and it's great. Really great. I think you guys should check out Justice League: Doom. And you know, this year is the 20th anniversary of Mask of the Phantasm, but there don't seem to be any plans for any sort of commemoration YET. I think it's high time we got a blu-ray. Come on, it's Batman. It'll sell forever, just based on the character.

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    2. By the way, you guys, Corbin "Bananas" Foster just brought to my attention via Twitter that I completely neglected to mention how cool the soundtrack on this movie is. The composer, Christopher Drake, said he deliberately tried to homage the Vangelis music from Blade Runner, but it's also got the brass and the dark bombastic qualities you want in a Batman score. I hear that at some point there will be a release of the soundtrack, which is great news. Corbin said (and I may be inclined to agree) that it's his favorite Batman score. For those who want to hear a taste, here's some links. Starts out with the big brass theme, then gets all Vangelis-y around 1:40. Tell me that's not one of the coolest things ever.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbyQIPww4RQ



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    3. Just who does this "corbin" think he is.

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    4. A classy guy with great music taste. I completely forgot about the score when I was writing this thing. I'm so glad you brought it up, because it was like a character in the movie. It was essential.

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  8. One of my favorite composers, Brian Ferneyhough has said, “Sometimes one can be so closely involved with things that the larger context is lost to view”.

    I love the Dark Knight Returns for the same reason I love The New Frontier: context.

    The New Frontier acknowledges the Silver Age in a way that has long been forgotten. Much like the X-Men, we forget Green Lantern and Flash are products of their time. Darwyn Cooke’s graphic novel presents the Trinity of Superman, Wonder Woman, and someone else--I forget--as products of the “greatest generation” to the “a changin’” times of the 60s. The irony of the space race is seen through the Flash’s constant need for speed and the analogous in Hal Jordan’s test pilot. Wonder Woman is viewed as an old solider, Superman is lost, Batman has to change with the times.

    Perhaps no better scene sums this up than the rooftop conversation between Lois & Supes, as to why heroes are needed: leadership.

    New Frontier presents why we have much of the comics many of us love, in context of the historical events that shaped the modern-day greek heroes.

    Of course its always easier to spot context through the lens of history. The Dark Knight is no different. Though written during the 80s, we see things a little clearer today. TDKR is a product of its time: the 80s, action movie. Rife with Robocop-esque parody of all the things. Heck the casting is even a wink to history. We know Robocop is the final statement on the 80s action hero (sorry Last Action Hero, too little too late). Part two points to the Reagan-era Myrmidon Superman, as a solider blindly following orders.

    Even the music is in line with the time. From the slightly out-of-tune synth-pop of John Carpenter, to the mood of Vangelis/Brian Eno ambient atmosphere. Even the trippy radiated Supes sequence . As much as TDKR references the time in which it was created, it also harkens unto the noir afterbirth in which Bats was born. The horns in glorious tri-tone substitutions over the bed analogue sequencers are the best of everything that makes Bats as we know him.

    We saw Raimi’s Spiderman post-9/11. We saw Nolan trilogy address Batman for the Homeland era. Movies, especially comic-book ones need context.

    We just finished F This Movie Fest 2, with 1991. That was a year where the cold war finally ended. The year rock & hip-hop killed pop music (well for a bit anyway). We even saw the end of the first gulf war (don’t worry, we’d be bat 10 years later).

    If art is a vision of the world, then putting said art in context helps clarify that world. Even if its as “silly” as comic books, putting things in context helps understand fully where its coming from. Why did the 60s need Spiderman, X-Men, the Flash & Green Lantern? Was it just so kids could relate to a teenager? Why did the 80s see the birth of the Graphic Novel--with the pinnacle arguably being TDKR. Context helps put things in place so it can fully be understood.

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    1. WOW. Well said, Bananas Foster. I think you took that from your Doctrate Thesis. But seriously, that's great. I love everything that everyone has added and contributed to this little ol' column. This is what I want, an interaction. I want my columns to be jumping off points for further discussion. Based on the last few weeks, that's what we're doing, and I couldn't be happier.

      *cries*

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