Tuesday, July 25, 2006

MOVIE TALK: an R-rated Batman movie

Below Christopher Priest's Superman Returns review is his Batman Begins review. In it, there's an implied question that intrigued the hell out of me:

"What if they made an R-rated Batman movie?!"
"I actually wish, in that context, that Nolan had taken the creepiness UP a notch. Send a few kids into therapy, sure, but once word got out that Jimmy peed himself watching this thing, people would pack out the theaters to see a Batman film capable of forcing you to sleep with the lights on. This film falls far short of that, but in Bale’s extremely capable acting and Nolan’s innovation you can see the promise of what an R-rated Batman might have been. With just a little bit of this and that, taking Bale off the leash just a tad more, this thing could have been really twisted. And perhaps just what the franchise needed"
I've got to agree with him. That would be the sho' nuff shit.

Those of you who aren't comic book fans might not get the reference, but there's a character called "The Punisher" whose book was basically R-rated, a few years, back. (Heck, it may still be.) It was ... liberating.

It was like we finally got a chance to see how the character was *supposed* to be.

Batman's a bad-ass by nature. Giving a director room to include profanity and raw material (violence, nudity, etc.) that pushes the boundaries and fucks with our minds would be awesome.

They'd definitely have to have a cooler-looking costume to keep us from slipping in and out of the supposedly "realism" of the flick, but I think it could be done well.


What do you think?

3 comments:

West said...

I think you're probably right, but, like you, I'd damn-sure love to see it!

A disillusioned Naija girl said...

I would definitely love to see an R rated Batman. Hell, I'll let my kids see it (if I had any). Lord knows kids are constantly exposed to nudity, violence and sex as it is, so a more accurate portrayal of Batman's life (including sex) would lend more realism to the fantasy, which would appeal to a wide range of people.

West said...

For sure, naija girl.

The more I think about it, the cooler I think it'll be.