With it's Ellen Page starring sequel arriving on September 29th, 2017, and that I just re-watched it, I thought it would be a good time to talk about Joel Schumacher's 1990 haunted psychological thriller Flatliners. The premise was simple but effective; a group of medical students experiment with near death experiences to see if the stories of lights, and tunnels, and voices told by other near death survivors holds any water. What they discover are very personal experiences that bring secrets/demons of their pasts into their physical reality. It stars Kiefer Sutherland (Lost Boys), Kevin Bacon (Friday The 13th), Julia Roberts (Erin Brockavich), Oliver Platt (X-Men; First Class), and William Baldwin (Backdraft). This is my favorite film Schumacher ever made and his best looking one. He was backed up by cinematographer Jan De Bont, production designer Eugenio Zanetti, and set decorator Anne Kuljian and together they created a very cool, very alive, stylish film that had touches of gothic horror, crime noir, scenes straight out of a comic book, and washed in lighting that almost rivals some of DePalma's or Argento's work.
Flatliners was one of those films that I watched repeatedly on cable and also rented a fair number of Silence Of The Lambs had ridden in on the wave of slick adult horror *cough cough* THRILLERS, like Jacob's Ladder. Despite the genre label, Flatliners had a fair amount in common with Frankenstein and dealt with some very heavy spiritual issues. Regardless of what it was called, the important thing is that it's a smart, well made movie that offers a very satisfying experience. It has strong characters, some decent scares, high re-watchability, and ultimately a decent pay off. Schumacher had already proven to be an adept film maker with a good eye. Tonally his films were pleasing, even if they weren't always my thing. The last film of his I enjoyed was the every-man-at-the-end-of-his-rope hit Falling Down, starring Michael Douglas and Robert Duvall.
times. It came out after the 80s slasher boom had run out of steam and with the run away success of
Schumacher would betray me though. Stab me in the heart through my back even, when he made the shit-tastic Batman and Robin and Batman Forever. Yes, stellar set design, amazing lighting, yes, yes. But. There is not one other good thing to be said about these films. At all. From the casting on these films were utter mistakes, culturally tone deaf, and killed Batman in the cinema for years. Schumacher wanted to do a wild, campy, fun take on The Dark Knight that combined the feel of the two previous Burton films, with the colorful world of the 60s TV show. As far as I'm concerned, the Burton films were already a big step in the wrong direction and Schumacher just wheeled the whole franchise off a cliff. It wasn't because Batman had landed in the hands of a bad director, it was because a good director didn't respect the character enough-or perhaps have enough faith in the character to further his career in a notable way, so he decided to have fun and collect his check.
Returning to Flatliners after so many years really made me sad for what could have been. Take the
film and imagine Chicago as Gotham City (Nolan shot his DK trilogy there). Think about the themes and techniques Schumacher employed; there's touches of horror, science fiction, action, mystery, redemption, fear, heroism...If you change the plot to fit a Batman story, Joel Schumacher would have defined the character for a generation or more. It could have been a small, claustrophobic, mystery that took the character seriously, while embracing all the elements of the comic (the other-wordly, sci-fi, super human aspects) that Nolan flat out ignored. Ras Al Ghul could be hundreds of years old in that version, instead of just a man, you could imagine gods and monsters coming out of the wood work, and even an alien savior. Baldwin would have made a good Batman/Bruce Wayne. Sutherland could have pulled off a Joker to rival Ledger's performance, Roberts would have been a far more comic accurate Vicky Vale, Bacon would slay as Scarecrow, and Platt would have been a great Penguin.
I love Nolan's films, but while they are top notch Nolan films, they're only so-so Batman films, because he doesn't embrace the of the levels of the character. Which is where Burton and Schumacher fail as well. They only adapt Batman at a surface level and never dig into the depths of what makes the character so weird, and fun, and dark, and scary, and absurd. Did Snyder capture any or all of that in the new DC cinematic universe? I think we have to wait for Justice League to really judge. I have high hopes and really like Affleck as Bats. What's even more exciting is the fact that Matt Reeves will helm the solo Batman film and I base my excitement solely on Let Me In, which isn't just a great remake, but a great film in it's own right. He gets characters, atmosphere, and horror, in much the same way Schumacher did with Flatliners.
I have frigging loved the two previous Arkham games and the next one sounds amazing! IGN's got the details, just follow the link. Three things to be excited about; Deathstroke, Black Mask, and the Batwing!
The Bat team continues their winning streak with Batman and Batgirl #s 16, the last issues before the big finale in Batman 17. I can't afford to follow all the Bat titles that tie into DotF, but I've tried to keep up each one and everyone's doing a bang up job.
The three I do follow (these two and Morrison/Burnham's Batman Inc) have been flat out amazing. Snyder and Simone are crafting pure gold from these old characters and showing that after more than 70 years Batman can still be as shocking and exciting as ever.
The Joker has been a pure terror, more horrifying than we've ever seen him. With a sick new Leatherface make over and an ever twisting evolution of his traps, few writers have ever made such good use of the Clown Prince of Crime. And as a long time Batgirl fan and always a little pissed over the Killing Joke, it's been a thrill seeing a fully abled Barbara Gordon go toe to toe with Joker.
Now it's all waiting for #17 and and Batman Inc #7...
I'm late getting around to talking about this, but I just read the first part and I'm incredibly excited. Snyder and Capullo have been kicking ass since the new 52 launched and their horrifying approach to the Joker is something to behold.
If this is half as good as Court of Owls then you do not want to miss out!
A precursor to Batman, The Shadow was a dark and mysterious crime fighter who used several disguises and a network of agents to wage war on the underworld. With a look that just flat out defined cool, The Shadow was one of the most influential and popular of all the pulp heroes. The Shadow has been featured in every medium except animation (as far as I know.
I was first exposed to The Shadow one Christmas when my Aunt Brenda got me the Denny O'Neil/Michael Kaluta graphic novel that had The Shadow fighting Nazis.
The Shadow captured my imagination in a way that only Batman, Treasure Island, and Frankenstein had before.
Dynamite Entertainment's new reboot of the character is set back in the pre-World War II world where he belongs and is as violent and action packed as any fan would want.
The new series holds up well against the old DC Comics series.
There's been rumors of a new movie for a few years, but I'm not holding my breath. I was certainly not knocked out by the Alec Baldwin version from '94, not that it was totally awful, just a bit too tongue in cheek and goofy in parts. Baldwin could've made a terrific Shadow had there been a better script.
When I was drawing my earliest comics as a kid, I ripped off the Shadow more times than I can remember.
Released this year was the sick 12" Sideshow Collectible action figure.
No secret I'm a huge Batman fan and one thing I really love is his gallery of rogues. In my top ten is this sumbitch-Killer Croc. Over at Ultimate Comics, in Chapel Hill, I saw Croc's new action figure and my son helped me get my jaw off the floor after seeing the staggering $50 price tag. Damn, I thought we were in a recession. Ok, I didn't pay much less than that for my deluxe Swamp Thing from last year, but that's Swamp Thing! Oh, and they had the new Mr Freeze as well...
I've been dying to see The Dark Knight Rises since the closing credits of The Dark Knight rolled and now we're down to the last couple of weeks! So in honor of impending awesome I'm putting up my ten favorite Batman stories!
What? No Frank Miller in the top ten...sorry. Year One and Dark Knight Returns are in the top twenty. (I pretty much enjoyed Dark Knight Strikes Again for the most part, but All Star Batman sucked). The Shadow of the Bat; The Last Arkham is worth hunting down as is the two parter Detective Comics which introduces Cornelius Stirk who made a return in Kevin Smith's great Batman; The Widening Gyre.
Flatliners was one of those films that I watched repeatedly on cable and also rented a fair number of Silence Of The Lambs had ridden in on the wave of slick adult horror *cough cough* THRILLERS, like Jacob's Ladder. Despite the genre label, Flatliners had a fair amount in common with Frankenstein and dealt with some very heavy spiritual issues. Regardless of what it was called, the important thing is that it's a smart, well made movie that offers a very satisfying experience. It has strong characters, some decent scares, high re-watchability, and ultimately a decent pay off. Schumacher had already proven to be an adept film maker with a good eye. Tonally his films were pleasing, even if they weren't always my thing. The last film of his I enjoyed was the every-man-at-the-end-of-his-rope hit Falling Down, starring Michael Douglas and Robert Duvall.
