George Clooney and Matt Damon on Ben Affleck as Batman

George Clooney as Batman

As reported in Empire Magazine via Hollywood Backwash George Clooney was asked to comment on Ben Affleck's casting as Batman saying...

"I am the least qualified person to comment on anyone playing the role of Batman since I so terribly destroyed the part. I tend to look at it like this — let’s just see what the movie is before everyone starts beating him up, he is a smart man, he knows what he is doing."

Anyone who own's the DVD of Batman and Robin will have seen the included documentary, with George's humorously self depreciating reflections on how he ruined the Batman franchise, however, in my opinion, of all the things wrong with the film, George really wasn't one of them.

In a 2011 interview with Total Film Clooney had this to say about his turn as the Batman...

"Batman is still the biggest break I ever had and it completely changed my career, even if it was weak and I was weak in it. It was a difficult film to be good in. I don’t know what I could have done differently. But if I am going to be Batman in the film Batman & Robin, I can’t say it didn’t work and then not take some of the blame for that."

I'd have to agree with him (except about him being weak in the movie). His career certainly didn't tank after doing the film. If I remember rightly it was a real stepping stone for him from TV fame to Movie Star fame. Not to mention, after years of Christian Bale's Batman, it's so nice to revisit a Batman who you don't need a translator to understand what he's saying.

Also according to his Total Film interview George was really excited to land the role of Batman. It's kind of a shame the film's legacy means he's remembered as the worst Batman when really he wasn't. Kind of like how Ryan Reynolds gets a bad rap for Green Lantern even though he wasn't the reason for that movie's failure.

Ben Affleck's long time friend Matt Damon some time ago also commented about Ben's casting to the Times of India saying:

"I think it will be great. It will be terrific. I know there are a lot of people grousing on the internet. I just think it’s kind of funny. You know, he’s not playing King Lear. It’s Batman! [That's] certainly within his skill set. If anybody saw ‘Argo’ or ‘The Town,’ and all the work he’s been doing lately, it’s way more nuanced and interesting and way more difficult than Batman! Batman just sits there with his cowl over his head and whispers in a kinda gruff voice at people. Bruce Wayne is the more challenging part of the role, and Ben will be great at that."

One thing that puzzles me is that many die hard Batman fans also share the same sentiment... Bruce Wayne is the more challenging part of the role. I have to disagree.

What's difficult about playing a millionaire playboy with a tragic upbringing and a dark secret? I'm not saying it's a walk in the park to play but it's hardly the stretch from reality that Batman is.

Not only do you have to convince everyone that dressing as a giant bat is a valid crime fighting outfit that's going to scare criminals, you then have to come across as a force of nature and a brilliant detective... brains and the brawn all in one person.

On top of that, no one is going to see the movie to see how Ben play's Bruce Wayne. Something as inconsequential as 'nipples on the Batsuit', or a gravelly, almost unintelligible voice can kill anything else that was really good about that version of Batman.

You know, the first time Ben's on screen as Batman everyone is going to be dialed right in waiting to hear him speak. I really hope he's been getting advice from Kevin Conroy, a fan favorite Batman voice from many animated incarnations of Batman. Listen to what Kevin had to say about Christian Bale's Batman voice in the video below.

Kevin Smith

Kevin Smith recently commented in one of his podcasts that he'd seen the Bat suit that Ben will be wearing (with Ben in it) and, knowing what a Batman fan he is, praised it highly saying it's like nothing you've ever seen in a movie yet.

It's said that Kevin elaborated further by saying the suit was inspired by comic book artist, Jim Lee's version of the suit (however this was bleeped out on the podcast recording). Which I take to mean it's probably a grey and black suit more like the comics and not likely the blue and grey suit (which looks great in a comic but a little cheesy in live action).

Anyway, getting back on track, if the suit's as good as Kevin says it is, all the pressure on Ben will be for the voice. Get that right and it'll all be down to the script and Ben's acting ability.

I suspect this article has become something of a ramble that's lost much of it's focus so I'll finish with this...

I liked George Clooney's Batman. Of all the Batman films so far, Batman and Robin is the one that is most friendly to a younger audience who didn't get to grow up with Adam West's Batman like I did. It's silly and over the top but it's also a lot of fun. However it's still not Batman.

Christian Bale wasn't even my Batman, though everything around him was very much how a Batman movie should be in my head.

After a few months of absorbing Ben's casting as Batman I'm no longer nervously optimistic. I'm just looking forward to seeing a new Batman that hopefully is different to any on screen Batman I've seen thus far.

Comments

TV Series Review: Velma (2023-2024) No Spoilers

A s a kid, Scooby Doo cartoons were something I used to watch fairly regularly. I wasn't a diehard fan but it was one of the better, of the many, cartoons I used to watch. I had heard about the new animated series, Velma , around the time of its release but it wasn't coming out on any streaming service I was subscribed to so it went off my radar pretty quickly. Quite by chance I signed up to a streaming service so I could watch DC Entertainment's, The Penguin, and noticed Velma was on that platform. I figured I may as well get my money's worth out of the subscription. I did know that Velma, herself, had been race swapped for the show, which made no real difference to me, though I do prefer classic Velma if pushed to choose. However the first episode of season one was a real shock to my expectations! No where had I heard this series was skewing very much into adult humor and themes. I was expecting something more along the lines of the original Scooby Doo show. Instead I

TV Series Review: The Office - Australia (Prime Video) (2024) No Spoilers

W hile I'm a late comer fan of The Office, only watching after the original and USA versions were both available on streaming services, I did watch them in the order of release i.e. I watched the U.K. version first. Now, with the release of the Australian version of The Office on Prime Video, I think it's best to approach watching this new version understanding that it is not those shows. More importantly, remembering the US version was not well received or as popular as it has become since streaming became a thing. I personally remember people often saying the original version was better, back in the day. Of course, the Australian version has analogues for all the same characters you're familiar with from the previous versions, with their characteristics, so you can easily see who is the Aussie version of each character. While there are actually 13 different adaptations of the series worldwide, I was surprised to learn this is the first time the boss has been female. No

Movie Review: Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023) No Spoilers

I f you're like me and didn't go to see Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom in theatres you made the right choice. For context, I loved the first Aquaman movie . It's one of my favorites from the Snyder/DCEU era. It is a relatively well made adventure story, with some fantastic world building, amazing visuals, and included some commentary on environmental issues as well. Despite having, mostly the same creative team, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom comes across as a film that couldn't decide what it wanted to be, in terms of a sequel. On the one hand it wants to showcase the cool, fun, wisecracking, but bad ass, rock'n'roll version of Aquaman (Jason Momoa) with another rollicking adventure. On the other it feels like someone said it had to be epic with potentially world changing stakes so Aquaman would have to do 'King Shit' and be all serious, navigate deep sea politics, and generally try to be a responsible heroic good guy that he is when he's not being

Optimus Robots, Self Driving Cars and Buses - Tesla's 'We Robot' Event and the Evolution of Optimus

Tesla Optimus Robot Serving Guests. Image: Tesla O n the tenth of October Tesla held their 'We Robot' event, which I guess is the new incarnation of their previous Tesla AI Day annual event. There were three much talked about reveals, the driverless taxis, a driverless bus, and Optimus robots moving around the event, fully interacting with people 'on the ground'. Tesla Driverless Taxi. Image: Tesla While it was cool to see so many driverless taxis, that you could get in and experience for yourself as they drove around the Warner Brothers lot, and the driverless bus was something of a surprise reveal nobody expected, my attention was on Optimus. Tesla Driverless Robovan. Image: Tesla It was in September of 2021 that Elon Musk first announced his plan to create an affordable, humanoid, domestic robot, that would eventually be in homes worldwide. That vision was underlined with a person wearing a robot suit, that wasn't as well received as Elon may have liked, despite

If I Could Talk to the Animals... Maybe AI Can Make This a Reality?

W e've always been able to talk to animals, and it's sometimes said, jokingly, you may have a problem if they start talking back, but what if they could? One thing that AI is good at is processing data and spotting patterns, common elements, and highlighting relationships which makes it ideal for all kind of research, so why not studying the language of animals? It seems like science fiction but so were real-time language translators not too long ago. What if you could understand exactly what your pets are saying to you and speak back to them (through a real-time translator) in their own language? While were not there yet, advancements in AI learning systems seem to suggest that the idea is no longer as far fetched and fanciful as it used to be. To be honest, using AI to decipher animal communication accurately, is something that never crossed my mind but I'm truly excited to know that this research is being done. Watch the Bloomberg Originals video, Could AI Unlock the S

Trump's 2024 Election Win Will Change Everything - At Least I Sure Hope It Does!

Trump by Leonardo.ai & TET A s an outsider looking in on the US 2024 election, right up until election day, it is beyond my belief that the election continued to be a 'close race'. It is even further beyond my belief that Trump won, without question. Even if the Democrats wanted to claim the election was rigged somehow (which I'm sure Trump was gearing up to do had the outcome been different) it would be hard to make the case, beyond a recount. There's no slim margin here. Trump clearly won. While I would've preferred a Blue win, I at least got one outcome I was hoping for. A clear winner on election day. If I could give the Democrats some free, unsolicited advice for the next election. Stop targeting the opposition as if they're somehow selfish, evil villains. That's not how political parties work. At the end of the day the all represent the public. The people. The everyday citizen who you're trying to convince that you have what it takes to meet t

Is AI Art 'Art'? The Say NO to AI Art Movement, and Why Human Artists Will Adapt

AI Art No T-Shirt by TET Also available on other items . Right now there is a big debate over not just whether AI art is 'art' but whether AI's are actually ripping off the work of actual human artists, without their consent, to create their images - particularly images 'in the style of' specific artists. From my own observations this debate started to get more traction when artist's signatures began appearing in the output of AI Art image generators. Is It Art? Cool Froyd the Cat Sketch by TET. My style is very much influenced by classic Disney and WB character styles. To get some clarity on how real human artists work (of which I am one)... we, that is all of us... take influences from the art that has come before. i.e. whatever artists we like, have studied, seen etc. we are influenced by. It shows up in our work, intentionally or not. If you really study my own cartoony art style you'll see I'm heavily influenced by early Disney and Warner Bros cart

TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

Search This Blog