Siren's movie talk 2013~has the game changed?

Then Wiki and my memory of the Daredevil movie deceived me, MCD is listed as Wilson Fisk / Kingpin.^^

You'll probably drive a lot of the more hardcore Batman fans away with Affleck, but Clooney as Batman was also there, so why not.

I don't care what it SAYS he was playing. He was playing The Rose. yeah, his name in the movie was Wilson Fisk, but he was acting more like his son.

and Clooney, i think, was someone people thought would do well and then didn't.

I think his problem was more the director. Whatshisname. Flipping terrible.

He said he spent most of the movie strapped to a board, and people would lift him upright and he'd deliver his lines. Yay Batman suits.

I don't think the actual actor playing batman makes a huge difference anyway. I never thought of it as a challenging role, its mainly alternating between 'entitled' and 'scowling'.

The key is the interaction with the plot and the villians. Compare Batman Forever (which was sort of passable) with Batman and Robin. Both films were directed by the same guy, but Clooney didn't wreck Batman and Robin, it was down to a hackneyed plot / relentless Mr Freeze puns / a weird toxic growling gimp Bane.

Poor Bane ; ;

Why does everyone hate him >.<

And Batman Forever was not "The Most Horrible thing ever." Despite having two face get turned white, red and old after getting splashed and Jim Carey doing his best Joker impression while trotting around in a skin tight question mark bodysuit.

Joel Schumacher was obviously not the right person to direct a Batman movie as he was unable to catch the evil clown grit of Tim Burton. He had a strong cast in every movie but produced only one memorable performance with Jim Carrey. Tommy Lee Jones, as awesome as he usually is, was very average as Two Face except for the end. Botox poisoned face Nicole Kidman of all people outperformed Val Kilmer. It should be illegal to let Chris O'Donnel and Alicia Silverstone do a movie at all. Arnold Schwarzenegger was so bad that he was good again and Uma Thurman was eye candy with minimum interaction and a statist Bane at her disposal.

Still I would say that both movies are guilty pleasures iof you're a fan of Batman and Trash movies.

Keaton was kind of deep as a batman actor. Batman hates the Joker all the way and shows no mercy in the bell tower. He has compassion for the Penguin, and the endscene between them is quite touching with the penguins.
Kilmer is a cardbox character, I'd root for the Riddler any day. Nothing more, nothing less.
Clooney is a caricature of Batman, as is the whole movie.
Bale is rather good as Batman but also has excellent cast to help him out. And as hamish1024 says, the good plot is key here.

Well I always thought Bane was cool, the dark knight rises was my favourite alongside the one from arkham asylum.

While we're on the subject of batman films, did anyone ever see Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker?

I must say that I can't stand the first 4 or so batman movies. Between anonymous putty-like henchmen and camp that would make Adam West squirm in his seat, they were all just fucking terrible.

Also, I hate Tim Burton in all cases, but especially his "anyone who knows me knows that I'd NEVER read a COMIC BOOK" quote... after having directed two shitty batman movies. I'll admit that I like batman, but more the shady guy who's a militant dickhead in the suit, not so much the lavender tights and purple undies batman.

That being said, Hamish is right in that the movie will succeed or fail based on the tone set by the director, not by Ben Affleck's ability to play it. Given his relationship with Kevin Smith, though, I'd say that he'd at least have a good brain trust for developing the character.

Most Batman films are remembered on the strength of their villains - I think Batman Begins is the only film that really depends on the strength of the Bruce Wayne character (and Bale's performance). The last two films were successful because of their engaging antagonists that played with wider themes.

However, no-one quite knows what the narrative set-up is going to be - likely some kind of Batman / Superman / Lex Luthor three-way? If there is a problem, it is less likely to be with Affleck, and more likely to be with working out just exactly what the Batman character is supposed to acheive in what is primarily a Superman film.

And I think they need to pass the Dark Knight mantle onto Gordon-Levitt as well. Man, doing all this stuff, whilst still having time for all the unnecessary Zack Snyder explosions? Affleck probably won't even get that much screen time.

I remember Liam Neeson quite well.


@Deus: Yes, and it was pretty awesome. Possibly the best animated Batman film and one of the 5 best DC Animated films in my opinion.