Nothing else to be said, really. I couldn't summarise the differences in approach any clearer than that. Unfortunately I couldn't find an image of the new Two-Face to demonstrate the similar horrific contrast between the visions of Nolan and Schumacher, but, really, I don't think I need to:
Tommy Two-Face condemns himself. Jacobim Mugatu's keyboard-tie would be embarrassed to be seen tied around his neck. No matter what Nolan put together it couldn't have been any worse than that.
So, yeah, brilliant. Christian Bale wasn't perfect (his throaty Bat-whisper got a bit much at times), but he's the best Batman yet, and Heath was absolutely magnificent. I could have watched an hour more of him, at least. The Joker's always been my least favourite Batman villain, but not anymore. And Gary Oldman, bless him, managed to turn in another brilliantly understated performance as Lieutenant Gordon. Judged on past performances, Oldman would've been right at home in Schumacher's Gotham, but thankfully he dialled himself down and played Gordon to perfection.
What I loved most about Dark Knight was how real it all felt. And how straight the actors played their roles. No ham at all. It was, well, besides that sonar mobile phone Google Maps deus ex machina, it was all so believable. And daaaaaaark. Batman as it should be.
Anyway, mostly in response to the comment thread on my earlier Dark Knight post, I wanted to put up the collection of campaign posters that I've put together. You can't post images into the Blogger's comments, so I thought I'd use that as an excuse for a new post (this one) and, if it likes, the poster conversation can continue here.
Huzzah! (Click for high-res version. Obviously.)
I love the collage image, but my absolute favourite is this one:
And not just because the head's been cropped. The power, the menace, the suspense... ooh, it send shivers down my spine. And, unlike certain other posters, it sends shivers for the right reason. :)
UPDATE
Collection of promotional posters above updated to include new additions. I'm unsure if some are from different countries, which may explain certain irregularities (such as the four different logo treatments), or even if some might be fan art (the more gruesome Joker ones), but for what it's worth, there they are.
UPDATE 2
I found myself wondering the other day, do I hate Schumacher's Batman films unfairly? Have I created a memory more awful and repugnant than the actual films themselves? If I was to rewatch them now would I actually find that they're really not so bad and just a bit of fun? And then I came across this lowlights reel from Batman and Robin on YouTube, and my wonders fell dead to the ground. I couldn't make it past six minutes. How indescribably odious.
Posts
I think however that this is more a case of getting carried away than of deliberate intent.
ReplyDeleteAnd I think what we have here is the deliberate intention to give the impression of getting carried away.
By my reckoning there are four sets of two posters and one set of three,
By mine there are two sets of two posters, one set of three, and four individually themed posters; which in your image seem to have been rather arbitrarily paired up.
And you're right - there is no way in hell that the average moviegoer is going to come across all of them by chance. Especially when you factor in all of the Joker-modified variations.
So I think the goal was to make each image (or pair or trio of images) as powerful as possible, and capable of selling the film all by itself. Then, the two or three posters each average punter encountered would a) do the job, and b) be different enough to sell the film as the complex, layered work of art that it is.
(They could afford the luxury of this subtlety IMHO because each image features the logo from "Batman Begins"; which, let's face it, would be a good enough selling point by myself.)
And of course the very existence of 20+ poster images gives the dyed-in-the-wool fans something to eagerly note, discuss and collate in the weeks and months leading up to the film. (That's over and above all of the websites, videos, treasure hunts and other viral marketing goodies that went into this campaign.)
Of course, I was ready to buy my ticket as soon as I knew the film was coming, so I deliberately avoided much of the viral campaign. But - and this is my point - there was a lot of it to avoid, and "scattershot" is hardly the weaponry metaphor that I would use. Try Project Thor.
Decide on a key message and stick to it.
Sometimes, you can't 'stick to it'. You can try and keep things on track; but events have a way of getting out of control, and if you don't bend, you break.
Again, I don't think it's accidental that the campaign reflects the theme of the film.
Although, the key message is there - it's that 'Batman Begins' logo on every different design.
I appreciate what you say about the chaos reflecting the themes within the movie, but I think you can see that intent coming from the Joker's defacing the original series of posters.
I see two different messages being conveyed by the two examples of chaos, though.
I think that the original series of posters reflects chaos in the sense of people's actions having complex and unpredictable effects.
The Joker's defacements of the posters reflect a different kind of chaos - the kind desired by those who want to watch the world burn.
I wonder if there is a relationship between painting your face white and death..?
ReplyDeleteBrandon Lee: 'The Crow'..
Same white face.. same crazy performance.. same 'last film' pre death..
Jack Nicholson: White face Joker = Film Career death..
Marcel Marcou: White face now dead..
"And I think what we have here is..."
ReplyDeleteOh yeah? Well, I think they got carried away in their deliberate intention to give the impression of getting carried away! What do you have to say to that? Huh? :)
Anyway, yeahhh, maybe. It may have ended up that way, as an unintended consequence, but I'm still not convinced it would've been a deliberate strategic direction established from conception. I guess we'll never know for sure. Although, if you're arguing for restraint on behalf of the marketing department, I think the strongest argument comes from the fact that in this sea of posters there's not a single one of Two-Face! How extraordinary is that?! An iconic key-player completely absent from the promotion machine. It's like leaving one of your best players on the bench when the team heads out onto the court. How could marketing stand for that?!
I could be wrong, but to me it suggests that they wanted to keep that one up their sleeves and let it play out for the viewer in the cinema. An attitude I think is all too rare, if not non-existent, these days. (Was it JMS who back in the day kept the name of a surprise guest star out of the opening credits so as not to spoil the surprise?) Anyway, with Two-Face, it worked! I actually wasn't sure if we were going to see him in Dark Knight or if they were setting him up for the next film, and so when his transformation occurred it was genuinely a surprise. Not one I'm sure Schumacher ever considered keeping. :)
"...which in your image seem to have been rather arbitrarily paired up."
Well, it hadn't occurred to me that there might be singles as well as duos and trios, so I tried to find what links I could; tenuous as they may be. In the case of the collage/painting pair, they seemed, you know, craft-like, and with the other two it was purely about the composition with the Batman image arcing up and to the left, while the Joker arced up and to the right. I've since come across another two images, so I've updated my collection accordingly, allowing for singles.
"Try Project Thor."
I'm not so sure. Project Thor sounds like it'd be hard to avoid, and yet I, like you, successfully managed to evade nearly all Dark Knight advertising.
"Although, the key message is there - it's that 'Batman Begins' logo on every different design."
Good point.
"The Joker's defacements of the posters reflect a different kind of chaos..."
I like what you say, and, yeah, it'd be great if there actually was this level of thinking behind what we've seen.