Batman Dead End/ Death of Batman
I just finished watching two of the internet short films about Batman and wrote two small reviews. Dead End has probably long since been mulled over on most sites. Death of Batman seems to be a bit more obscure. So here goes:
BATMAN: DEAD END
Having read most of the posts about this movie, I felt compelled to weigh in. (Also, I just finished watching the new making of documentary that I found on Kazaa, which I can only hope is being prepped for a dvd release in the future.) So, let's begin: Frankly, I'm astonished that people can call themselves MOVIE fans, let alone Batman fans, or comics genre fans, and DARE criticize this movie. Are you blind? Are you so jaded and hard-hearted that you can't see the sheer joy of filmmaking and story telling that went into this? It's a damn LOVE letter to the Dark Knight, and the genre as a whole, made on a shoe string, with what the people involved had at their immediate disposal. You can diss the dialogue, the Joker, Batman's physique, blah blah blah blah. If you didn't get chills when Batman stood up on the rooftop with the bat signal shining behind him, consider yourself banished from the film lover community. Seriously. The door is thatta way, sucka. I stand amazed by the cojones it took to even make this picture, considering they messed with the licensed properties of how many different mega wealthy corporations? The details of putting it all on paper, arranging the financing, casting, tech work, and filming. How many of us sit around talking about what we could do, would do, and ultimately, didn't do. Sandy did it. He did it well. Sir, I salute you. For those of you that disagree, it's okay. People are entitled to have the wrong opinion.
DEATH OF BATMAN
These bastards are crazy. That's the only thing I can come up with. Alcohol is probably involved. I've been there. You're drinking, talking to your friend about whatever, and you blabber out, "I could make a better Batman movie then any of those Hollywood F**KS!" You drunkenly explain how you could write it, and maybe even film it. You'd just need a few things, like, oh... a cast, costumes, sets, lighting, editing, distribution, etc. No problem. Easy cheesy. Gimme anudder shot...
Now, most of us would wake up in the morning and shake it off. Real life would intervene. You'd forget about whatever the hell you were talking about and get back to the business of taking out the garbage, feeding the cat, changing your oil, etc. etc. Making a movie would be nice, but let's face it. Who has the time.
Donald Flaherty had the time. More than that, he had the stone lunatic compulsion to actually FACE all those obstacles, and produce a friggin' short film. That fact alone deserves a nod.
If you read this page, or a few others, you'll hear people complain about the ending. The Ol' Dark Knight would NEVER off himself, right? I don't believe that this is the sticking point. I figure that the people watching this film are truly Batman fans, and let's face it, in order to track this movie down and see it, you must be. (That, or you're considering making your OWN movie about whatever, and want to see a similar product. Nutjob.) I think their problem with the film is that it shows them a defenseless Dark Knight put in a highly uncomfortable situation. Nobody wants to see that. They want to see Bats escape and kick ass, and ride off in the darkness for yet ANOTHER flashback sequence of his mom and dad getting wasted. "Bats would NEVER put an innocent person in jail." "Bats would NEVER off himself in the end." But as I watched this film, I found myself saying this COULD happen. It's like an ELSEWORLDS issue, if you catch my meaning.
I think this film touched on several key points of the Batman psyche. Further, I think it does square business with his persona and bravery. The whole time Bats is tied up and beaten, he's never weak. He never wavers. I could see that. When the thief levels the gun at him, Bats rises up, arms out to take it. I half expected the bullet to fire, turn around in mid-air, and race back into the barrel when it saw him.
All in all, I enjoyed the film, and not once did I think of it as an "internet" short, or an "amateur" movie. For about twenty five minutes I was simply watching someone else's Dark Knight. Then I watched him die. -B.
