From Bluntman to Batman

He has the chin but will he have the chops to be a convincing Dark Knight?

If you haven't heard by now and somehow found your way onto this blog (which puts you in the majority of about 3), then you must be living deep underground in some cave filled with Bats to not know that Ben Affleck has been cast as Batman in the much anticipated Batman/Superman film (a.k.a MOS 2).  The news broke yesterday morning, greeting me as I woke up via an announcement on the Today Show and not surprisingly, I was instantly floored.  For a second I felt as if I'd been asleep for months, during which time there'd been a rigorous and thorough search for a new Batman and I was waking up just as the news was breaking.  A quick trek to the internet proved pretty conclusively that it wasn't a very belated April Fool's Joke; Ben Affleck had been cast as Batman. 
Ever since Zack Snyder announced the Batman/Superman meet up at Comic Con, the internet's been exploding with rumors and gossip regarding who'll be next in line to wear the cowl.  Last I heard, Christian Bale had been offered close to $60 mill. to return, which is an astronomical amount to pay any actor, no matter how good.  Other than that, there was only speculation about what actor might be suitable for the part.  None of the names floating around, such as Ryan Gosling or Bradley Cooper, struck me as even close to being suited for Batman.  Having said that, Ben Affleck didn't even enter into the equation for me.  At one point his name did come up and I just dismissed him immediately, thinking that he wouldn't fit either.  Truthfully, he was about the last person I would've ever imagined. 
After my initial shell shock wore off and I began to think about it a little more, I tried to focus on any positive aspects of the news.  I wasn't surprised at all that the majority of fans reacted in the same way had Pee Wee Herman or Woody Allen been cast, but I think they're jumping to unfair conclusions far too early.  Undoubtedly, their biggest beef with Ben involves his turn as blind vigilante Daredevil in Kevin Smith's bad 2003 film.  Sure, it wasn't a good film but it wasn't simply Affleck's portrayal that made it stink; it's not as if the rest of the film was incredible and he was the weak link.  The movie as a whole was terrible (no offense to Kevin Smith).  If you have a bad script and weak story, good actors are not gonna be enough to save the film.  Just about every good actor has been in bad films.  Way I see it, Affleck did Daredevil as a favor to his friend Kevin Smith rather than as a serious role.  Daredevil is a much more obscure superhero; Batman is a worldwide icon that commands respect.  Given the hype and pressure surrounding these upcoming DC films, Affleck will no doubt be taking this honor very seriously.    The truth is that no matter who was cast, after Bale's legendary portrayal, just about anyone would be hard to picture as the new Caped Crusader, even though this is going to be a new interpretation of the character.  Of course, plenty of people out there simply hate Affleck as an actor and unfortunately, there's nothing that can be done about that. As soon as the news broke, a petition was started expressing fan outrage over Affleck being cast which I'm sure will be sent to WB and which I'm also sure will do absolutely nothing to change the decision.   I for one like the guy and think he's a more than capable actor.  Sure he's been in some stinkers, but he's also been in some great films, most notably Good Will Hunting, The Town, and most recently Argo, just to name a few.  There has to be a specific reason that he was cast for such an iconic and legendary role so early in the game, a reason that we regular folks can't see yet the same way we couldn't initially see why Ledger was cast for the Joker in Dark Knight.  I'll admit I didn't see Ledger as the Joker at all when he was first cast.  Like Affleck, I thought he was a good actor but couldn't see the reason based on films he'd already done such as 10 Things I Hate About You.  At that point Ledger was still basically a teenage heartthrob and had only begun tackling deeper roles.  However, as we know, he blow the roof off it and created one of the most terrifying and insane villains in film history.  When Michael Keaton was cast in Burton's 1989 Batman, people were probably outraged as well since Keaton was primarily a comic actor who didn't match Batman's physicality in the least, but he brought a dark, brooding quality to Bats and made Bruce Wayne feel like a totally different person.  Bale did essentially the same thing while deeply exploring the psychological motivations of the character, but I'm sure when he was cast plenty of people couldn't see him in the part either.  Hell, there are still plenty of people who favor Keaton over Bale and maybe a few who loved Val Kilmer.  To each his own I guess.         
Since many of the people involved in MOS 2 had some involvement in The Dark Knight Trilogy, (namely David Goyer and Chris Nolan), they must've immediately seen some essential Batman quality in Affleck as they did in Bale all those years ago.  The DK trilogy was Nolan's baby and since he's an executive producer on Batman/Superman, I can't imagine he'd approve of anyone he didn't feel was absolutely right for the role in some way that's yet to be seen by us ordinary chaps.  So far the cast choices for the DK films and Man of Steel haven't let me down, so I have no solid reason to believe they'll start now.  Given the immense pressure facing anyone who takes up the mantle after Bale and the fact that Affleck certainly doesn't need the money or the recognition, I have to try to believe that he's in it for the right reasons and will give it his all.  Just because I couldn't originally imagine him playing Batman doesn't mean he won't surprise us all and end up fitting the suit perfectly.  The thing about good actors is that you really can't judge their performance in a new role with a new script in a new film based entirely on their past roles, especially when the new film doesn't even exist yet.  As I was writing this, I read that Joss Whedon, director of Avengers and creator of Firefly, voiced his support for Affleck, saying that he has the chops to pull it off.  That's a pretty glowing endorsement right there.  Rather than wash my hands of the whole thing, like plenty of people are doing, I choose instead to reserve my judgments until we have actual evidence of him as Batman; until then I'm going to remain optimistic and hopeful that Affleck was cast because he showed something in his take on the character that we have yet to see, something that screamed "I'M BATMAN!"                       

Dearly Departing Dexter

 



Dexter: America's Contemplative Serial Killer. 

 Although this falls a little out of the Comic book realm I usually dwell in, I want to talk about one of my favorite shows, Dexter, since it's right in the middle of it's final season.  I was turned onto the show by a friend and though it took a while for me to get invested, primarily because I didn't think I could watch a whole show about a serial killer, once I did, I was hooked.  The show's based on a series of books by Jeff Lindsey, but I haven't gotten the chance to read them.  For those who haven't seen the show, be warned: there are some massive spoilers in here.  "How can you root for a serial killer?" That's the big question facing those hesitant to check the show out.  The answer lies in the way the character is written, as a man from tragic beginnings who's taught to focus his urge to kill, which he calls his "Dark Passenger", into taking out other killers.  Add in his tragic origin story in which as a three year old he watched his mother brutally murdered in a shipping container, then sat for two days in her blood, and he almost becomes a Batman type vigilante, minus the whole no killing thing.  Still, this doesn't change the fact that his motivations are those of a serial killer: he is drawn to blood and enjoys the thrill of hunting and killing. 
After his mother's murder, he was adopted by the cop who found him, Harry Morgan, who gradually notices that something is off about Dexter when he starts killing small animals.  Fearing Dexter will inevitably become a serial killer, Harry tells Dexter that he should go after bad people who deserve it and teaches Dexter a code of conduct to ensure that his victims are indeed guilty and that more importantly, Dexter can get away with it.  Initially, Dexter follows the code religiously,  never leaving a trace behind and sending his chopped up playmates to the bottom of the sea.  When the show begins, Dexter's been successfully killing for more than ten years while also balancing a job as a blood spatter expert for Miami Metro, where he works with his adorably foul mouthed foster sister Deborah.  What really makes Dexter ultimately "rootable" as well as likable is that we get to hear Dexter's inner thoughts throughout the show.  Michael C. Hall plays Dexter with such detail and nuance, infusing the character with a mix of humor, quirkiness, and icy resolve.  His observations while navigating the bizarre labyrinth of social rituals are spot on and funny.  For a serial killer, he contemplates a lot, primarily about how he doesn't feel emotions like regular people and is a very neat monster because of the procedural way he goes about killing.  For someone supposedly devoid of emotion, Hall often conveys the subtlest of hints regarding Dexter's feelings towards those in his life.  In the early seasons he repeatedly claims not to have real feelings for anyone (although he says if he could have feelings for anyone, they'd be for Deb).  Perhaps at first this is true, but as the series progresses, we see Dexter begin to care for people in his life.  His girlfriend Rita and her two kids Astor and Cody, at first used by him essentially as a cover of normalcy, gradually become very important to him.  Throughout the seasons, we see Dexter struggle to balance his cover life with his secret life, which becomes harder as the cover becomes more important.  He gets more serious with Rita, eventually marrying her and pseudo-adopting her kids, whom he clearly loves with all his heart. 


Will Dexter be wrapped in plastic when season 8 wraps?

In addition to his personal struggles, we see him hunt down other serial killers who are just as proficient as him yet operate without a code.  In the first season he gets involved in a game of cat and mouse with the Ice Truck Killer, a prostitute killer who displays precisely cut up body parts in elaborate crime scenes.  What's interesting is seeing how Dexter is initially impressed and even envious of the killer's technique.  On most levels, he is drawn to the same things as killer's like this, even though they represent unchecked versions of himself.  Undoubtedly Dexter's greatest adversary is the fourth season's Trinity Killer a.k.a Arthur Mitchell, played with such frightening conviction by John Lithgow.  Initially Dexter is impressed to find out that Trinity's been killing successfully for over thirty years and has a seemingly stable family life, which appeals greatly to Dexter as he tries in his way to be more emotionally available to Rita.  Eventually though, Trinity's normal family life is revealed to be a lie and Dexter risks his own family's safety trying to hunt Trinity down.  He does, but not before Trinity murders Rita and leaves Dex to find her in the tub with their infant son Harrison on the floor in a pool of his mother's blood.  This is hands down one of the most shocking twists in television history and even to this day I still get chills watching it.Each season has it's own unique feel and usually centers around a major theme.  Although it's hard to pick, if I had a gun to my head and had to pick a favorite season, I'd have to say the fourth because of Lithgow's absolutely terrifying portrayal of Trinity and the twist ending.  Having said that, season 2 and 7 are right on season 4's ass.  Through each season, we see Dexter grow from a remorseless sociopath into a genuinely conflicted and contemplative person whose cover life becomes as important, if not more so, than his secret life.  As his relationships with his sister Deb, his wife Rita and later his son Harrison, become more complex, he realizes that he feels very deeply for these people, he just doesn't have access to these feelings in the usual way. Watching his mother die essentially cut him off from feeling anything and therefore the emotions are harder to access, but they are there.  For someone who so often claims to be without feeling, Dexter really craves emotional intensity in his relationships.
In season 7, Dexter does something he never thought he'd be capable of: he falls in love, appropriately enough with another killer named Hannah Mckay played by the gorgeous Yvonne Strahovski.  Of course, Dexter loves his son Harrison with all his heart as well as Deb, who at the end of season 6 stumbles upon Dexter killing someone and soon learns all about his extracurricular activities.  Even though Deb's the Lieutenant of Homicide, her love for her brother is so strong that she can't bring herself to turn him in and instead tries unsuccessfully to rehabilitate him.  The major theme of season 7 is love and the crazy things it can make us do.  We see how love affects everyone, leading the usually cold and logical Dexter to spare Hannah's life when she's on his table and continue seeing her even though it puts him and his loved ones in danger.  Deep love is also what keeps Deb from not only not turning Dex in, but also lying for him and covering his ass.  What Dexter does so well is explore how universal concepts such as love, family, faith, and morality look to a serial killer such as Dexter.  The show also explores the fact that even those who are not knife wielding serial killers are usually horribly flawed.  All the supporting characters have their own share of skeletons at the bottom of the sea.  The concept of "normalcy" is revealed to be mostly smoke and mirrors in Dexter.
Not only does each season find Dexter in increasingly complex situations, but each finds him growing in his relationships with those closest to him and discovering how important these things really are.  The show's in the process of ending and I for one haven't the slightest clue as to how it'll end, which I love.  The fact that it could go a hundred different ways it what keeps it so captivating; just when you think you've got it figured out, they throw a curveball your way.  The show's not afraid to tackle grittier and more uncomfortable subject matter and always does so in a way that's honest to the complex characters who are so compelling to watch.  Nothing's black and white in Dexter and that's where the show's strength lies; it gives you so much more food for thought when nothing is simple and morally clear.  I for one hope that Dexter can put the Dark Passenger behind him much like Bruce Wayne moved past Batman in DKR.  I'd like to see him be able to have a somewhat stable if not normal life for the sake of Harrison and Deb, but there's no way to know for sure.  One thing's certain though; America's favorite serial killer will go out with a bang when Dexter wraps up for good.                          

Should Bale's Batman Rise Again?

                                                                              
Ever since news broke about Batman and Superman sharing the screen in the MOS sequel (whatever the title will be), rumors of who might play the Caped Crusader alongside Henry Cavill have run rampant.  At this point, all of them are rumors are most are pretty ridiculous.  It seems everyone wants to weigh in on who the next Batman might be.  I heard Warner Bros. offered Christian Bale $50 million to return, although Bale seemed to make it clear he had no desire to play The Dark Knight again.  Of course, it's easy to be confused with all the misinformation swirling around these days and as we all know, Hollywood enjoys surprising us and since Nolan is going to be an executive producer on MOS 2, it's a good bet they'll be some big surprises in store.  It's still far too early to tell who's going to be donning the cowl once all the smoke clears.    
When I first heard that Bats would be in the sequel, I had a hard time imagining anyone else but Bale underneath the cowl.  Regardless of the mixed feelings fans might have towards his portrayal, he's become synonymous with Batman, putting his own indelible stamp on the character.  I enjoyed Bale's performance so much that I desperately wished for a way that his Batman could come back to appear alongside Cavill.  The more I thought of it though, the more I realized that it was probably best to start fresh with a new Batman.  The problem is the timing doesn't work between Bale's Batman and Cavill's Superman.  Bale's already gone through a whole crime-fighting career and retired (after having his back broken and being stabbed for probably the third time) whereas Superman's just revealed himself to the world.  For Superman to be just starting out in a world that already saw Batman come and go feels out of whack.  I feel that Superman and Batman should be about the same age, but Bale's Batman is at least in his early 40's by Dark Knight Rises, whereas Cavill's Superman is only 33.  After everything Bale's Bats went through, culminating in his decision to fake his death and enjoy some much deserved R&R with Selina Kyle, it'd be hard to imagine him coming back just like that.  Nolan's Batman films were meant to standalone in a realistic world devoid of any super-powered heroes or villains.  Having said that though, if Bale was younger and the trilogy hadn't already been made (hard as that is to imagine), Bale's Batman would fit almost perfectly into the world of Man of Steel.  If Bale had only done Batman Begins so far, then the timing would be perfect for him and Supes to meet in MOS 2 since each character would have one film under their belts.  I for one feel that Bale and Cavill would work well off each other and highlight the radical differences in their character's methods and world outlooks.                



Could a $50 million siren song be enough to lure Bale back to the Batcave?

If Bale's Bats returned, one nagging question would be where was Clark Kent when Bane's army occupied Gotham for five months?  You could argue that he was in remote parts of the world searching for answers to his origins, but even he couldn't miss the news and something that significant would certainly get his attention.  Even though in MOS it took an alien invasion for Clark to take a leap of faith and reveal himself, it's hard to imagine he could be out there and not try to do something during Bane's occupation.  There's no doubt that Bale's Batman was a badass, but after all the damage he sustained in three films, (especially getting his back broken), how much more can he really endure?  It's hard to imagine him suiting up again to battle whoever the villains might be in MOS 2 and the proposed Justice League film, especially if we're talking villain's like Darkseid or Brainiac.   Much as I hate to say it, the timing just isn't right for Bale's Batman to return.  In MOS, Superman's positioned to be the world's first Superhero; his presence helps usher in other heroes such as Green Lantern, Flash, Wonder Woman and yes, Batman.  Since Supes was the first comic book superhero, appearing in 1938 followed a year later by Batman, it makes sense that he should appear first in the world within the comics, inspiring other heroes to reveal themselves and take action.  Therefore, it makes sense that Batman should also just be starting his career when Superman reveals himself to the world.  I like to think that Batman is just returning from years of training abroad when Superman appears and upon arriving back in Gotham, Bruce hears all kinds of news about this alien in the red cape based in Metropolis.        Superman and Batman on screen together is the comic book equivalent of The Beatles having played a concert with Bob Dylan or The Stones.  Supes and Bats are the most iconic superheroes of all time and that's why news of their eventual meet up triggered an explosion of excitement.  Due to the hype and anticipation, finding someone new to play Batman is going to be next to impossible.  So far the names tossed around have been ridiculous if you ask me.  Ryan Gosling, Bradley Copper, Michael Fassbender and worst of all, Orlando Bloom have all been mentioned.  Granted these are just rumors, but the fact that people are pulling for some of these actors is worrying.  It's not that they're not good actors, but it's not simply about being a good actor; they have to be able to convey an emotional intensity and edginess to bring the Dark Knight to life again.  Like Bale, they have to get under the skin of the character and clearly show his motivations for doing what he does.  I don't think it's a good idea to cast a big name either, which includes just about each of those actors mentioned.  Bale wasn't that well known before Batman Begins, but he did play serial killer Patrick Bateman in American Psycho and obviously can handle darker roles.  Bale disappeared into the dual role of Bruce Wayne/Batman and convincingly conveyed the deep pain and frustration that Wayne channels into the Batman persona which he unleashes onto a crime ridden city. 
The good thing about having a relatively unknown actor play such universally recognized characters such as Bats or Supes is that when people see them, they see only the character and not the actor.  This is why when the majority of people picture Superman, their brain's default setting is probably Chris Reeve.  He embodied the look and spirit of Superman because he wasn't associated with any other big roles and therefore didn't overshadow the character.  If Robert Redford or another mega star had played the part, you'd see more of Redford than you would Superman.  This is one of the many reasons why Cavill worked so well for Superman; he's relatively unknown to mainstream America and therefore completely became Superman when the audience saw him.  Not that a famous actor can't successfully play a superhero (Robert Downey Jr.), but with characters as iconic as Supes and Bats, it helps to have less familiar faces who can still convey the essence of these guys.  Ultimately, I have faith that Snyder and Goyer will find an actor capable of embodying all the essential qualities that make Batman such an archetypal character and make him the ideal foil for the Man of Steel.                   

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

The Seven Evil Exes standing between love sick Scott Pilgrim and Ramona. 

After years of hearing people rave about it and ask me if I'd seen it, to which I always had to (shamefully) say no, I can finally say that I got around to seeing Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.  I'm not sure why it took so long considering that it's based on a graphic novel, stars Michael Cera who my brother says reminds him of me and also stars Aubrey Plaza (from Parks and Rec.), Anna Kendrick (who's simply adorable), as well as Superman Brandon Routh and Captain America Chris Evans.  If that's not enough, I heard the film has some killer music and pretty sweet battle scenes.  This film appeals primarily to anybody who digs comic books, video games (vintage ones especially) and kick ass music. 
I didn't get a chance to read the graphic novel, so I hoped that the film would suffice and it certainly did.  The film's about lovably awkward Scott Pilgrim and his attempt to win the heart of his dream girl, Ramona Flowers, by battling her seven evil exes.  Along the way he slaps a sweet Rickenbacker bass guitar in his band, Sex Bob-omb as they compete in a battle of the bands in Toronto.  He's also still damaged from being dumped by his ex-girlfriend, a girl named Envy Adams, who left him to sing in the moderately popular band "The Clash at Demon's Head".  When Scott first meets Ramona he's (sort of) dating a high school Asian girl named Knives Chau, much to the chagrin of his bandmate and ex-girlfriend Kim Pine as well as his younger sister Stacey, played by Anna Kendrick.  Although they've pretty much just held hands, Knives becomes infatuated with Scott even as he becomes convinced Ramona is the girl of his dreams; he literally sees her rollerblading through his dreams before he even meets her.  He then meets/stalks her at a party where attempts to woo her by telling her that Pac Man was originally called Puck-Man but they changed it out of fear that vandals would change it to Fuck-Man.  With an incredible factoid like that I don't know how Ramona doesn't just melt immediately, but she doesn't (yea, she's a total ice queen).
There's a hilarious scene where he orders something on Amazon and immediately sits in front of the door waiting for her to deliver it.  The film's loaded with tons of randomly funny lines and situations.  For instance, when Scott finally convinces Ramona to go out with him, she goes to see him play with Sex Bob-omb where she meets Knives and asks Scott how old she is.  We then see inside Scott's mind where a needle jumps between responding with "I gotta pee," or "Who, her?"  Finally he blurts out "I gotta pee on her."  Scott's band-mates have awesome names like Stephen Stills, who aptly enough is Sex Bob-omb's guitar player.  Also there's Young Neil who is Sex Bob-omb's biggest fan and later is designated Neil Young by Scott.  Aubrey Plaza, who's specialty is dry humor, plays Julie Powers, a girl who vehemently tells Scott to stay away from Ramona, believing him to be a loser.  There's a great scene where she finds out Scott is dating Ramona and begins dropping f-bombs left and right which are censored with a black bar over her mouth, to which Scott then asks "how are you doing that with your mouth?"   
During the gig, Scott's attacked by the first of Ramona's evil exes, Matthew Patel who puts on a Bollywood style dance, complete with demon hipster chicks before Scott K.O.'s him and he bursts into coins in classic video game style.  Yea, this film's pretty trippy and random at just about every point, but that's what makes it so awesome.  Anything can happen and that's really where the creativity comes in.  I also like how the film is self-referential, with characters commenting on how weird everything is and being in on the absurdity of it all.  After Patel, each of Ramona's six other evil exes (who are part of the League of evil exes), confront Scott one at a time.  Chris Evans plays exe #2, an actor named Lucas Lee who Scott tricks into doing a wicked grind down a shitload of stair railings that causes him to combust, but not before he has to battle Lee's six skateboard wielding stunt doubles in an epic showdown complete with plenty of comic book sound effects.
Brandon Routh plays exe #3 Todd Ingram, the bass player of "The Clash at Demon's Head" and current boyfriend of Envy Adams.  Ingram is a blonde, brainless vegan who has special vegan-based psychic powers.  At first he dominates Scott, but when it's revealed that he's been eating non-vegan food, the Vegan police come and strip him of his powers, allowing Scott to defeat him in an absurdly hilarious scene.  Brandon Routh and Chris Evans are pretty damn good at playing shallow, brain dead douchebags, which I hope is just a testament to their acting chops.  Scott then battles the rest of the exes, one of whom is a chick named Roxie Richter (played by none other than "Bland" Veal from Arrested Development). Hilarity ensues as they battle and Scott defeats her by tickling the weak spot behind her knee and she too explodes into coins.  If only all people exploded into coins when you defeated them: you'd get some cash and there'd be no real mess to clean up. 
Ultimately Scott battles Ramona's seventh evil exe, Gideon Graves (played by Jason Schwartzman) who founded the League (Guild) of evil exes.  Scott battles him in a final, epic showdown to win the heart of his beloved Ramona.  As I expected, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was simply a damn good time.  The references and deliberately over the top dialogue is hilarious and the visuals are slammin'.  The film's not really meant to be taken seriously at all, which makes it so enjoyable although at it's core it's actually a pretty sweet story about a guy in love.  The music kicks ass, the comic book look of the film and video game references are sweet and it's surreal and quirky enough to appeal to affable weirdo's like yours truly.  Scott Pilgrim vs. The World  is a definite winner.         

         

I Love You, Iron Man, but Iron Man 3 left me cold.

This is close to how I looked at the end of Iron Man 3.

Let's face it: Iron Man has become Marvel's flagship hero in the world of Comic book films.  Due to Robert Downey Jr.'s lovably wise ass turn as the self proclaimed genius, billionaire, playboy and philanthropist, Iron Man has become a household name.  I loved the first Iron Man because it felt unique among superhero films and it was just a blast to watch.  The film's really about the man beneath the metal and his journey from irresponsible, self-absorbed weapons manufacturer to one man weapon deterrent making up for his past sins.  As Stark himself states, he wants to help the people he put in harm's way.  Even so he never loses the traits (including his narcissism), that make him who he is.  Iron Man 2 was a good follow up although I don't think it's as good as the first.  Iron Man is a wonderful origin story, which is a tough act to follow. Truthfully, I felt IM2 drags about halfway through as Tony basically wallows in self-pity.  The final action scenes were cool but felt too short although Mickey Rourke was a pretty cool Whiplash.  All in all, IM2 was an enjoyable sequel.   
The quality of the first two were part of the reason I was let down by IM3. The film's buildup was enormous given that it was the first post-Avengers Marvel film.  I'm sure a lot of people who didn't see the first two saw the third because of Avengers.  The trailers seemed to indicate that this would be the darkest of the IM films, showing Tony dealing with anxiety after the traumatic battle in New York.  The film's main villain, The Mandarin (played by legend Ben Kingsley), seemed like a truly brilliant and diabolical badass out to prove a point.  Part of my disappointment was the huge discrepancy between the tone of the trailers and the actual film.  I know that trailers often build up unrealistic expectations, but IM3 felt far off from what I hoped to see. 
I'm gonna jump to what was probably my biggest beef with the film; the revelation that Mandarin is not a shadowy terrorist mastermind but is instead a goofy British actor hired to play the part.  Not having read Iron Man comics, I was unfamiliar with Mandarin but the trailers gave me the impression of him as a Bane-like adversary; strategic, brilliant and downright menacing.  It seemed like Mandarin would hit Tony right where he lives and make it personal.  Maybe comparing him to Bane was a mistake, but anything would have been better than him being all smoke and mirrors. 
When this was revealed I'll admit that it was a surprise I never saw coming and in a film genre that can often be predictable, that's hard to do.  Even so, I was ultimately pissed at the tease of the whole thing.  What could've been an epic confrontation between hero and villain was completely shit upon for the sake of laughs.  After learning that Mandarin's just an invention of the film's real villain, a geneticist named Aldrich Killian who was snubbed by Tony years before and vows revenge, I knew how the rest of the film would play out and was completely pulled out of the story.  The fact that Killian orchestrates all this to essentially get back at Stark for blowing him off is kind of lame.  Some people have said it's the same basic plot from the Incredibles.  Maybe some people were able to go along with this twist, but once I saw it, I basically washed my hands off the whole thing.
Another aspect that bothered me was the intense focus on humor.  The film doesn't miss an opportunity to squeeze out as many forced jokes as possible.  Scenes which could've brought depth to Tony Stark's character by showing him overcoming his anxiety and finding his motivation again were simply torpedoed by jokes.  We get it; Tony is a witty, sarcastic guy who handles intense situations with humor.  By the third film though this fact has been firmly established and I feel that the reason a lot of people are getting into these films is simply to see what Tony Stark will say next.  Don't get me wrong, I like that Tony's a funny guy because that's his personality, but the humor shouldn't feel forced; it's more enjoyable when it arises naturally from the situations and doesn't undermine the epic-ness.  If I wanted to laugh my ass off throughout an entire film, I'd just pop on I Love You, Man or 40 Year Old Virgin.  To me, it's always more satisfying to see a beloved hero battling their demons, falling to the bottom of doubt and fear and pulling themselves back up, (definitely not talking about Dark Knight Rises).  Like IM2, I felt 3 dragged in the middle when Tony ends up stranded in the mid-west and has to rebuild his suit with the help/hindrance of a slightly annoying kid.  I get that these scenes were supposed to show Tony picking himself up from the absolute bottom, but after a while it got boring and never had the emotional intensity I would've liked.  Also like IM2, the brunt of the action is packed in at the end, making the film feel pretty uneven.     
The rushed ending of IM3 was another thing that stuck in my craw.  The most troublesome was Tony's narration describing how he has the pieces of shrapnel surgically removed and with it the mini arc reactor that kept the pieces from reaching his heart.  The question kicking me in the brain immediately was why he couldn't have that procedure back in the first film?  He could still have used the suit without the reactor in his chest since people like Rhodes are able to man his suits and yes, I get that the shrapnel in the chest plotline is from the comics, but it just felt like a slap in the face to everything that came before.  Another element that struck me wrong was how Tony activates The House Party protocol, summoning a small army of unmanned suits to help him fight Killian at the end.  Why he couldn't manage to activate that when Killian attacked Tony's home with helicopter gunships or at basically any other point in the film is beyond me.  I'm sure that fans have worked out explanations for this as well as to why he didn't remove the shrapnel earlier (especially when it was killing him in IM2), but it just hit me the wrong way.  Of course, if he activated the House party right away, the film would be about a half hour long, but still... 
In the final battle, Pepper Potts, who was kidnapped by Killian and subjected to Extremis, a super soldier serum that Killian uses to enhance himself and turn volunteers into human bombs, she falls off an oil rig but due to the Extremis survives, rescues Tony and kills Killian (ha!).  Tony then explains how he's able to stabilize the effects of Extremis on Pepper even though it seemed to radically alter her DNA.  I felt this ending was rushed and tied up far too neatly.  It's as if they simply ran out of time and just had to quickly fix everything at the end. 
I will say that IM3 is entertaining at several points, but it wasn't nearly on the same par for me as 1& 2.  Perhaps the reason this film felt like a misstep was because Favreau handed the reins over to another director.  The film had a very different feel to it and felt cluttered in areas.  I for one don't really have the desire to see anymore Iron Man films although I look forward to seeing him in Avengers 2 because I do really like the character.  I stand by my assertion that Iron Man is the best of the three; a grounded comic book origin that hits all the right marks with the right amount of humor, heart and epic-ness.                                        

Mavericks of the Marvel Universe

 Just a few of the Mavericks that make up the Marvel Universe.

I'll admit, I'm not nearly as familiar with Marvel Comics as with DC, having only a few random X-men, Thor and Spiderman comics in my collection.  Still, I thought I'd leave the DC Universe for a bit and share some very insubstantial thoughts about Marvel.   Rather than discussing at length anything pertaining to the comics, I'll focus instead on some of the Marvel films, particularly those which paved the way for The Avengers.  I'm pretty sure the first Marvel film I saw was the original Spiderman with Tobey Maguire back in 2001.  Back then I knew nothing about Marvel and nothing about Spiderman except that he had the powers of a spider (I was very perceptive, even back then).  Even so, I loved the movie and was instantly snared in the Spider-mania.  For a time Spidey even eclipsed Superman and Batman as Superhero numero uno.  Not being schooled in the Spiderman world I had no idea how Tobey Maguire stacked up as Peter Parker or how the film itself measured up; I just knew I liked it, plain and simple.  I liked Spiderman 2 even more, which deepened the story and had spectacular action sequences to boot.  Doc Oc has always been a badass Spiderman villain and seeing them duke it out on screen was the closest thing to a comic book coming to life.  It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that I was disappointed by Spiderman 3 (as I think most were), what with Peter's emo transformation and embarrassing Saturday Night Fever strutting down the street.  Sandman was pretty cool but I felt they completely wasted Venom, who's always seemed pretty hardcore in the comics.  Luckily, I thought The Amazing Spiderman reboot was really good.  I felt Sam Raimi's were getting way to campy and I liked how AS brought more of an edge to Spidey without sacrificing his sense of humor.  Andrew Garfield is more suited for the role as he looks younger and leaner which fits Spidey.  Garfield's Parker also felt less like a cliché geek and more like a withdrawn loner, which felt more relatable.  I also liked how they brought in Gwen Stacy first (played by the lovely Emma Stone), since from all indications she's really Peter's first great love.  Seeing Curt Conners become the Lizard was cool since the character was in the original Spiderman films but never got his villainous turn.  I'm wondering when The Green Goblin might appear since it seemed to be Norman Osborne talking to Conners in the post credits scene.  Will we see Gwen die at the hands of Green Goblin? 
I saw the first three X-men films and have to say the second's probably my favorite although the first one is close behind.  Singer did something very right in making us deeply care about this group of mutants who save the very people who hate and fear them.  I enjoyed X-men: The Last Stand but not as much as the first two.  I feel it started to get cluttered with too many mutants who aren't given their due.  I recently saw The Wolverine and will share my thoughts in depth later on.  I hate to say that I've read very few X-men comics although I'm deeply interested in the story.  Trouble is, as with most Marvel characters, I'm not sure where to start reading so I generally just watch the films which I know, gives me a very incomplete perspective.  I greatly enjoyed X-Men: First Class despite some glaring inconsistencies with the other films.  It just cool to see the origins of the first team. 
Then there are the string of films that ultimately gave us The Avengers.  First off we have Iron Man, which is not only one of the best Marvel films but one of the best comic book films of all time.  The fact that Favreau was able to take a largely obscure character and make him feel grounded and relevant in an all too familiar world of weapons and war was a monumental achievement.  The film stands apart from so many other comic films on a number of levels, one of them just being Tony Stark's character.  Although Stark undergoes a great change of heart in the film after his release from terrorists, he never loses his essential rebelliousness, which makes him Tony Stark .  In some ways, he's Marvel's equivalent to Batman, minus Batman's haunted streak; Stark's a brilliant, resourceful and determined DIY guy.  The film is grounded without ever losing the essential fun and wonder of comic book lore.  Iron Man 2 was a very good follow up but not nearly in the same league as The Dark Knight in my less than humble opinion.  However, I was severely disappointed by Iron Man 3 for a number of reasons, which I will explain in depth at another time.
After Ang Lee's forgettable Hulk film, The Incredible Hulk was a definite step up.  I liked Ed Norton as Banner and enjoyed seeing The Hulk not only battle the Army but also the Abomination.  Watching them tear up Harlem was awesome.  Even if the movie had sucked it would've been worth it seeing the after credits scene where Tony Stark confronts the distraught General regarding the Avengers Initiative.  Marvel established the post credits extra back in X-Men: The Last Stand but it was Iron Man that gave viewers the first hint of The Avengers Initiative when S.H.I.E.L.D Agent Nick Fury played by Samuel Jackson mentions it to Tony Stark.  From that point on, hardcore fans, including yours truly, dutifully remained seated after each new Comic book flick, and not just Marvel ones, to see if there was an extra scene. 
In Thor we got one in which we see Thor's eternally jealous brother Loki snooping behind the scenes when Fury shows Dr. Selvig the Tesseract.  Thor was another great smash for Marvel.  Like Iron Man, I didn't know much about Thor but the film brought the character to life for me.  What's great about Thor is how it shows the larger Marvel Universe while still taking place in the world established in Iron Man/Incredible Hulk.  Sci-Fi and mythology are blended very well in the film. 
Captain America: The First Avenger explores this connection even further, showing how Nazi occultists were searching for The Tesseract back in WWII as a means to unlimited power.  Chris Evans played the Human Torch in Fantastic Four, which I never really got into, but I think he plays a better Captain America/Steve Rogers, bringing humanity and humility to what always struck me as a one dimensional, somewhat outdated character.  Rather than being just an empty headed patriot, he has real heart and dimension.  More than any other character in Avengers, Steve Rogers represents us, the everyman.   Each of these films were obviously planned very carefully to compliment and connect with each other in a very cool way.  Seeing each of these character's origins play out in separate films and then come together so seamlessly in the Avengers was such a massive thing.  Although we'd seen groups of heroes in X-men and Fantastic Four, never before had four superheroes with their own movies come together so unforgettably in one film. 
Although these films had different directors, all of them, Avengers included, maintained pretty much the same internal consistency.  When we get to Avengers, we recognize the same world we've seen in the other films and pick right back up with our heroes.  What stands out in Avengers is how these diverse characters work off each other.  In most respects, each of these characters are societal outsiders used to working on their own (Captain America less so, but he's just woken up in the future so he's definitely out of place).  The core of the film really involves them having to put their egos and differences aside to find common ground and work as a team.  These characters are unique elements that when combined create a nitroglycerin explosion.  How they struggle to go about doing this is where the film's tension and humor comes from.  Of course, the epic battle in which they fight off the Chitauri Army over the skies of Manhattan is seriously awesome and I for one got chills seeing the Avengers standing in a circle with Chitauri warriors hanging from buildings all around them.
Again not being super familiar with the Avengers world, I didn't recognize the purple alien who turns around and grins in the post credit scene.  I learned afterwards that this is Thanos, who I can only assume wants to rule the cosmos like most alien villains.  It seems like he will pop up in a sequel although probably not the next one. 
Still, I'm excited to see where Avengers 2 goes as well as what Thor will be up to in The Dark World and what's gonna happen in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.  Pretty soon Marvel will move to the small screen in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D tv show.  Who knows, perhaps eventually we'll even see Spiderman get in on the Avengers Initiative.  Regardless of how things shake out, 2014 and '15 will be gargantuan years for comic book films in both the DC and Marvel Universes.  If you're like me (and are a fan of Fringe), then you know that there is indeed plenty of room for both universes on the big screen in the years to come. 

                     

When Blackest Night Descended

Green Lantern Hal Jordan battles the undead scourge in "Blackest Night".

I'll admit that although I'm a Green Lantern fan I'm not nearly as familiar with the GL world as with Superman or Batman.  This is something I've been trying to change as of late and so I've been reading essential Green Lantern stories, the majority of which are written by DC superstar Geoff Johns.  These include Secret Origin, Rebirth and the Sinestro Corps War.  Recently I re-read the epic "Blackest Night" storyline now that I know more about Lantern mythology.  The scope of the book is pretty enormous, pulling in just about every element and character from each age of DC comics and spanning the multiverse as well.  For those not familiar with The Green Lantern Corps the basics are that billions of years ago, the immortal, self appointed Guardians of the Universe recruited thousands of beings across the universe into a galactic police force harnessing the green light of willpower to overcome fear and bring order to the universe.  The Green light was one of seven other colors that make up the emotional spectrum of life that all beings are part of.  It's said that in the beginning of things there was only darkness and then came the white light of creation and the resulting battle between the two split the light into the seven colors of the spectrum, each embodying a particular emotion.  The Green Lanterns were the first Corps, drawing their power from the Central battery on the planet Oa, where the Guardians reside.  Soon other Corps sprang up, each harnessing the power of the other colors of the spectrum: the Sinestro Corps, led by former Green Lantern Sinestro and wielding the yellow light of fear, the avaricious Orange Lanterns, the hopeful Blue Lantern Corps lead by former Guardians Ganthet and Sayd, the enraged Red Lanterns led by Atrocitus, the fiercely passionate Star sapphires, and the mysterious Indigo tribe. 
Once we get to "Blackest Night", a war of light between these Corps has erupted across the universe, but on the planet Ryut, a black lantern battery grows around the corpse of the Anti-Monitor, a being who once tried to destroy the multiverse.  From this, the first of the Black Lantern's, a being known as The Black Hand rises from his grave and black rings spread out across the universe, summoning the dead from their graves to extinguish all life.  Thus begins Blackest Night, as predicted by Hal Jordan's predecessor Abin Sur before his death.  Not surprisingly, most of the story revolves around the concept of death and since most of the heroes, including Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, and most recently The Flash have all died at least once and been resurrected, death is a very present reality.  When the story begins Hal and the Flash, just recently resurrected after being lost to the speed force, are standing in front of Bruce Wayne's grave after he was supposedly killed by Darkseid's Omega beams.  Of course, years before Superman was also killed and brought back after fighting Doomsday and Wonder Woman was murdered by a demon and came back.  In the DC universe, death and rebirth are just regular days at the office.

Hal also experienced death and rebirth when he was infected by the entity Parallax, the living embodiment of the yellow light of fear, who fed off the fear Jordan felt after his hometown of Coast City was destroyed.  Fueled by fear, Jordan nearly destroyed the Corps, killed fellow lanterns and all the Guardians except for Ganthet and tried to rewrite history to prevent Coast City's obliteration.  After sacrificing himself to reignite the sun, he was brought back in Green Lantern: Rebirth.  In "Blackest Night" we see the sheer amount of heroes in this universe and others, who have died in battle.  Soon all over the universe, the dead are rising, among them former heroes seeking to kill those closest to them and recruit them into the Black Lantern Corps.  Among them are Martian Manhunter who died battling Darkseid and was buried on Mars, Arthur Curry a.k.a Aquaman, who rises from his grave on land and attacks his wife Mera and some characters such as Hawkman, Hawkgirl and The Atom with whom I was less familiar and therefore didn't know the full details surrounding those deceased who come after them.  Both Hawkman and girl are killed by resurrected versions of Elongated Man and a woman named Sue Dibney and then proceed to attack their friend The Atom.  The stronger the emotional connection to the deceased, the more susceptible the person is to attack.  Even the Guardians, the eternally icy founders of the Green Lantern Corps, become susceptible to the Black scourge.  Many epic battles ensue as Hal Jordan and The Flash along with other heroes fight off wave after wave of reanimated corpses.   
To make matters worse, Black Hand is able to summon a reaper like being called Nekron who is tethered to the Black Lantern battery which has been teleported to Coast City. Upon rising, Nekron first resurrects all the dead residents of Coast City then resurrects Batman from his grave (although it's not really his body but a clone), thus establishing an emotional connection strong enough to revert Superman and Wonder Woman back to a death-like state and turn them into Black Lanterns.  Hal and Flash are able to outrun the black rings hunting them down and severe the connection only to be attacked by Superman and Wonder Woman.     
In order to battle the merciless onslaught of these zombie hordes, Hal calls upon the leaders of the other six corps to put aside their differences and combine their light to overpower the Black Lantern power battery.  Even with the combined light of Hal and the other Corp leaders, it isn't enough on it's own.  Instead they need the combined light of beings from all over the universe and therefore send out rings to recruit more beings.  The Flash Barry Allen becomes a Blue Lantern because of his great hope while Aquaman's wife Mera is a Red because of her anger.  We see The Scarecrow recruited into Sinestro Corps because of his power to instill fear in others while Lex Luthor is recruited in the Orange Lanterns because of his lust for power.  Soon an army of Lanterns, including fellow Greenies Kyle Rayner and Guy Gardner, arrive and attack the Black Lantern Battery in order to shut down the connection.  It is then when Nekron murders one of the Guardians and summons The Entity, a being of living light responsible for all life in the universe, with the intention of killing it.  At this point we learn how the Guardians of the Universe lied about the origin of the Entity, claiming it originated on Oa when it really originated on Earth.  Page after page, the action simply intensifies as more and more Lanterns clash and finally combine their light to reproduce the white light of creation and bring all the dead back to life including Black Hand, severing Nekron's connection to the living world and ultimately destroying the Black power battery.      
For hardcore Green Lantern fans "Blackest Night" is about as epic and intense as it gets.  Existence itself it threatened across the universe, putting just about every living being directly in the crossfire.  The detailed history of the Corps and it's relation to the origins of the Universe is pretty damn fascinating.  When "Blackest Night" was going on I remember people talking about it like the Comic event of the century and it's easy to see why.  Geoff Johns really pulls out all the stops and pulls in just about every character from every corner of the DC world.  "Blackest Night" is a tour de force epic that any true Comic book fan can't afford to miss.                     

A Walk on the Weird Side in "Beyond the Fringe"

Olivia, Peter and Walter in ink form from "Beyond the Fringe"

I'm a big fan of the FOX show "Fringe," which like a lot of great FOX shows, was moved to the Friday night death slot and ultimately was cancelled before it's rightful time.  After four epic seasons, the show concluded it's run last year with a 13 episode final season.  For diehard fans such as myself, the finale was an emotional albeit a bit predictable ending, showing the Fringe team battling to save the future from the cold clutches of the Observers, beings from a ravaged future who travel back in time and steal our world.  Although it took most of the first season for me to get invested, once I did I was hooked into a wild ride that would take me into parallel universes, alternate time lines and into the acid fueled minds of the Fringe team.  Consisting of stoic FBI agent Olivia Dunham, the brilliantly cracked and institutionalized scientist Walter Bishop, his skeptical son Peter and lovely junior agent Astrid Farnsworth, the Fringe team investigates all manner of bizarre, inexplicable and often macabre phenomenon that exist on the Fringe of imagination: teleportation, pyro-kinesis, mind-control, genetic mutation and pretty much every other unexplained event that skirts the boundary between the possible and impossible.  At first people compared it to the X-files due to the investigative nature of early, standalone episodes.  Soon, though the show mutated into something unique, emphasizing the scientific side of these events.  Week after week I tuned in to watch the team investigate The Pattern, a string of seemingly unrelated scientific events cropping up one after another.  After season 1 the show really expanded with the main characters themselves being personally drawn into events that were connected in season long story arcs. 
Despite the eye popping visual FX's and mind bending scientific concepts, the show's heart lies in the distraught family unit of the team who find themselves at the center of a web of literally universe shattering secrets, all related to the pattern.  We find out that Walter and his former partner William Bell were in some way responsible for the majority of these Fringe events due to their morally questionable experiments back in the 70's and 80's.  Now it seems that other scientific mavericks have been continuing their work, using the world as a lab with terrifying consequences.  Over the first four seasons, the show twists and turns into stranger territory, revealing more info about the long term consequences of Walter's past actions.  From the start, the show was loaded with mysterious Easter eggs pertaining to crucial events in the Fringe team's shared past. 
The reason I'm writing all of this is because I recently read a collection of Fringe inspired comics called "Beyond the Fringe".   Here we get a look at nine stories involving the Fringe team.  The first, written by Josh Jackson who plays Peter, shows what happens to his character when he was erased from the show's timeline at the end of season 3.  Because of Walter's tampering with the fabric between our world and an alternate world when he opened a wormhole to the other side years before, Peter sacrifices himself to repair the mutual damage caused to both worlds.  This first story is truest to the show itself while the eight other stories are lighter what-if stories that could exist in alternate realities.  In one, we see Astrid Farnsworth as a spy working undercover for William Bell's company Massive Dynamic; in another we meet a version of Peter and Olivia's future child who has inherited cortexiphan abilities from Olivia and in another we see what would've happened had Walter joined his favorite rock band, Violet Sedan Chair back in the sixties rather than pursuing his scientific endeavors.  The book is a fun glimpse at just a few possible scenarios that could exist for the Fringe team in a multitude of parallel realities.  The beauty of a show like Fringe is the endless potential for reinterpretation of the characters and events.  The show demonstrates, perhaps clearer than many other Sci-Fi shows, how the smallest decisions can change the course of entire worlds for better and for worse and how we can use our imaginations and vision to perceive new realities that exist right on the Fringe of our dreams.                

Wrath of the Bat: "The Dark Knight Returns" Revisited

Batman returns with a vengeance in "The Dark Knight Returns".

After hearing actor Harry Lennix quote Batman's epic words to Superman from Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns to announce that the two titans would meet in the next Superman film, I figured it was time to return to the futuristic dystopian Gotham and see if it had changed since my last reading.  The four issue series released in 1986, is undoubtedly a masterpiece, usually mentioned in the same breath as Watchmen and Neil Gaiman's Sandman series.  It presented a startlingly dark vision of an older Batman in an era of anti-heroes and renegades.  For those unfamiliar with the story, it depicts a fifty-five year old Bruce Wayne who for ten years has retired from crime fighting in order to lead a "normal" life.  However, he finds that simply hanging up his cape is not enough; the shroud of the bat still haunts him as does his parent's murder, and like a dark passenger, compels him to go back out there.  This older Bruce is a bitter, restless soul who's still addicted to crime-fighting.  At the start of the series, Gotham is in the grip of a savage heat wave and gang related crime is making headlines across the city.  In addition, Batman's longtime ally Commissioner Gordon, in his seventies but as battle ready as ever, is close to a mandatory retirement.  Since he hasn't been seen in ten years, most young people in Gotham believe Batman to be just an urban bogeyman while others debate publicly on air the pros and cons of his one man war on crime. 
As more and more attacks against innocent people crop up, most the work of a gang known as the Mutants, it's not long before Bruce gives into the beast, puts on his cape and cowl and hits the streets once again with an arsenal of badass weapons and a mammoth tank of a Batmobile.  Soon mutant attacks are being thwarted and whispers of the Batman's return begin to circulate.  At the same time, Harvey Dent a.k.a Two Face is released from Arkham Asylum after 12 years of therapy with both his looks and supposedly his sanity restored.  Batman's other chief foe, the Joker has been comatose in Arkham for 10 years, but when Batman resurfaces, news of his exploits kick-start the Joker back to life in an excellent scene in which the vegetative Clown comes to and with a big grin spread across his face, simply utters, "Batman...darling".  It's not long before the Joker too is back on the streets, serving up more madness to draw Batman to him.  In DKR, Batman and Joker are shown in many ways to be equal sides of the same coin; two men who've made insane choices and are dependent on each other for a worthy challenge. 

Batman delivering a beat-down to his former friend Clark.

I've heard that when DKR was released it sent shock waves through the DC world because of the portrayal of a nastier, more vicious Batman who uses guns at times.  Apparently Frank Miller was called up by former Batman writers who told him that he'd ruined the character by showing him to be almost Fascist in his crusade.  Miller himself said that he wanted to show this older Batman as a really nasty curmudgeon, as a dirty harry type that nobody likes.  I see how this makes sense since Batman has always been a very dark and haunted character whose motivations are slightly twisted and insane.  These are the things that make him so compelling.  Ultimately he's here to help but his world view is quite bleak; unlike Superman, he doesn't have hope that things will get better but instead just fights to establish some order out of the chaos that fills so much of Gotham life, the same senseless chaos that stole his parents from him.  In many ways he's fighting to put himself back together, to make himself whole again like humpty dumpty after the fall and without the Batman persona, he knows of no other way to do that.  In this way he reminds me of Dexter Morgan, who watched his mother murdered when he was three and therefore develops the urge to kill people in order to feel whole again and retain order.  Batman may not be cutting people up, but the urge to put himself back together and regain control of his life mirrors Dexter.  Bruce Wayne is anything but a well adjusted person, but you'd have to be a bit crazy to take the law into his own hands.  Bruce's addiction to Batman was explored quite well in the Dark Knight trilogy, particularly in The Dark Knight Rises.  Whatever he does, he's a slave to the urge, personified by the Bat, forever compelling him to take action.
Frank Miller is also credited with destroying the Superman/Batman friendship that had been established up until that point.  In DKR, Superman is the epitome of the big blue boy-scout, working as a government puppet for President Reagan.  When Batman's exploits go to far, Superman is sent to stop him rocking the boat.  Although their past partnership is implied, they have radically different world views.  Miller states that given their different outlooks, these two guys would not like each other.  Bruce confronts Superman wearing special armor and with some help from Oliver Queen, formerly Green Arrow and a special Kryptonite arrow, Batman takes Superman to school in an epic beatdown.  At the time, this had to be a shocking moment in comics history.  It's easy to see how this gun-wielding older Batman with a death wish would have been a shock to past writers of the character.  A big draw of the book is the huge of amount of Batman's inner monologue which gives us direct access to his thoughts.  Of course in comics we usually always get the character's inner monologue, but reading the thoughts an older, more cynical Batman is a rare glimpse into the fractured psychology of the character.  The art of the book has a gritty, unpolished, almost film noir style that I think captures the dark essence of the story.  I've yet to see the animated film versions of DKR although I've got them in my Netflix queue.  Miller also wrote a sequel called The Dark Knight Strikes Again, which I haven't gotten a chance to read yet although I'm looking forward to seeing the story continue.  Overall, The Dark Knight Returns is worthy of the title "Masterpiece."   It's an in depth character study of arguably the most intriguing and complex superhero around and the futuristic world it takes place in is frightening grounded.  Miller's vision of an older Dark Knight is probably closest to how it'd actually be if a man took it upon himself to wage a one man war on crime for deeply personal and slightly twisted reasons.