Frank Miller is responsible for two of the most seminal Batman comic book stories of all time, the somber, futuristic ‘The Dark Knight Returns’ and the reinvention ‘Batman: Year One’ both of which helped wipe away the campy reputation the character had been stuck with since the 1960s. The character was, seemingly, permanently cast as a creature of the night, an interpretation that has influenced nearly every take on him since, including the movie adaptations.
But don’t tell Frank Miller that. The comic book writer can’t stand ANY of the films.
“When people come out with movies about characters I’ve worked on, I always hate them. I have my own ideas about what the characters are like. I mean, I can’t watch a Batman movie. I’ve seen pieces of them, but I generally think, ‘No, that’s not him.’ And I walk out of the theater before it’s over.”
He can certainly be forgiven for thinking that about Joel Schumacher’s splashy ‘Batman Forever‘ and his reviled ‘Batman & Robin’ but many fans still enjoy Tim Burton’s two films, ‘Batman’ and ‘Batman Returns.’ And most fans revere Christopher Nolan’s recent trilogy of Bat films. But don’t count Miller in among them.
“It includes all of them. I’m not condemning what [Nolan] does. I don’t even understand it, except that he seems to think he owns the title Dark Knight. [laughs] He’s about 20 years too late for that. It’s been used.”
Miller himself directed the adaptation of his comic book ‘Sin City’ and the sequel ‘Sin City: A Dame To Kill For‘ which opened Friday. He also directed the poorly-received film version of the classic comic strip ‘The Spirit’ in 2008.
One can only wonder what a Frank Miller-directed version of Batman would be, but presumably it would be dark and heavy on visual effects (and scantily clad women). And we can only assume that he’s already primed to hate ‘Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice.’ (He already seems to have a grudge against Superman, judging by the way he’s handled the character in the past.)
What do you think? Is Miller the authority on the Caped Crusader? Or is he simply seeing not used to seeing his take on the character?
Source: Cinema Blend
