Film Batman: The Dark Knight Rises!

[axl blaze]

^ LOL on wanting Bane's jacket. funny that this one chick, actually a fellow BLer (old-school), said the same thing about that on Facebook...

but as for me I only wear black jackets

I read Nolan's final departing thoughts, and it pretty much reads like what I thought he would say. I've been a fan of Nolan since Memento, but he does owe a lot of his fame (and piles of cash) due to Batman. all in all, I thought Nolan did a damn good job with Bats - his Batman was visceral and gritty in a ways like Ed Brubaker and Frank Miller handled their respective runs in the Batman comic books...

with his Batman trilogy, Nolan created a whole new perspective of the modern comic book movie via delivering a product that was serious and grand, in its scope. Nolan proved that the source material, when done right, sets the movie up for instant success. this is some serious mythology here, and Nolan showed the audience that by utilizing such operatic weight in his films

heh, "operatic weight"... I appreciate Nolan for making the use of these two words in a post about a comic book movie NOT seem foolish

that being said, I honestly believe that the Avengers > Batman 3, during this legendary blockbuster of a Summer Movies Season. agree or disagree?

 

[Zulkifar]

^^^Ummmm... Can't say I agree there, no matter how I look at it. I can't even compare the two.

 

[freddy47]

Yeah I have to say Batman is way better than Avengers. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed The Avengers but I just didn't care enough about the characters. But with Batman I was really attached to the character of Bruce Wayne.

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When the nuke goes off at the end I got teary eyed because I really thought he was dead. When Iron Man fell from the sky in The Avengers I just thought "meh".

 

[L2R]

like comparing apples with seeds. the avengers succeeds in a solids rendition of a comic book on screen. nolan's batman trilogy each succeed in completely adapting to the new medium. the two formats are very different, it takes change for a story which works in one to work in the other. the reason for the three act format in film is to introduce/challenge/change, these things you can't get in indefinite series.

nolan reduced two face to one afternoon of killing five blokes. hell, when you think about it,

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he reduced batman himself to being active only about a year or so in total.

these aren't negatives imo. these are taking the characters seriously. they were introduced, they were challenged and then they changed.

 

[thujone]

I loved this film. The cinematography was excellent and it's particularly impressive how much new stuff Nolan introduced while still keeping the plot focused. That is an epic feat in itself. Bane's lines were awesome (eg. Let's not stand on ceremony!). The one thing I didn't like was that flying batmachine. It's bad enough that it looks hideous but even worse that it was used as a deus ex machina THREE times. Another disappointment was that the only other tech featured was the tumbler. Bane steals the whole bat armoury and all we see of it is the tumbler? LAME. Either way, props to Nolan for keeping the action tempered with some good ol fashioned tension.

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and how the fuck did Gordon survive being jostled about so violently in that transport truck?!

 

[marissaaaaaa]

I don't want to live on this Earth anymore.

yeah..............wtfff.
I HATE HIM.

I hear what you're saying.

But I highly doubt Nolan will use CGI to alter him to look more like Bane. Nolan has said repeatedly that he hates using CGI unless absolutely necessary.

Take for example the semi truck flipping stunt in the last one. People thought that Nolan was going to use CGI for that scene for sure. But Nolan just said nope make it happen. It would have been safer and less costly to have flipped the semi with CGI but no Nolan did it the old fashioned way.

As for finding an actor that is big buff AND a good actor. I don't think any really exist. Unless you got some sort of professional wrestler to do Bane no one is gonna be that big. And with that way you sacrifice good acting for a guy who just physically matches the part.

i thought a lot of his shit was no CGI.
while watching i was like............this guy is either awesome or just has GREAT CGI lol.

^ welcome on board to the nerd thread! nerd-boners are our specialty, here! and yeah, Batman's new whips + gadgets have been increasingly breath-taking. that's another thing that the Nolan Bros have done very well. Batman doesn't really have any superhuman powers (save for his insane wealth), so his toys factor in a lot here in his ability to overcome Gotham's Crazies

and I mean I would LOVE to see Bane as big as he is portrayed in the comics... I mean, the dude is a truly intimidating villain. however, I would rather they get a good actor (like Hardy) over some inept, muscled, idiot who doesn't even realize the gravitas of his role (*cough cough* Schumaker's Bane *cough*). plus, in Nolan's Bat-World (which is damn realistic considering it's based on a ZANY comic for kids!) I don't think having Bane as big as we are used to him being portrayed in the books would fly that well.judging by Max Power's pic, Tom Hardy looks well buff enough to get away with it. and damn! look at Tom go! I was initially suspect of him doing Bane because from what I remembered, Hardy wasn't even a "big" guy to begin with! quite impressive

but for the sake of chatting about one of my most fave comics characters among other fans - do you all find yourselves saddened at the fact that this is THE LAST Nolan/Batman movie? he's made it clear that he would be doing a trilogy and a trilogy only. a Batman trilogy without Catwoman is unthinkable, so I'm glad he's putting her in and I hope her entrance doesn't seem rushed. I like Bane, but to be honest I think I favor the likes of the Penguin, the Riddler, Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, Hush, Man-Bat, Harley Quinn, Solomon Grundy, and (even) Mr. Freeze more than Bane, at least when it comes to being portrayed on the big screen

fwiw - I would have LOVED to see Danny DeVito reprise his role as the Penguin, in Nolan's universe. I also would have LOVED to see the Nolan Bros do either Crispin Glover or even Eddie Murphy as the Riddler! chances are, Batman will get treated as the cash cow it is and instantly thrown into a reboot.... that sux

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a BLACK Ridler! you don't say!!

uh, watch bronson.
watch tom hardy FUCK SHIT UP.

yeah, and I really liked Zzasz's cameo appearance in the first Batman film, as well as Scarecrow's drug kingpin appearance in the second Batman film

damn, we had so many great animated shows back in our day. however, I'm an X-Men guy through and through. all kids can relate to being outcasts; like how the mutants were treated by the humans, and how the X-Men were even treated, at times, by other heroes

so I will say #1 is X-Men and #2 is a tie between Spider-Man/Batman

Jubilee in "Night of the Sentinels"!

the X-Men are my fave super team, and I will say Spidey is my fave singular hero. Peter Parker is so lovable and realistic in his constant misfortunes. I mean he's a superhero who still has to go to work, and school, pay rent - all the while dealing with his girlfriend getting thrown off a bridge. give me him over the-all-powerful-all-beautiful-Clark Kent any day. and I also love how Spidey constantly feeds his villains one-liners. it's almost like he gets rid of more pent up anger via trash-talk, than actual fisticuffs - the fact that the new Spidey movie seems to up-play this part of Spidey makes me think it will be a winner!

Venom is the personification of the 90s!

i concur, the superhero cartoons in the 90s were so fucking good.

Also L2R

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What do you think about the introduction of Robin? Joseph Gordan Levitt is an awesome choice IMO and the ending left it open for movies with him carrying on Batman's legacy. Could be cool IMO

yeah i still agree. fantastic finale. and very fast paced indeed.

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i forgot all about talia, so it took me by complete surprise.

i really look forward to the imax version.

ahh i loved it.
my boyfriend called it pretty early on, i wouldn't have though!!
i try not to work out plot holes anymore.
i jsut absorb what's happening and try not to like...imagine what's going to happen haha.

i can't wait to see it in imax either. it's 100% necessary.

it was good, but not fantastic, and a bit uninspiring with two many eye-rolling moments

I have some problems with this movie. first off, Batman would NEVER quit for 8 years. not for a woman, and not because of the mess the Joker and Two-Face left in their wake. Batman doesn't have super powers, he gets by because of his immense WILL. I know there are more variations to Batman's character than an MKULTRA victim (from Adam West to Superfriends to Tim Burton's or Paul Dini's Batman to name a few) - but the Bats DOESN'T QUIT. it's who he is and it's what makes him such a strong character. Gotham City needs Batman and Batman needs Gotham City. this fact from the movie almost killed it for me

Nolan tied off his trilogy decently enough by using Jonathan Crane (the Scarecrow) well and by pushing the Ra's-al-Ghul and his League of Shadows envelope back into the fold. I also liked how Batman's past array of jaw-dropping vehicles made their way into this final installment. however, there were more than a few very campy reveals that felt cheap and forced. Talia-al-Ghul's injection into the story was an eye-roller, only to have her you-know-what shortly after

Bane was a good bad-guy, but a little too Lord Humungus for me. I didn't have a problem with Bane's voice (check out this kewl article to read/hear about the gypsy bare-knuckle boxer that served as the vocal inspiration) and I hated how they degraded Nolan's Bane into basically Joel Schumaker's Bane by that once-again absurd reveal that made him to be pictured once again as nothing more than a one-dimensional guard dog. and I was a little pissed that Bane wasn't from South America, just some random spot half-way around the world (plot-hole)

BUT Nolan completely gave us a "meh" moment when Bane "broke" the Batman. this is a HUGE moment in the mythos of the Bats, and it came across as uninspiring

overall it seems like Nolan didn't know what to do after the untimely demise of Heath Ledger potentially ruined his film's final vision. Christopher Nolan comes across as the smartest kid in the classroom, but the kinda guy that isn't the most interesting to have a conversation with. it seemed like he wasn't having enough fun with Batman and Gotham City. in retrospect, I think I should have placed even more value on the performance of Heath Ledger's Joker in film before

and if you thought the Return of the King had a problem with multiple endings - holy shit, wait till you see this movie

I did enjoy the film. I just had a lot of problems with it - namely the drab breaking of the Bat scene and the fact that Nolan's Batman is a quitter... but these two problematic intricacies PALE in comparison to the "big Robin reveal" at the end. what an eye roller!

i TOTALLY disagree.
i thought all of those things were done really well..

I'm gonna have to side with L2R on this one sorry Axl

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The movie was consistent with the tone Nolan has set for the trilogy. And that is realism over crazy superhero stuff. The first fight between Bane and Batman felt "real" to me. It reminded me of this one sparring session I had with this guy that was immensely stronger and tougher than me. It felt exactly the same. Batman punched and kicked and threw everything he could at him. But in the end he was just overpowered. That part when Batman screams in frustration and charges Bane only to have his punches bounce off Bane's head was exactly how I felt. It showed Batman to be nothing more than human after all. An extraordinary human but a human being nonetheless.

As for Batman quitting. Again it felt in keeping with the tone set throughout the trilogy. In The Dark Knight at that dinner scene between Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent, Dent talks about how whoever Batman is he doesn't want to do it forever. How can he? Dent was the legitimate hero of justice that Batman was supposed to pass on his legacy to. But when Dent became two-face and died Batman had to absorb his sins and become the bad guy every body needed him to be.

After he did that organized crime (what Nolan's Batman has been fighting against from the very beginning) was essentially broken in Gotham. Because of that Bruce Wayne felt like he could stop being Batman. He wasn't quitting he thought he won, he thought he could hang up the gloves while still on top. That is why during the first Bane and Batman fight Bane says "I see that victory has defeated you." Like a boxer who has been Champion for too long Batman got soft, he thought that no one else could challenge him any longer. Along comes Bane the new tougher, stronger and younger challenger. He didn't see it coming.

samesies.
i thought the fight scene was done really well actually.
it seemed very real and believable.

i think axl likes the typical campy stuff more, being he liked avengers better..and maybe looks at realistic stuff as suffering cause it's not as big as in the comics? IDK.

but i will say that i wasn't too crazy about batman quitting for a while.
seemed weird to me as well, and a bit out of character...................IDK.
and the gyllenhall's annoy the fuck out of me so it irked me to see him so like OOHHH WAHHHHHH PIG NOSE IS DEAD WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ICAN'T GO ONNNNNNNNNNNN WAHHHHHHHHH

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Batman lives, before he left with the bomb someone mentioned Bruce got the auto pilot working. He probably shot off right before the bomb exploded.
Robin will become robin
Next movie's villains will either be Poison Ivy & Mr. Freeze or Penguin, or even all 3. (basing off the old movies)
Just my opinion.

yes yes yes.
i was thinking poison ivy in the next one too!!

^nolan isn't making any more

i call BULLSHIT.
he's making no more batman TDR movies.
so that trilogy is over.
and now he will do batman and robin, a whole new thing.
or robin.
I AM GOING TO BELIEVE THIS AND NO ONE WILL TAKE IT AWAY FROM ME.

I loved this film. The cinematography was excellent and it's particularly impressive how much new stuff Nolan introduced while still keeping the plot focused. That is an epic feat in itself. Bane's lines were awesome (eg. Let's not stand on ceremony!). The one thing I didn't like was that flying batmachine. It's bad enough that it looks hideous but even worse that it was used as a deus ex machina THREE times. Another disappointment was that the only other tech featured was the tumbler. Bane steals the whole bat armoury and all we see of it is the tumbler? LAME. Either way, props to Nolan for keeping the action tempered with some good ol fashioned tension.

NSFW:

and how the fuck did Gordon survive being jostled about so violently in that transport truck?!

yeah i was sick of that flying thing within like 5 minutes of it being used bahahha.




i thought it was great. the ONE complaint i have is that bane's voice was hard for me to understand. and also, my boyfriend does a lot of impressions. all the time. he does weird voices and gropes me and disturbs me for like 15 minutes straight.
bane's voice was like one of his voices.
so i couldn't take it seriously for like 1/4 of it, the other 2/4 i literally couldn't understand.
what i could though was amazing...........

i thought catwoman was sick! i love anne.

and also, Is it wrong that while watching TDR I was thinking "is this what OWS will become with some radical anarchists?" And being kind of okay with that? (Minus the whole burning the bridges and bomb thing. And you can't just let EVERYONE out of prison. Just the people who are in there for BS like drug charges. The cops, I could give or take em being in the tunnels)

but in all actuality, i got serious chills while watching this movie. (maybe because i was so involved in OWS) when they raided the stock exchange..when bane took over....when catwoman whispered that wonderful line "a storm's coming, and when it hits you and your friends are all gunna wonder how you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us." OH GOD.
it made me think a lot during it...is this what i want?
and i couldn't definitely say no...and that scared me a bit.

this movie was amazing.

i wonder what the joker would have done in it? i agree with whoever said it did feel like it was missing something and nolan was putting together the pieces. but, it was still amazing.

 

[psood0nym]

i thought it was great. the ONE complaint i have is that bane's voice was hard for me to understand. and also, my boyfriend does a lot of impressions. all the time. he does weird voices and gropes me and disturbs me for like 15 minutes straight.
bane's voice was like one of his voices.
so i couldn't take it seriously for like 1/4 of it, the other 2/4 i literally couldn't understand.
what i could though was amazing...........

Axl posted a link to Tom Hardy's reported inspiration for Tom Hardy's voice for Bane in post #93 if you're interested in it (I find it very interesting). Article link

 

[DeepMedi]

yeah..............wtfff.
yes yes yes.
i was thinking poison ivy in the next one too!!


i call BULLSHIT.
he's making no more batman TDR movies.
so that trilogy is over.
and now he will do batman and robin, a whole new thing.
or robin.
I AM GOING TO BELIEVE THIS AND NO ONE WILL TAKE IT AWAY FROM ME.

I agree and I hope we're right. 8)

Edit*

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And who also saw Blake unofficially becoming Robin/Batman's sidekick from the beginning?

 

[marissaaaaaa]

also, idk how people were saying tom hardy couldn't do big and psycho...
if you looked into his films at all you'd see this........

lulz.

anyways..
i gotta see it again in imax and discuss it more.

 

[Smellmett]

Watched it yesterday, thought it was the best of the trilogy, certainly in terms of action and scope, the film delivers some excellent set pieces the other two couldn't hold a candle to, but I guess that's what sequels are all about. I thought Bale gave his best performance yet as Wayne/Batman and was obviously put in much greater peril than the first two movies - this alone carried much of TDKR for me. Tom Hardy was superb also, considering the limitations of the character's voice and only having his eyes to act with, every time Bane came on screen he looked utterly menacing, and snaps a few necks in the process - superb villain, on a par with Ledger's Joker for me. The rest of the cast were good, especially Micheal Caine and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Photography and score were business as usual from Nolan and Zimmer - job done all round I'd say.

On a side note, now the trilogys finished hows about Nolan directing Bale as the next 007? Now that would be something...

 

[freddy47]

^Nolan has always wanted to direct a Bond film. I would really like to see what Nolan's take on 007 would be like

 

[Smellmett]

It's got to be better than that Bourne imitation without-a-plot shambles that the last one was. I think Nolans directing style would suit a Bond film, and Bale would make an excellent Bond

 

[marissaaaaaa]

They shouldn't do Bale as Bond. It seems weird to me...
If he does that he should get someone else.........lol.
I don't like when directors pick favorites, and cast the same people over and over again. (i.e. Tim Burton in regards to his wife and Johnny)

I do think that Nolan would do a great Bond film though.
I liked the old ones, HATE the new ones.

 

[Smellmett]

They shouldn't do Bale as Bond. It seems weird to me...
If he does that he should get someone else.........lol.
I don't like when directors pick favorites, and cast the same people over and over again. (i.e. Tim Burton in regards to his wife and Johnny)

I do think that Nolan would do a great Bond film though.
I liked the old ones, HATE the new ones.

I think Bales performance as Bruce Wayne is already halfway there to being a passable James Bond, suave coolness, check, sharp suits check, eye for the ladies check, gadgets check, he's only the accent away from nailing a half decent Bond

 

[marissaaaaaa]

That's not the point though.............it would be totally redundant if Nolan directed a Bond film and Bale starred in it...
If someone else directed it, THEN it could work.

 

[P A]

Bond film...liked the old ones, HATE the new ones.

I can't stand the old Bond films. At least the new ones are often fun (as opposed to hackneyed and tedious), contain more plausible action scenes, and aren't ludicrous parodies of themselves...not to mention the excellent fight choreography. That said, I think the new ones are pretty 'meh' as well

 

[Carl Landrover]

That's not the point though.............it would be totally redundant if Nolan directed a Bond film and Bale starred in it...
If someone else directed it, THEN it could work.

I don't think it would be redundant. I get what you're saying, that's just not the right word to use mainly because Batman and James Bond are very different people and live in very different worlds.

Other than being "the heroic good guy", having useful gadgets, and a cool automobile, they don't have much in common. I could essentially be talking about most movie heroes with that description.


I'm going to have to see TDKR again. I walked out of the theater with the initial feeling of being slightly disappointed, but that's probably because I haven't been this excited for a movie in a loooong time. Going in with the expectation that it would blow TDK out of the water didn't give this movie much of a chance.



Who do you guys think played Catwoman better? I liked how they had a different originating story for Anne Hathaway. It also made more sense that she knew how to fight in this movie as opposed to falling out a window and going crazy giving you fighting abilities. With that said, Michelle Pfeiffer had this crazy, sexual ferocity that always made her my favorite villian from the non-Nolan Batman movies. I think I'd give the nod to Pfeiffer, but Hathaway definitely was great as Catwoman. My favorite part with her was the bar scene where she suddenly turns into frantic screaming woman when the police storm in, but goes back to smooth-walking, cool criminal once out of sight.

 

[marissaaaaaa]

I don't think it would be redundant. I get what you're saying, that's just not the right word to use mainly because Batman and James Bond are very different people and live in very different worlds.

Other than being "the heroic good guy", having useful gadgets, and a cool automobile, they don't have much in common. I could essentially be talking about most movie heroes with that description.


I'm going to have to see TDKR again. I walked out of the theater with the initial feeling of being slightly disappointed, but that's probably because I haven't been this excited for a movie in a loooong time. Going in with the expectation that it would blow TDK out of the water didn't give this movie much of a chance.



Who do you guys think played Catwoman better? I liked how they had a different originating story for Anne Hathaway. It also made more sense that she knew how to fight in this movie as opposed to falling out a window and going crazy giving you fighting abilities. With that said, Michelle Pfeiffer had this crazy, sexual ferocity that always made her my favorite villian from the non-Nolan Batman movies. I think I'd give the nod to Pfeiffer, but Hathaway definitely was great as Catwoman. My favorite part with her was the bar scene where she suddenly turns into frantic screaming woman when the police storm in, but goes back to smooth-walking, cool criminal once out of sight.

it would be redundant just like how every movie tim burton makes johnny depp is in it. even if the characters are different, the style and actors are the same and it's fucking annoying.

AHH i loved that bit too.
i was like, HELL YEAH.
and whenever a cop walked by she acted all like OMG AHHH.
that's exactly what i'd do.
this catwoman was pretty much me+some sick fighting skills i'd say. bahahhaha

 

[axl blaze]

^ yeah I'm not the biggest Anne Hathaway fan, but I will concede and say that she did a good job as Catwoman. it is a fact that Nolan gets the BEST performances out of his actors/actresses for his movies (Ledger, Hathaway)

well it looks like I'm the only one that thought the big "Talia-al-Ghul" and "Robin" reveals at the end were SUPER lame. once again, the Talia reveal was horrendous because it crippled the badassery of Bane's character.

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meaning, instead of Bane being true to his comics character and being an extremely intelligent villain, he was shot down and made out to be a glorified guard dog, like how Bane was portrayed in those gawd-awful Schumaker films

and the big Robin reveal was just... contrived and stupid. I didn't expect to see such flippant idiocy in a Christopher Nolan film... I mean come on...

I don't think it would be redundant. I get what you're saying, that's just not the right word to use mainly because Batman and James Bond are very different people and live in very different worlds.

yeah, I kinda agree with this. I think it's obvious that it doesn't take SERIOUS acting chops to portray Bruce Wayne/Batman. he's a very one-dimensional character. despite James Bond and Bruce Wayne/Batman being very different, I feel that at least these characters are the same in THIS regard

Who do you guys think played Catwoman better? I liked how they had a different originating story for Anne Hathaway. It also made more sense that she knew how to fight in this movie as opposed to falling out a window and going crazy giving you fighting abilities. With that said, Michelle Pfeiffer had this crazy, sexual ferocity that always made her my favorite villian from the non-Nolan Batman movies. I think I'd give the nod to Pfeiffer, but Hathaway definitely was great as Catwoman. My favorite part with her was the bar scene where she suddenly turns into frantic screaming woman when the police storm in, but goes back to smooth-walking, cool criminal once out of sight.

yeah, that last scene you mentioned was the best scene in this movie for Catwoman. Anne Hathaway portrayed Cats with a succinct duality, that stayed true to her persona that teeters on the edge of good or bad...

that being said, I feel like no future Catwoman will be able to TOUCH Michelle Pffeifer's performance. she was just SPOT ON

I want to see this movie again, in IMAX 3D, of course. it may not be as great as Batman 2, but it's a damn fine Batman movie, set in Nolan's uber-realistic Gotham City

did I already mention this... isn't it weird that the Scarecrow is the only villain to be in all three of Nolan's Batman movies??

marissaaaaaa - the fact that you also used to love those 90s superhero Saturday morning cartoons is freaking AWESOME! X-Men was my favorite, but Spider-Man and Batman: the Animated Series were not too far behind... in retrospect, Batman: TAS might have been the actual "best" show, I am just a huge X-Men fan. the Batman cartoon was highly artistic and was perhaps the most faithful Batman show/movie to the source material (comics) EVER. when people ask: who acted the best B. Wayne/Batman; I usually say Kevin Conroy. he was the voice actor for this show and he was the first actor to use two clearly different voices for B. Wayne and the Bats. his voice work was immaculate...

for all you newly interested Batman fans, who are craving more, I suggest looking up Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (93). it was a movie that was released at the height of the Batman cartoon's popularity, and it was done very very well. I'm sure it's on Netflix!

Axl posted a link to Tom Hardy's reported inspiration for Tom Hardy's voice for Bane in post #93 if you're interested in it (I find it very interesting). Article link

I'm so glad you guys have found this article as interesting as I did! I posted it on FB and no one seemed to care, so it's nice to see it getting some love here on BL...

 

[thujone]

for all you newly interested Batman fans, who are craving more, I suggest looking up Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (93). it was a movie that was released at the height of the Batman cartoon's popularity, and it was done very very well. I'm sure it's on Netflix!

i'm disappoint that none of the live-action flicks have attempted to copy this cartoon's art deco style, it suits the franchise so well