Crabby old-man moment: What the hell do we need another remake of Batman for? Spoiler alert -- his parents get killed and he becomes a crimefighter who dresses up as a flying rat and is always in a bad mood.
What does it say about this generation that their classic stories come from comic books? Wanna retell the same story again and again -- try reading Shakespeare. Alternatively, try coming up with a new idea.
Time for my porridge and a nap...
I'm going to put my nerd hat on, so please don't hate.
Batman has been around since the 40's, so almost 80 years. Most of us probably know him since Tim Burton first brought him to the big screen, though some may be aware of him since the Adam West days, which was before my time, but I watched it in syndication.
Of all the superheros, personally, I think Batman is the most interesting. Part of that reason is he one of the most grounded in reality (outside of the obviously comic-bookish gadgets, villains and so forth). Despite the unrealistic scenarios, his personal journey is very human.
Sure, his parents got killed and he becomes a crime fighter, but that's really just looking at it from a high level. His arc explores survivor's guilt, disenchantment with the system and his need to live by his (twisted at times) sense of justice. This is this my general summation, but all three are completely real psychological issues that are pertinent in yesterday's and today's socio-political climate.
His stories have been told, or retold by award winning writers and directors. Sure, they didn't win it for Batman (well, the Killing Joke won an Eisner award), but "serious" writers were interested in Batman and his supporting characters enough to do something with them. I know people will argue about comics and literature, but this isn't the point of my post.
That said, each time Batman has been brought to screen, the stories and interpretations of the character couldn't be any more different.
I'm not sure how to classify the 60's Batman, other than just popcorn camp, but the 80's to 90's Batman really brought him to mainstream. Personally, I HATED the Burton and Schumacher takes on the character, but they did re-open the doors to superheroes in general.
For me, the Nolan trilogy weren't just great Batman movies, but they were simply great movies. Yeah, the whole parents dying and reboot was done, but it was important here as his parents death was the basis of two key themes which was neatly tied up in The Dark Knight Rises (which itself I thought was kinda meh relative to Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, but served its purpose); the salvation of Gotham City and the rise of its people to be better, which led to the salvation and redemption of Bruce Wayne.
The Affleck Batman was influenced by a great story-line from the comics, but ultimately this version of Batman was more of a business decision for Warner Brothers to build up their DCEU.
As the Pattinson Batman is not out yet, I can't speak much about what I don't know. What I have heard is this movie, he is already Batman, so while I'm sure there will be flashbacks and references to his parent's murders, I don't think this will be the driving narrative. I believe this will borrow from the Batman: Year One stories. No idea if they will borrow the same themes, but the Year One explored how the main characters of Gordon and Batman start of with very simplistic, black and white views of the world and through the course of the stories, develop their broader vision and understanding. Gordon in particular changes a lot and how he perceives Batman from start to end. They spent like 15 minutes of this in Batman Begins, so we'll see if they go further in Pattinson's Batman.
Anyhow, this wasn't intended to make you like or respect Batman. I just wanted to point out the movies aren't just straight up rehashes of one another. Retelling Batman stories isn't original on its own, but how they do can be.
I also understand superhero movies most of the time are simply money makers and popcorn films. However, every now and then, you'll get one where the movie is more about the character(s) than the spectacle. No idea if Pattinson's Batman will be the former or the latter, but that's why we go see movies, or choose not to.
