I think it's a real possibility and wonder how badly that would hurt the brand.
Okay, so we all know Christopher Nolan is a genius. He revolutionized comic book movies with "Batman Begins" by putting the hero in a real world setting and forcing out a logical plot while incorporating as many elements as possible, from the source material.
While fans saw three different men portray the Dark Knight on-screen, and arguably only ONE of them looking to be a potential Batman (I'm talking about Kilmer here) Bale was an outstanding choice. With his dark features, intense acting, big build and on-screen enthusiasm, viewers were able to finally witness BRUCE WAYNE the way he was meant to be seen.
For many fans, Keaton remains the true Batman. I can't totally agree or disagree. Michael Keaton is a munchkin who was too old to take on the role and was essentially loaning his voice to an avatar. It could have just as easily been CGI to tell you the truth. The only part of Keaton that viewers got to see-that was REALLY Keaton and not excess rubber and foam...was his mouth. While he made Batman menacing, and gave the character tremendous presence, Keaton physically, was a piss-poor choice for the role.
With Kilmer came the man who looked asthetically, closer to the part of Bats/Bruce, however poor writing and directing took the movie in a drastically different direction. Batman no longer was intimindating or threatening. Bruce Wayne seemed more lost in thought than dark and brooding. Finally we saw that bed-wetting-liberal George Clooney take on the role. Man he sucks.
Point is, when Bale took on the title character in the relaunch, viwers were blown away by the movie, especially him. The second movie was just as epic, and had a legendary antagonist which lead to a legendary performance by the late Heath Ledger. Bale was "solid" was one reviewer wrote, but I felt there was something missing.
Now a year and a half later, we await an announcement from WB that will let us all in on the fate of the franchise. From my understanding, there is no definite return scheduled for Bale or Nolan (Bale is contractually obligated for a third but I'm not convinced).
Should Warner Bros decide that they need to move ahead, and cannot secure Nolan and Bale to return, what would then happen? It's obvious Warner Bros would replace the two and commence production on a third installment. However, who would they pick to direct it? I would actually be more worried about the director than the star. Bale did a decent job, but I think we can trade up easily.
Then again, it would irk me badly to have a new player step in for what will likely be the last installment in a trilogy. If it's a supporting character that isn't so hard to get past, but the main man? A "meh" performance by Bale with his punched-in-the-throat-voice is one thing...a Monday Morning QB (is that how the expression goes) stepping in and us trying to convince ourselves it's Bad-Tempered-Bale is a whole other thing.
So what do you guys think? Would you be able to get past it and enjoy a third installment if either or both Bale/Nolan were replaced? And if Bale is gone, who do you think would be the man to replace him?
Image from Wikipedia
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TheDurkinKnight
11/26/2009
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