First let’s talk about the Nolan Batman films thus far. Back in 2005 Batman Begins came out and revitalized Batman’s live action movie career, the previous Batman movies by Burton/Schumacher had really lowered the bar for Superhero movies, so when Begins came out It was really hard to tell if it would succeed considering how poorly done the previous Batman films were. The movie was a success and with the ending leaving on a possible sequel and introducing the Joker in this type of Batman movie, the stakes were raised dramatically.
Chris Nolan is a director that has no intentions on doing sequels, you have to convince him that the story is worth telling in a sequel, it has to surpass the previous movie naturally and the script must to be top notch. Then in 2008 we got The Dark Knight and it blew everything else that came out that year out of the water, it was not only a good comic book superhero movie but it was a good movie in general. The movie was a phenomenon when it came out, some will say it was only because of Heath Ledgers death and personally I highly disagree, everyone in this movie brought there A-game. A spade is a spade and a great movie is a great movie you can’t call it any other way.
Now Chris Nolan, the crew and cast have come back to finish the trilogy off. Christopher Nolan did not have to come back to do a third film, remember he’s a director that values story over cheap money grubs, he’s a director with class and has proven himself on many occasions not just with the Batman movies. If The Dark Knight Rises will be a good movie or not remains to be seen, the movie has a lot of hype and expectations riding on it, already the movie has had an equal amount of negative and positive feedback based on set photos, trailers and the 6 minute prologue. Superhero movies and trilogies in general are known for disappointing third movies, but if indeed The Dark Knight Rises is good it will prove that if you give a known franchise to a notable director one who values the story and characters then studio’s don’t have to get involved and ruin a project.
See with movies a lot of studio executives like to get heavenly involved in a big budget movie project, they hire a director and push their ideas on him or her and the movie can turn out be a disaster. But with Nolan Warner Brothers is just letting him do what he does best, which is make good films. He gets to work with the same camera crew guys he’s always worked with and not some random people the studios would normally push on a director, he’s allowed to be artistic and make the movie he wants to make. They have a lot trust in him so much so that he’s even producing the next Superman movie.
So I have no doubt that if TDKR does prove to be a great movie that others will want to follow in it’s lead and produce better material as a whole.
Now on the Marvel Studio’s side of things it’s a little different. Every since Ironman 1 was a hit they’ve been planning an Avengers movie. Incredible Hulk, Ironman 2 (although it was a let down), Thor and Captain America have all does something new with Cinema, they have thus far created a shared universe on screen, connecting each movie to the other. If Avengers is a hit then it will prove a shared universe can come together and create something to remember.
But like The Dark Knight Rises Avengers has a lot riding on it, so far the trailers have had mostly positive feedback and some who have seen the early screening are saying it’s pretty good. But it does run a risk of being very gimmicky, some have compared the latest trailer to Michael Bays Transformers movies and honestly I can see why. I am not the biggest fan of Joss Whedon but I will not deny he’s produced some valuable works; the fact that Marvel Studios is putting trust in this guy makes me happy. Joss has written superhero comics so he’s familiar with how things work. The way I see it this could be the greatest superhero movie since Pixar’s Incredibles or could be the just another brick in the wall, I’m hoping it’s an experience to remember.
Arguing over which will be better is pointless and really unproductive, Marvel vs DC arguments rarely go anywhere it’s almost as bad as the PS3 vs Xbox 360 debates, listen I don’t mind friendly competition but lets be honest these discussions are better left for 12 year olds and not respectable grown men and women. I am going to see both and I'm sure both of these movies will bring something new and exciting to the table, both are highly anticipated and both will help improve CBMs as a whole. Opinions are opinions and facts are facts. I say we all just wait and see how they turn out instead of bickering over which will suck or be awesome before they even hit theaters.
With that being said have a good day and enjoy your summer full of comic book movies.