Phillippe=Two-Face, Hoffman=Penguin In Next Batman?

Batman Begins is probably the best superhero movie I've seen. I've liked both Spiderman movies and I liked the first two Christopher Reeve Supermans, but Batman Begins blows all of those and even the Keaton-Nicholson Batman out of the water...

It was one of the best movies last year.

 

They've been blanketing a lot of the superhero movies on cable the last few months.

Curious absences: Batman II and III (Keaton v. Penguin/Catwoman; Kilmer vs. Riddler/Two-Face), and you hardy ever see Spider-Man I on cable anymore. They do, however, show the clusterfuck of Batman and Robin, all the time. : :

With repeated viewings, Superman I loses a lot of its luster. The Marlon Brando casting is still ridiculous, and the "Can You Read My Mind" episode still ranks as one of the most moronic scenes ever put to film. And, while the special effects looked awesome at the time, they're all but laughable now.

 

Ryan Phillippe is almost as bad of a choice to play a lawyer as Katie Holmes was. He's an awful actor and doesn't hold any of the gravitas necessary to play either a straight-up lawyer or insane villain (I, too, hope they'll be playing Harvey Dent straight in this one).

Now Billy Dee Williams -- that was a man who could play Harvey Dent.

I'd really prefer not to see Batman battling a bunch of villains. As others have said, that's what mucked up the original series of flicks (that, and Joel Schumaker). I'd much rather they spend time developing the Joker and setting up him and Batman as enemies than having Batman going from scene to scene listening to villains spout one-liners as he tries to karate kick them into Arkham.

I still think the "A Death in the Family" storyline would be great for the big screen. It would take a few movies to pull it off (he'd have to recruit Robin and we'd have to see their relationship develop before the Joker kills him), but it would be outstanding.

 

I always thought Mr. Reese Witherspoon was a bad actor, based on "Cruel Intentions", but he was quite good in "Crash". Kind of an eye opener.
I think at one point during the casting of "Batman Begins" Dennis Quaid was mentioned as a possible Harvey Dent. He would be good. Terrence Howard would be damn good too (and he's not the obvious guy for the role). Phillip Seymour Hoffman could nail it.

 

I would guess the Joker will kill the Katie Holmes character, and probably seriously injure Jim Gordon, very early in "The Dark Knight" -- that will encompass a couple of the main plot points from "A Killing Joke" and provide Batman/Bruce Wayne with the personal motivation for revenge on the Joker. (As well as neatly dispose of the Holmes character).

At some point, the Rutger Hauer character is likely to return as a villain, too.

As much as Nolan denies it, I think the plan eventually is that Robin will join the cast. The little street kid whom Rachel Dawes protected in "BB," I think, is Dick Grayson -- orphaned by some of the psycho killers released from the asylum. He'll probably only make a brief appearance in "Dark Knight," just to remind everybody he exists.

 

He is a bad actor. Crash was the best performance of his life and it certainly didn't blow me away. But aside from that, he just doesn't look at all like someone who could be a lawyer or DA. Too much of a baby face.

There are no useless characters in film, as they say, so it seems likely the kid will turn out to be Robin, otherwise that whole thing would have been a waste of time. Did they ever mention his name in BB? I can't remember.

 

No. I've watched the DVD with captions, and the kid is never referred to by name, so at this point, it's a mystery/ open option.

But they make a point to show him a couple times in the film -- early on, he is the first "civilian" to see Batman in action, and says he believes in him. Then, the later plotline where he is saved by Rachel and Batman -- obviously there is a purpose to this kid.

Just daydreaming, my guess is it plays out like this:

1) Rachel adopts young Dick Grayson in the aftermath of the bloodbath in the Narrows. He was 6-8 years old in "Begins," so he will be 9-11 now. In the early part of "Dark Knight," they, along with Bruce Wayne, start forming something approaching a normal family unit, and Bruce and Dick start forming a father-son-type relationship. Bruce and Rachel talk marriage.

2) The Joker appears, and after some introductory crimes, decides to rub out Rachel, because she is bringing too much heat on him from the DA position. He succeeds in this, probably in full view of both Bruce Wayne and young Grayson.

3) After witnessing this, Bruce Wayne decides to adopt the now twice-orphaned DG. We see little more of him, probably, until at least late in the next sequel (by which time he could plausibly be stated to be 15-17 years old). Actually, I think Robin as an active character will not appear until the third sequel, which will probably happen unless the franchise absolutely pancakes in the next two films, rather unlikely unless many or most of the key players in "Begins" jump ship.

This approach would have a couple of advantages:

1) It would establish the BW/DG relationship in something approaching a conventional family structure, rather than the frankly kinda creepy-and-weird "millionaire's ward" arrangement in the old comics (and TV show) which made Robin look, frankly, like a kept boy.

2) It establishes most of the major plot points frpm "A Killing Joke," and probably a few from "A Death In the Family," too.

 

Phillippe is starring in Eastwood's next film, Flags of Our Fathers, which is getting Oscar buzz...

I'm guessing the guy is a decent actor. He was great in Crash...

 

Only part of that I don't see is the part about Bruce Wayne and Rachel Dawes talking marriage. I think it was made pretty clear at the end of Batman Begins that she realizes that Batman is the real person and Bruce is just a front and she won't be with him as long as that is the case.

 

I might actually root for the Joker if he's going to kill off Kate Holmes.

 

I always had a soft spot for that movie.

 

Actually, I was thinking Philip Seymour.