Matt Reeves’ Batman movie “inspired” by The Dark Knight Trilogy because obviously dude
Matt Reeves has come out and said what’s obvious: he’s inspired by the Dark Knight Trilogy. But, really, who at DC isn’t? Even if it’s a reactionary, “no, we aren’t like Nolan” response, that very negative space is in of itself an inspiration. That said, Reeves clearly means he *is* inspired by the films. Is that a good thing, though? I don’t know. First blush is to respond “oh, cool”, second blush is “yeah but do something new” you know? All in all, it’s the middle of the summer and news is slow, I actually imagine this is just director-on-director masturbation. Frottage, if you will.
cbr:
As his time spent helming the modern Planet of the Apes franchise draws to a close, a lot of attention during the latest entry’s marketing campaign has been focused on Matt Reeves’ next project, The Batman. The film will mark the Caped Crusader’s first solo adventure since Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy concluded back in 2012, and in a new interview, Reeves has detailed what he intends to implement from Nolan’s iconic run within his own vision for the brooding character.
“What I love that [Nolan] did was that he took the genre seriously,” Reeves told Yahoo Movies. “What studios are willing to make at the moment is a very, very narrow band of films. What I discovered is that this genre has the potential to be about something more. You can use the metaphors of the genre to talk about [a lot]… I think that the metaphors of both of the franchises [Batman and Apes] enable you to tell stories that have deep emotional resonance. That’s actually what excites me about it.”
The director then commented on the enduring aspects within the fantasy genre that tend to grant timeless narrative exploration. “It’s interesting because I was obsessed with both [franchises] as a child, and yet there is something potentially very adult about what you can explore under the cover of that fantasy,” Reeves added. “That is what draws me to it, and that’s what I’m excited about.”
Before Reeves officially signed on to direct The Batman, the filmmaker encountered a lengthy negotiations process with Warner Bros., with talks even stalling at point leading many to wonder whether he would fall off the project entirely. The two sides eventually came to an agreement — and the studio is now reportedly excited for his vision — but the experience also seemingly gave Reeves an appreciation for how Nolan was able to navigate the waters of making a massive movie while also maintaining his auteurist voice.
“I think the other thing that I really admire in what [Nolan] did was knowing what it is to make a big studio film,” Reeves concluded, “which often can fall into that sense of committee filmmaking where there’s an anonymity to the point of view of the film.”