yagathai | Thoughts on recent films

I enjoyed the Batman reimagining quite a bit, but isn't it a little soon? I mean, The Dark Knight did just come out last year. Also, I guess it's part of the whole "re-imagining" concept, but I don't know why they decided to set it in Victorian London and change all the character names. Gordon should be called Gordon, not Lestrade. Plus what's up with Batman Holmes using a gun? I dunno, some elements of canon just shouldn't be messed with. I did appreciate that they dialed up the homoerotic subtext between Batman Holmes and his sidekick Robin Watson to 11 -- it added depth to the character too often filled by cliche MY PARENTS ARE DEAD boilerplate.

ETA: I did appreciate what they did with the Catwoman character, though. Absent any of her usual cat-themed gimmicks, they trusted the intelligence of the viewer to recognize that the international jewel thief and adventuress with whom the mysterious detective hero has a contentious and turbulent romantic relationship because they find themselves on the opposite side of the law was, indeed, the character that we know and love.

It was a big week for remakes, as I also saw the 3-D remake of Dances with Wolves. I thought setting it in the Ferngully universe was an interesting stylistic choice, especially considering the very similar plotlines of both films, though ultimately it distracted from the whole ironic pro-colonialism moral. Plus I think that the print that the local theater got was tinted wrong, probably while the film was developing -- what were obviously meant to be members the black native race came out all blue-colored. It's OK, though. The other visual cues, like the guy in a loincloth with a bone through his nose and a giant Zulu-type spear tipped me off about the mistake.