A quick spoiler alert for anybody who hasn't seen The Dark Knight Rises yet (what are you thinking?), as Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been discussing the ending of the film with US talk show host, Jimmy Kimmel.
"It's pretty awesome, right?" says JGL of his character's big reveal at the close of the film. "I was a fan of those movies before I ever met Chris or did Inception… he's such a great storyteller and filmmaker. It was such an honour."
And when asked whether John Blake (oh, go on then... Robin) might be set up for his own spin-off movie, Gordon Levitt was quick to downplay the possibility...
"I don't get to decide those things," he began. "I don't think it's necessarily a set-up. I think it's a great ending for that trilogy. If you go back to Batman Begins, he's talking about how Batman is more than a man. He's a symbol, and a hero can be anybody… that's a theme that runs throughout the trilogy."
However, it's not a theme that impresses director David Cronenberg, who has been busy getting his grouch on to Next Movie about the amount of praise being lavished upon Nolan's Bat trilogy.
"I don't think they are making them an elevated art form," he said of Nolan's take on the comic books. "I think it's still Batman running around in a stupid cape. I just don't think it's elevated. Christopher Nolan's best movie is Memento, and that is an interesting movie. I don't think his Batman movies are half as interesting, though they're 20 million times the expense… they're mostly boring."
"A superhero movie, by definition, you know, it's comic book," he continues. "It's for kids. It's adolescent in its core. That has always been its appeal, and I think people who are saying, you know, 'Dark Knight Rises is, you know, supreme cinema art,' I don't think they know what the fuck they're talking about."
Tell us what you really think, David...
Source: Collider
What do you think of Croneneberg's comments? Tell us, below!
Comments
gonzoBen
Aug 16th 2012, 9:54
Cronenwrong.
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Heisenberg
Aug 16th 2012, 9:59
I can understand someone not being into the Batman trilogy, but David your last movie was the ultimate lifeless f*****g borefest that was Cosmopolis.
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mattburgess
Aug 16th 2012, 10:26
Cronenjealous. He's just trying to make noise in media because his films make none. How the mighty have fallen. What a shame.
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fortunesfool
Aug 16th 2012, 10:32
Never a truer word was spoken. Well said Mr Cronenberg. They are indeed, boring, vastly over-rated and the weakest of Nolan's filmography.
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AMNZ1
Aug 16th 2012, 10:36
cronenberg like all of us is entitled to his own view and opinion but i don't agree with him. nolan gave the batman universe substance. right from "begins" you're invested in batman and his world. nolan took the film version of the story somewhere where it's never been. getting inside the characters psychology was a great move. he presented a different tone than past batman efforts and gave us something with incredible depth. movie audiences are different these days than a couple of decades ago. more picky and a little more sophisticated. a lot of us want that realism with the escapism but we want it to end on an optimistic note. nolan gave us the batman we deserved. viva christopher nolan! you're the man.
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ChrisWootton
Aug 16th 2012, 11:01
I'd disagree with Cronenberg on the first two.. not so much with Rises though.
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ash333
Aug 16th 2012, 11:15
He's talking about it being raised up to be more than just a movie by critics and fans alike, which is an argument I think you can make about all three films to some extent but none more so than 'Rises'.
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fraserwalker
Aug 16th 2012, 11:29
I sort of agree with Cronenberg. Although I loved The Dark Knight Rises, I really do think it's the weakest of the trilogy. The Dark Knight is the one that should be getting all the cinematic praise (even though I still prefer Begins over them all.) And he is totally right about Memento being Nolans best work to date. However, I also think Cronenberg is maybe just a little put out that all of his recent efforts have kind of gone unnoticed =/
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bencobra
Aug 16th 2012, 11:53
I think Cronenberg's comments are applicable. It is certainly not a art form and are in essence just comic-book adaptations. The final film is in fact extremely boring in parts. However, the previous two are hugely entertaining.
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PatBateman11
Aug 16th 2012, 12:03
David Cronenberg is a sub-human slug. That is all. BATMAN RULES!
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blankitsan
Aug 16th 2012, 12:36
i love cronenbergs movies even the least succesful ones i m also a huuuuuge batman fan and i not talkin about the video games or the movies but the comic books themselves which i m still reading manically at the age of 34. He sound a little as if hes hatin on the comics industry which isnt cool at all BUT he does have a point. I think super heroes stories are like modern fairy tales for small and big kids alike. Many Cronenberg movies are like that as well dark but eccentric and surreal. These Batman movies are indeed overrated and grounding Batman to a pseudorealistic image is an artistic point of view but i dont think it is a wrong way to look at the comic book hero and the movies are timely but not timeless. Batman is not a symbol of american capitalists and GI soldiers against terrorism, he is a superhero, an ideal uber mann without superpowers but beyond the limits of a real person and real life itself. A man dressed as an animal jumping from roof to roof and battling monster-like villains without any guns IS a concept for children and its appeal speaks to the child within us which isnt a bad thing at all, its escapism and its an art form. But Batman is not all serious, he is dark and violent, but he is also gothic, surreal and yes even campy. All these contradictory elements form Batman.
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blankitsan
Aug 16th 2012, 12:38
But i DO think its a wrong way* sorry for the typos :p
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McSerious
Aug 16th 2012, 12:49
I understand his point, but the way he goes about it is unprofessional and disrespectful.
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SiMan
Aug 16th 2012, 13:06
So what are movies then? Artforms or pure entertainment? - I personally find some of Cronenberg's work boring too, so I don't like his overall opinion of comic book movies and find it a bit disrespectful, but I agree Rises is Nolan's weakest film. And i wonder if Levvitt would take up the role of the Bat if they offered it to him. It looks like Warner Bros are going along the reboot road, but with Begins and TDK beings generally regarded as almost perfect, its a heck of a tall order for someone to follow them any time soon.
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Ali1748
Aug 16th 2012, 13:18
Cronenberg just comes across jealous in that quote.
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rickymartin
Aug 16th 2012, 13:57
The man that made Existenz critcising a director for making a comic book movie? Hmm right. Sounds like pure jealousy from the man whos last good movie was way back in the 80s and even then they themselves were adaptations. If the Batman films are still JUST comics on screen, then what is The Fly? Everyone has their opinion but sometimes the professional thing is to maybe keep it to yourself. Unless you have a movie to promote . . . oh wait. Keep quiet Mr Cronenberg, you're about as relevant to the movie industry now as the old blue and red 3d glasses. A big hit in the 80s that no one cares about now.
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FBSCornwell
Aug 16th 2012, 14:18
I preferred the third out of the three. I thought the second was pretty horrendous and was far easier to poke fun at that the finale. Let's face it, somehow Nolan managed to introduce Robin to the franchise without a single person in the cinema flinching. Now that's an accomplishment!
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FBSCornwell
Aug 16th 2012, 14:18
And by flinching, I meant cringing.
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dgefuller
Aug 16th 2012, 14:24
Not sure why that Cronenberg comment was added into this article other than to incite a bit of fanboy rage... I would never have expected Cronenberg to be impressed by Nolan's work, especially not Batman. Although Cronenberg bores me with his early work, full of juvenile exploitative violence. And what is Scanners if not a super hero film? Or Nightbreed for that matter... And comic books are just for kids, eh? I see them as a viable medium for storytelling akin to film and the novel; they're not all about spandex. Let's not forget History of Violence. A graphic novel. That Croneberg adapted- into a very good film (one of two of his I like). What is high cinematic art? The exposition of human suffering and detachment from the rest of civilisation? Confirmation of the futility of human endeavour? An exploration of hopelessness? Well you and Von Trier can keep your body horror and gang rapes, Dave, I'll stick with Batman. Pretentious hypocrite.
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bencobra
Aug 16th 2012, 15:21
I really think Cronenberg is just bored by all the hype this film has attracted. To be perfectly honest I am sick to death of hearing and reading about it - this is not just because I didn't like it. I loved The Dark Knight but couldn't believe how many Joker impressions I heard from grown men in pubs. I think Nolan is a good director but feel it is far too early to be labelling him a genius.
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McSerious
Aug 16th 2012, 16:08
How's it too early? He's almost certainly the most consistently excellent director working today... Arguably ever.
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writerdave87
Aug 16th 2012, 16:47
A History of Violence is a comic-book film...
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bencobra
Aug 16th 2012, 16:57
@McSerious. I have to disagree with your statement as I think the DKR is poor in comparison to the two other movies in the trilogy and Insomnia is awful. Inception was decent but is hardly worth viewing more than once. However, that is only my personal opinion and don't get me wrong I will be amongst the cinema-goers for Man Of Steel and whatever he decides to direct next.
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StevePotter
Aug 16th 2012, 17:09
I'm offended by the implication that things meant for kids are automatically not "pure cinema art". Ratatouille? Up? How to Train Your Dragon? Sleeping Beauty? Beauty and the Beast? Come on, man.
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majorken
Aug 16th 2012, 18:19
I kind of agree, that the Batman films are not his best work.... But they are still f*****g amazing and goes to show how exceptional Nolans work is.
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Ali1748
Aug 16th 2012, 19:07
Is it really that crazy to call Christopher Nolan a genius when his line of work is Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, The Prestige, The Dark Knight, Inception and The Dark Knight Rises ? I mean that's a pretty impressive line of work for a man who's only in his early forties.
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hatie123
Aug 17th 2012, 3:05
Wow, I totally don't agree with David Cronenberg. To say it's just a comic book movie and that they are just for kids is stupid. Comics are apart of many of our lives every since we were kids. He is just jealous that his doesn't have the success Nolan has. I personally loved the Dark Knight Trilogy. It all comes down to great storytelling!
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Monkeynuts30
Aug 17th 2012, 7:09
I'm disappointed Cronenberg would consider the thematic material of Batman to be escapist or adolescent. The very reason Batman is DC's most successful, enduring character is because his story is so relatable. We all have to deal with issues of loss, identity, morality and choice. The Batsuit et al. are window dressing; not the heart of what Batman is.
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Monkeynuts30
Aug 17th 2012, 7:13
Oh, incidentally, I don't think a rebooted Batman needs to try and live up to Nolan's trilogy. It's only purpose will be to serve as material for a JLA film; all it has to do is introduce the Bat and establish him in the same universe as Supes, GL, Flash etc. As long as it is entertaining and quite obviously builds towards the Justice League then purpose served.
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