A COMMENT ON “NOW PLAYING PODCAST: BATMAN RETROSPECTIVE”

Being an avid Podcast listener, I’ve now discovered, and it would seem to be late as usual, the Now Playing Podcasts.

I have just begun to listen a series of podcasts recorded throughout the year leading up to The Dark Knight Rises release, of all the Batman Films. They follow the movies in a similar way to my own post which was published on the day of TDKR’s release, Batman & The Movies, but these podcasts are much more comprehensive, usually running for around 1 hour and 50 minutes.

They break down the films and discuss in detail, the plots, as well as the issues surrounding them.

My first thoughts on listening to two so far, that being The Dark Knight Rises and then Batman Begins, is that even though they make perfect sense, this is a plot-holing exercise and even though it can be fun and interesting to discuss and dissect films in this way, if you take reviews like these too seriously, you risk damaging your experience, missing the point and increase your expectations of perfection to unattainable levels.

Christopher Nolan is one of the best directors working today in my opinion, but that’s not to say that his films aren’t flawed as many others are, but one thing that cannot be measured in this way, is the tone, feel and ambiance of a film. Or how it makes you feel each time you watch it.

I like the podcasts so far based on what I’ve heard and I’m looking forward to listening to many more, but enjoying them for what they are and not allowing them or any other to unduly influence my tastes. Though considering they tore The Dark Knight Rises to pieces, and it was hard to argue with some of the points even though I feel that they missed a few which may have lifted it a bit, they still gave it a good review so that seems fair to me. A critical eye isn’t always a negative one. Good stuff.

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE

2009

DIRECTOR: Gavin Hood

May Contain Spoilers!

Gavin Hood should be ashamed of himself. Not just for sullying the good name of the best X-Man, Wolverine, but for directing his film as if it was his first effort at film school, presuming that he ever went. The characterisations are appalling and as vacuous as the action and visuals. None of which gives Hugh Jackman room to breath, let alone explore the character.

The cinematography is simply slipshod and rubbish, turning what could, and trust me, I mean COULD have been decent action set pieces into a string of ludicrous jokes. Nothing really makes any sense. Unlike the follow up, X-Men: First Class, there’s no effort to contextualize the time, outside the droll montage during the opening credits which has Wolverine and his brother, The Beast doing a Saving Private Ryan on the beaches of Normandy amongst other things throughout history.

There’s just no soul to this movie. It’s not camp. It’s not dour. It’s not even the Fantastic Four! It has as much identity as Wolverine himself, after his memory is wiped in the final act. Sorry, spoiler, if anyone really cares. This should have been the coolest of the X-Men films, but even without Bryan Singer at the helm, this should have been better than this. It’s not just a lazy film, it seems as if Hood as deliberately sabotaged the project, actively destroying the film from the inside!

Clearly, you have to wonder just how much DC Comics were paying him to destroy Marvel’s X-Men brand? Well, thank god for Matthew Vaughn, and his excellent X-Men: First Class. Pay attention Hood…

N.B. Originally reviewed 23rd January 2010