I do agree that superhero movies have been taking themselves entirely too seriously for entirely too long. Go back and watch the original Spider-Man or The Shadow and then jump forward to today. All the camp is dead now.
My position is that the Schumacher Batman films are better than any Batman film that’s come out since, and it’s because of a fundamental ideological question:
Nolan, Snyder, Reeves, all of these guys, have continually asked, “What would Batman look like in the real world?” And the answer has meant grittier, darker reboots all inspired by the same couple of Miller books. They need to constrain Batman to things that “make sense” and find ways to make him “seem realistic.”
Schumacher, and Burton before him, asked the much more entertaining question: “What would the world need to look like to idolize a vigilante in a furry costume?” And that opens up so many more possibilities, so much more fun. The Riddler made elaborate pop-up clues rather than staging brutal crime scenes. Two-Face didn’t mourn his almost-relationship with an assistant DA because he was too busy macking on a different girl for each face. Bane? Doesn’t matter if I could understand him, because he doesn’t have any lines anyway. He’s still the evil lady’s main henchman, but now he’s actually monstrously big.
The '90s approach says yes to every wild idea the directors had, every silly gag from the comics or other TV that it wanted to steal, because it wasn’t beholden to a sense of the real. It was okay to enjoy the silly superhero movie on its own terms.
Unfortunately, we’re stuck in a world where each decade brings a grimmer, darker reboot of Batman.
I agree with you wrt Batman Returns and Batman Forever. Batman and Robin was just plain bad, though. It was a comedy that wasn’t funny.
But yeah, Batman fundamentally can’t exist in the real world. Other superheroes have an acknowledged break from reality that allows them to work (“It’s like the real world except there’s this alien who’s physiology allows him to leap tall buildings in a single bound,” “It’s like the real world except a 1 in 10^1,000,000 radiation accident gave a kid spider-powers”, etc.) but Batman doesn’t have this. We’re expected to believe that Batman became a superhero just because he really wanted to be one. The only way Batman makes sense is if the world he lives in is fundamentally off-kilter.
Pitting a modern, ultra-broody Batman against a Joker who genuinely just wants to engage in Silver Age shenanigans for no other reason than to piss Batman off (despite the fact that this Joker is established as a murderer already) would be super fun.
Bonus points if Batman could’ve avoided most of the events of the movie by taking himself slightly less seriously.
If you havent, watch the latest two thor movies, also all deadpool and guardians of the galaxy movies if you want a bit more camp in your hero films. Oh and Gunn’s superman and suicide squad.
This is why i love the spiderverse movies. The tom holland spiderman did okay with keeping the spiderman vibe but i think spiderverse nailed it. Really hoping nunber 3 doesnt get dropped. I want to finish that sory so badly at the very least
I do agree that superhero movies have been taking themselves entirely too seriously for entirely too long. Go back and watch the original Spider-Man or The Shadow and then jump forward to today. All the camp is dead now.
My position is that the Schumacher Batman films are better than any Batman film that’s come out since, and it’s because of a fundamental ideological question:
Nolan, Snyder, Reeves, all of these guys, have continually asked, “What would Batman look like in the real world?” And the answer has meant grittier, darker reboots all inspired by the same couple of Miller books. They need to constrain Batman to things that “make sense” and find ways to make him “seem realistic.”
Schumacher, and Burton before him, asked the much more entertaining question: “What would the world need to look like to idolize a vigilante in a furry costume?” And that opens up so many more possibilities, so much more fun. The Riddler made elaborate pop-up clues rather than staging brutal crime scenes. Two-Face didn’t mourn his almost-relationship with an assistant DA because he was too busy macking on a different girl for each face. Bane? Doesn’t matter if I could understand him, because he doesn’t have any lines anyway. He’s still the evil lady’s main henchman, but now he’s actually monstrously big.
The '90s approach says yes to every wild idea the directors had, every silly gag from the comics or other TV that it wanted to steal, because it wasn’t beholden to a sense of the real. It was okay to enjoy the silly superhero movie on its own terms.
Unfortunately, we’re stuck in a world where each decade brings a grimmer, darker reboot of Batman.
I agree with you wrt Batman Returns and Batman Forever. Batman and Robin was just plain bad, though. It was a comedy that wasn’t funny.
But yeah, Batman fundamentally can’t exist in the real world. Other superheroes have an acknowledged break from reality that allows them to work (“It’s like the real world except there’s this alien who’s physiology allows him to leap tall buildings in a single bound,” “It’s like the real world except a 1 in 10^1,000,000 radiation accident gave a kid spider-powers”, etc.) but Batman doesn’t have this. We’re expected to believe that Batman became a superhero just because he really wanted to be one. The only way Batman makes sense is if the world he lives in is fundamentally off-kilter.
Jim Carrey Riddler might be my favorite movie Batman villain.
Kay apparently strongly disagrees.
Pitting a modern, ultra-broody Batman against a Joker who genuinely just wants to engage in Silver Age shenanigans for no other reason than to piss Batman off (despite the fact that this Joker is established as a murderer already) would be super fun.
Bonus points if Batman could’ve avoided most of the events of the movie by taking himself slightly less seriously.
If you havent, watch the latest two thor movies, also all deadpool and guardians of the galaxy movies if you want a bit more camp in your hero films. Oh and Gunn’s superman and suicide squad.
I’d caveat that deadpool relies heavily on popular media references. For some the jokes just dont land.
And Peacemaker. It’s not quite camp, but definitely a show that doesn’t take itself seriously.
The title sequences in the first 2 seasons of Peacemaker alone are excellent TV! Such a fun show.
This is why i love the spiderverse movies. The tom holland spiderman did okay with keeping the spiderman vibe but i think spiderverse nailed it. Really hoping nunber 3 doesnt get dropped. I want to finish that sory so badly at the very least