Home Media Magazine - Agent DVD - July 2008 - (Page DVD15) SUMMER OF THE BAT BY CHRIS TRIBBEY at your heart out, Animatrix. The best-known anime collaboration to date may have met its match July 8 when Warner Home Video released its latest “DC Universe” title, Batman: Gotham Knight, on DVD, Blu-ray Disc and on-demand pay-per-view. “The look of the film ended up being something I couldn’t have imagined,” says Gregory Noveck, DC Comics’ senior vice president of creative affairs. “The idea was to bring in some of these really well-known Japanese animators, people who might have always wanted to work on Batman and never had the opportu- E M ‘KNIGHT’ MO nity, and just let them have at it. “They gave Batman so many new, different looks, and still kept him recognizable as Batman, and that’s what we wanted.” The six-part, ‘PG-13’-rated anthology combines the efforts of American writers (Josh Olson, A History of Violence; David Goyer, Batman Begins) and Japanese directors (Hiroshi Morioka, “Tsubasa Chronicle”; Yasuhiro Aoki, “Neon Genesis: Evangelion”) to chronicle Bruce Wayne’s transition from novice crime fighter to savvy punisher of evildoers. Bad guys both familiar and new pop up in this 76-minute presentation. “It was the best version I could possibly hope to see,” Olson says. “I’ve never seen a movie that so honored the script. It’s really exciting to see that it worked.” Writer Greg Rucker adds: “I’ve written some screen stuff before, but I haven’t written Batman for the screen before. That’s cool on one level. But I love those Alan Burnett-Bruce Timm-Paul Dini animated series. I thought it was revolutionary.” Long-time Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy offers nothing but praise for the latest addition to the Batman saga. “I love the appeal of their writing, the irony, the sense of humor. Those are great animated productions,” he says. “But you forget just how rich animation THE BUTLER DID IT BY CRAIG MODDERNO ichael Caine has been an international movie star for four decades, since exhibiting his rogue charm in the title role in the original Alfie. The two-time Academy Award winner for best supporting actor (for his work in Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules) reprises his role as Alfred, Batman’s butler, in the Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight. Agent DVD: Did you ever think some day you would see films about the comic books you grew up with? Caine: Goodness, no. But in retrospect A CHAT WITH THE DARK KNIGHT’S MICHAEL CAINE Agent DVD: How does the late Heath Ledger’s performance as The Joker differ from Jack Nicholson’s portrayal in 1989’s Batman? Caine: The first Batman film was more of a comedy, and Jack played the character like a charming maniac. Having worked with Jack in Blood and Wine, I can tell you first hand what a brilliant actor he is. Heath doesn’t try to duplicate Jack’s performance in part because our film is a dark drama. There also are more characters in our picture for Heath to terrorize than Jack’s character had. Agent DVD: How much do you participate in DVD extras? Caine: If they ask me to talk on the set and just give me some tea, I’ll tell them stories, but I don’t know what’s coming out. I suspect there’ll be a special feature on Heath. Agent DVD: Why do some comic book films work and others don’t? Caine: The same reason most films don’t work: weak story, poor performances and a been-there-done-that series of special effects that make the movie seem like a video game. That isn’t just my opinion as someone in the industry, but that of the so-called comic book geeks, who really know it makes perfect sense. Comics always had strong stories, clever villains and flawed heroes. They were easy to read, especially for kids, and extremely well-illustrated. After Batman Begins I suddenly discovered I got younger. (Laughs) Being in that film got me a lot of new younger fans who’ve never seen Dressed to Kill or The Man Who Would Be King, for example. I jokingly complained to director Christopher Nolan after the first movie about a line I thought was appropriate for the picture that I didn’t get to say. After we finished shooting he gave me a gift, which was a gold-encased bell with the inscription ‘Dinner is served!’” 14 AGENTDVD JULY 2008 AgentDVD.com http://agentdvd.com
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