Nostromo's Bat Movie (2018)
After watching some of the material from Arkham Asylum on youtube earlier, a visual story began to form in my imagination. In some ways it is a mix of elements from previous films, with fresh ideas peppered in. Before going any further, I want to approach what in some ways may actually be the biggest problem with these movies- Batman. Yea we get it. There's a guy who dresses up as a bat and goes around the city saving citizens of Gotham by fighting wretched slum criminals. In some movies he's meant to be taken seriously doing that, in others the silliness of the whole thing comes shining through. I've dealt with that dilemma, which I'll get into again shortly, but first I'll set the tone. It's a melodramatic horror story, and we're all there- trapped in the Arkham Carnival. I'm not going to name which MoFos are there, because I'd leave someone out, so I'll just say we're ALL there. There's some clowns, scarecrows, ventriloquists, tough brawler thugs, and harlequins there too, who haunt the place with sadistic games to enhance their grip over the carnival. Their power over us. To condense this opening paragraph- we're all inside the Arkham carnival horror story.
Next step- I want to get rolling on some of the existing Batman films, with the aside that I've never read a Batman comic so I don't know how any of it fits into "lore" or whatever. Which Batman movies do I like and why? Let's see.
Batman (1989) has pull, a terrific soundtrack by Danny Elfman, the Jack Nicholson factor, and the plus that it doesn't take itself too seriously. The 1989 installment's honestly a mix of scenes I enjoy quite a lot along with ones I'd rather fast-forward through. A mixed bag. I'd scrap that scene where Bruce Wayne and Joker show up at Kim Basinger's apartment during the day- the one where Bruce breaks a vase with a firepoker, saying "Let's get nuts!" I don't know maybe it's kind of funny, since I remembered it. Regardless, moving on- the first Batman is good but flawed to me. Batman Forever- another I enjoy. Val Kilmer as azzhole Batman works really well for me, Nicole Kidman was pretty great- and they both nail the whole melodramatic Bat-guy thing. It's a funny movie, but obviously goes straight over the top bc mid-90s Jim Carrey is in it with Tommy Lee Jones basically doing the exact same thing. Robin's in it too as a cheesy motorhead runaway teenager, which is fun. Also, there's a carnival in it. So it touches on my idea from above. It's a fun movie that just goes too far. I'm not gonna review all these movies right here, maybe I'll elaborate more on them if this goes anywhere. But I want to move along. Nolan's Bat films. I like
Batman Begins best of the three, it's a strong origin story, and also kind of feels like a horror movie at times with Scarecrow and the toxin drug that brings out everyone's worst fear. I don't feel much like engaging The Dark Knight right here, and The Dark Knight Rises has a quite touching closing few minutes.
After throwing some of those existing flick thoughts down, remember, all the MoFos are trapped at the Arkham Carnival with clowns, thugs, and sideshow attractions. Also, I mentioned that whole dilemma of Batman. Is he here with us to fight the carnival slums? Is he to be taken seriously, or is he running around with bat nipples poking out? .... Actually no. Batman is not alive in this story. All the sadistic clowns are running around the carnival playing games, letting loose horrific toxins, torturing the guests, and running the carnival. Batman's just a statue. He can't run around and fight the clowns. Rather, he represents an ideal of true justice. That the clowns LOVE to mock and throw rotten junk at. Laugh, spit at, and ridicule. Harley Quinn, Scarecrow, and Bane are there, laughing at the big idiot rock dressed like a bat. Setting loose the fear gas.