The Dark Knight: A Wishlist

2005 saw the return of the Dark Knight in the definitive film version of Batman. Fans rejoiced, and critics heaped it with well-deserved praise. Having not been a fan of the previous 4 Batman films, Batman Begins was a revelation, finally, they got it right. Due to the critical and commercial success of Begins, Warner Brothers has gone forward with a sequel tentatively due for release in the summer of 2008. Here is a little personal wishlist I put together that I think are keys to keeping this franchise strong.

1. Christian Bale - Perhaps second only to Christopher Reeve in terms of perfect comic book movie casting. He IS Bruce Wayne, he IS Batman. He not only looks the part, he's got the acting chops to match those looks. Apparently he is signed for 3, but if he decides not to don the cowl beyond that, I would recommend not making any Batman films (at least for a little while).

2. Christopher Nolan - he's on board for this, but lock him in for more. His hiring was a bit of an eyebrow raiser, but upon reflection was genius and almost as crucial as Bale's casting. Note to big studios: Further reflection also notes that the best superhero movies have been directed by non-bignames who began their careers with small independent character-based movies. See: Superman (Richard Donner), X-Men (Bryan Singer), Spider-Man (Sam Raimi). Also note, the loss of the director can be catastrophic. See: X-Men 3, Superman 3 & 4. Like Bale, if Nolan doesn't wanna do another Batman, you might as well not make another one at all.

3. _NO_ Sidekicks - Do NOT introduce Robin, Batgirl, or anyone else that could take the focus away from Batman. The movie is called The Dark Knight, not The Dark Knight & Friends.

4. Gary Oldman / James Gordon - Another of the crucial support beams of the first movie. I envision the new Batman series following Gordon and Batman's friendship and Gordon's ascendency throughout the police ranks culminating with him becoming the Commissioner somewhere down the line in maybe the 3rd or 4th movie.

5. 1 Big Villain and 1 Supporting Villain - one of the pitfalls of the first four Batman films were too many villains, and too much focus on the villains. Batman Begins struck a perfect chord with 1 major villain and 1 supporting villain.

6. Hans Zimmer & James Newton Howard - they teamed to do the magnificent score for the first film. Will they come back? Let's hope so. Their score succeeds greatly in the area of emotional depth, it underlined the tone of the movie without overpowering it. Also, they are masters of their craft and knew how to build the tension by building the beats of the music. It's hard to explain, but if you give the score a listen to on its own, its very apparent. Personal favorite tracks from the score: Eptesicus, Molossus, Lasiurus.

7. A Strong Script - perhaps the biggest strength of the first film was its script. They took note of everything that didn't work in the previous Batman films, and took notice of what made Batman work. They did the definitive film origin of Batman and set the seeds for future films.

8. Lose Katie Holmes - you know what they say, everyone can be good in the right role. Rachel Dawes was not the right role for her. She was clearly miscast, she had no chemistry with Bale, but thankfully her role was small enough and competently done enough that she did not ruin the first film.

9. Great Supporting Characters - the casting of Morgan Freeman & Michael Caine lent an air of nobility and credibility to a "comic book movie." Comic books aren't just people with super powers flying around and beating the crap out of each other, and the casting of these well-known and well-respected actors may have gotten some people to see and enjoy the film who probably would normally not have seen such a film in the first place.

10. Not so choppy action scenes - As exciting and well done as the Begins' climax was, the action was just too shaky and choppily-edited. Honestly, Spider-Man 2's train action sequence made Batman Begins train sequence look amateurish by comparison. Of course, the action in Batman is more grounded in reality and could never be as high-flying as a Superman or Spider-Man film, but it would be nice to pull the camera back a little and tone down the shakiness.

I have a similar wishlist for the Fantastic Four sequel, but because it's so small, it doesn't warrant another post, so here it is in full: Don't Make One.