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The first two Batman films, (especially Batman Returns) were two of my all time favorite movies for the longest time.
It wasn't until both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight had been released, and I went back to compare them, that I realized how one dimensional the first films really were. They felt dark and almost shockingly grim back in the '80s and '90s, but now they feel like really half-assed stories that should have taken more directly from their own source material.
I still think DeVito's Penguin was the best part of either movie. What a fucking sick adaptation of a DUMBASSED character? DeVito may have influenced Ledger's Joker performance more than anyone else. But aside from him, and that wonderful score by Danny Elfman, the first two Batman films were more style than substance, and now the style looks dated, and the whole thing looks like it was shot in miniature on a soundstage.
Dick Tracy is the opposite. It felt ridiculous at the time, didn't it? I thought so. It still is of course, but only in intentional ways. Looking at it now, it holds up much better than I thought it would. Al Pacino got an Oscar nomination for his distorted performance... The visuals are excellent. And it's really dark as hell!! Moreso than the Burton Batman films, possibly. And definitely in more deceptive ways. What felt childish at first now seems almost gratuitous in Tracy. What felt dark and violent now seems silly and slapstick in Batman... Especially the first one. Nicholson did a shit job.
I love Batman, but Nolan just obliterated all four of the previous Batman films. Whole new level. When I'm 60 maybe I'll look back at the Dark Knight Trilogy and think IT was crap compared to some future reboot, but I honestly doubt it.
Why is this post in Non-Sonic Sounds?
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