Get Ready For A Good Cry. The Batman Is Bringing On The Feels
Greetings friends.
While doing press for his upcoming film, War for the Planet of the Apes, The Batman director, Matt Reeves, shares his thoughts on Batman and how he compares to Caesar, Christopher Nolan's Batman movies and studio involvement in big budget films.
In a new interview with Yahoo Movies, Reeves talks about similarities between the heroes of his most recent projects and the worlds they live in, and what kind of film he hopes The Batman will be.
“It’s my hope to tell a very emotional Batman story, and I do see a very strong parallel between [Batman and Caesar] because they’re both damaged characters who are grappling to the do the right thing in a very imperfect world. A world that’s filled with all of the corruption that is human.
I think that the metaphors of both of the franchises [Batman and Apes] enable you to tell stories that have deep emotional resonance. That’s actually what excites me about it. It’s interesting because I was obsessed with both as a child, and yet there is something potentially very adult about what you can explore under the cover of that fantasy. That is what draws me to it, and that’s what I’m excited about.”
The director has gone on record a few times to talk about his pride and excitement to be involved with such an iconic character. Reeves seems to have as much passion for Batman as he does for Caesar, so we might be in good hands. Reeves also brings up his admiration for Christopher Nolan's divisive take on the superhero genre.
That alone would be strange enough given what can be referred to as "Nolan's loose grasp of superheroes", but then Reeves takes a shot at the kinds of superhero movies that studios are willing to make.
“What I love that [Nolan] did was that he took the genre seriously.
What studios are willing to make at the moment is a very, very narrow band of films. What I discovered is that this genre has the potential to be about something more. You can use the metaphors of the genre to talk about [a lot].”
Seems weird to callout studios for making the kinds of movies that largely comprise the universe Batman is set in. Warner Bros. is arguably the currently reigning and undisputed king of horseshit superhero movies, Wonder Woman aside, but Reeves still seems to be a bit salty towards studio attitudes towards superhero movies.
Reeves then goes on about just how much he admires Christopher Nolan, twice, and how that admiration influences him when he works on big budget films and they're downright sodden with admiration.
“I think the other thing that I really admire in what [Nolan] did was knowing what it is to make a big studio film, which often can fall into that sense of committee filmmaking where there’s an anonymity to the point of view of the film.
What I admire in what [Nolan] does is that, despite being a filmmaker in an enormous system, his perspective comes through. That to me was very exciting, it’s always exciting when you see a film of his because of that. That’s what I feel like I’ve been trying to do, it’s trying to allow a perspective to come through despite the fact that we’re in this very large studio movie world.”
I'm sure you're all eagerly awaiting next year's The Batman, and like us, you're looking forward to what the Planet of the Apes director has in store for the Dark Knight, but his words do give pause.
Like I said, Reeves does really seem to have a genuine passion for the project, but passion can be good and bad. For example, Zack Snyder is passionate about Superman. Reeves comments about how much he loves Nolan's take on the genre are also a sticking point.
Without a doubt, the Dark Knight trilogy were gigantic movies with equally impressive box office numbers, and Nolan's vision was front and center. Unfortunately it's a blurred vision at best. Nolan's loose interpretation of Batman and the inhabitants of Gotham by and large was off the mark. While there are some great performances in these movies, and the effects were really well done, Nolan never really captured the essence of Batman.
Finally, is anyone else reminded of Ben Affleck's comments about directing The Batman when the movie was first brought up?
“That’s the idea. But it’s not a set thing and there’s no script. If it doesn’t come together in a way I think is really great I’m not going to do it.”
Keeping those words in mind, when considering what Reeves had to say about studio involvement, it starts to paint a fuzzy picture. We can only hope that Reeves' comments aren't indicative of early studio meddling in The Batman as they begin pre-production.
