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Post by TG Barighm on Jul 26, 2016 14:12:49 GMT -5
They show him capturing the Joker
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Post by TG Barighm on Sept 20, 2016 18:18:32 GMT -5
Gotham is back. Looks like Lucius Fox is going to be more of a recurring character. It also looks like the show's producers are getting tired of waiting for Ivy's actor to grow up because she just got grabbed by a villain that can "force" aging on his subjects, but just for a second before she fell out of the shot. I won't be the least bit surprised if she returns as a fully grown character.
The idea that Barbara might be the new "Joker" is gaining more merit. Her character has begun to adopt his mannerisms including his trademark "bend over and laugh into your face" laugh.
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Post by acathala on Sept 21, 2016 9:38:11 GMT -5
Oh dear god no. She can't even be as menacing as Cesar Romero's Joker. I bet you thought I was joking when I brought that one up
The news about Ivy is depressing but not surprising. Apparently we're also getting a proto-Croc as well. Seriously, just give the show to the people who make Arrow and it's spin-offs. They know their material. The current creative team at Gotham are just annoying me now. Every time I think they're finally getting it fucking right, a couple of episodes later they do something bone-headedly so stupid I want to fucking throw something at the TV.l
And there's the problem. Unlike Marvel Cinematic, DC doesn't seem to have unity of vision of their universe. Gotham is produced by a different team to all the other DC TV shows. The films in post Dark Knight trilogy are also produced by different people to the TV people, though given the best of the new films has been average, that's a good thing.
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Post by TG Barighm on Sept 21, 2016 14:17:14 GMT -5
Actually, the Croc guy was shockingly good. For this show, anyway. He was all wrong, of course, being a big black guy with some plates on his back, but he got the "feel" right. He even spoke with the right voice, had the right stature, and even moved right. He reminded me exactly of the Croc from the animated series. Didn't look right, but the actor CLEARLY gave it his all to do the character justice.
Of course, this show being how dumb that it is, he died about 30 seconds later by walking into a truck.
As usual, Penguin is the only reason I still watch. He had some great scenes this episode.
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Post by TG Barighm on Sept 24, 2016 15:02:05 GMT -5
Er...so it turns out it isn't really a secret that Ivy is being replaced by a fully grown woman (hey, I don't read production blogs), although it's kind of odd so many villains are rising to prominence before Bruce Wayne has shaved for the first time. I get the reasons. Ivy is a seductress and a 14 year old girl not so much. And very illegal.
Granted, Maggie Geha does look a lot closer to a young classical Ivy, but she needs to look somewhat similar Foley. I probably shouldn't care so much. Everything about Ivy so far has been very poorly done. I'd rather they just drop the whole prequel thing and go full-scale Batman if they're that eager to bring famous villains as we know them to the show.
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Post by TG Barighm on Sept 27, 2016 20:04:28 GMT -5
New Ivy is hot. And my fears were unwarranted. Make-up did an amazing job making her look like an older version of Foley. She even killed a guy with a dead plant. Major cool points for that.
Mooney FINALLY has a good scene. Kind of a lame explanation given in that scene, but paired with Penguin's acting, it came off surprisingly well. Actually, her acting for this season has been much better overall. Desperate villain willing to do anything necessary works and feels a lot better than her overconfident crimelord persona, probably because she is coming off as the Mad Hatter at this point.
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Post by acathala on Sept 28, 2016 16:53:18 GMT -5
I doubt I'll ever like any scene with Fish unless it's her death scene. Ivy is a symptom of a wider problem. The writers don't seem able to tell a story beyond a few stories. I strongly suspect that they don't plan beyond a season. Hell perhaps even half a season. Also rushing to a climax. Ivy had a decent origin story in the comics. Here it looks like oops a bad man made me evil and superpowered. It feels like they want supervillains now and fuck the origin story. It's a shame if they do decide to rush to Batman. The boy playing Bruce has been consistantly good, and I'd like to see his journey to becoming Batman. It's a crying shame I don't think the current creative team is good enough to do it. Honestly I think that we could do a better job.
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Post by TG Barighm on Sept 28, 2016 18:55:13 GMT -5
It's Warner Bros. I'm not the least bit surprised they can't get a TV show right. Like I said before, the only reason Harry Potter worked so well is because they handed a lot of the production off to a British studio. And many shows actually do write with one season in mind in case it doesn't work out. Don't wanna waste precious development dollars planning ahead (a major mistake, fyi, as I have since learned it's important to know how the story ends. You can't foreshadow or plan important emotional scenes if you have no idea where the story is going). But I wouldn't blame the writers too much. Corporate meddling and director egos is almost always responsible for ruining good scripts. That said, I bet we could do better. Unlike most people, I'm not interested in forcing my "vision" upon the story, but advancing the story as originally designed as much as possible, because hey, the original story was good enough. Why mess with it? I consider it a challenge to match the original tone as much as possible (well, the animated series' tone anyway because I liked that one, so I guess I have some bias, heh). And, of course, I'd need a Batman lore nerd. You'd hate Gordan this season. He's now trying to play a devil-may-care bounty hunter. It's awful. He has even adjusted his delivery to sound more like a Brooklyn street cop or something. He's actually worse than Mooney now. Thankfully, Penguin has had a lot of screen time this season. He's still by far and away the best actor on the show and the writers know it.
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Post by acathala on Sept 28, 2016 20:51:48 GMT -5
The thing is, I look at other superhero shows, and most of them get it right. Particularly galling when I see other DC shows that are good. Arrow for the most part has handled the Green Arrow material superbly and respectfully. I look at Gotham, and I cry. It's awash with so many missed opportunities. Batman before he became Batman hasn't really been explored indepth as much as you'd think. It could have been glorious. The sad part is I'll probably keep watching it, like I did with each successive Highlander movie. Oh so they managed to ruin Gordon now? He's one of my faves from the comics when he's written right. Too bad, I thought his performance was okay up to last season. I don't mind them making changes to minor characters like Firefly, but when they dick around with major characters, it devalues the show. Side-note, you're the first person to call me a nerd! That may be because I'm a lot snarkier in RL.
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Post by TG Barighm on Sept 28, 2016 21:41:02 GMT -5
lol. Really? Only nerdy when no one is watching on the internet? Heh, no biggie. Totally calling the kettle black, you know.
Yep. Gordon sucks now. At one point, when Vale is bugging Gordon to join him in his investigation, he replies with this deep and thought provoking response:
"Yeah, all right."
I can understand why he said it, but knowing Gordan's character...yeah, just all wrong.
And I actually figured Batman's youth hasn't been explored. He is so inexorably tied to the Joker that you can't really have a long term storyline featuring Batman without him, and since Joker doesn't seem to exist except when Batman is Batman, you can't really have a young Bruce Wayne story. Not unless the story isn't really about Bruce. I mean, really, Bruce isn't really all that interesting. From what I know, he just spent the whole time training.
The "good" DC shows were done by Berlenti Studios and are headed by some guy named Nutter. Gotham is being created by Primrose.
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Post by acathala on Sept 28, 2016 23:28:45 GMT -5
Oh I'm so going to have to disagree with you there. Bruce CAN be interesting when he's properly written. It's really some of the writers' fault for neglecting that side of him. Here's the part where I'm going to be contraversial. The Batmanverse could survive the loss of Joker. Bats has a great Rogues' Gallery roster, both for Gotham and his Justice League duties. There are many fine Batman stories that don't involve Joker. Don't get me wrong, I like Joker stories, but when people just focus on joker stories, they miss out on other good Batman stuff.
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Post by TG Barighm on Sept 28, 2016 23:55:00 GMT -5
Oh, I agree on that second point. I found Batman's relationship with Two Face more interesting because they were friends (in the animated series, anyway), and of course there was also Harley and her "not quite a villain when the Joker wasn't around" story. And hey, Catwoman, Ras, and the others.
I guess that I just haven't seen any really good young Bruce stories. He was training and that was it. Older Bruce stories, though, were interesting.
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Post by acathala on Sept 29, 2016 4:35:41 GMT -5
Personally I liked the Al Ghul family. They're basically the family figures Bruce rejected. You have Ra's who would like to be Bruce's father and have him follow into the family business. Talia is the spurned potential wife, but will always be connected to Bruce, due to their love child Damien(he became the newest Robin, and is my favourite new addition to the canon.). The original plan for Harley was to let her reform, and get better mentally in the animated series.
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Post by TG Barighm on Oct 3, 2016 15:44:48 GMT -5
Well. That was funny. I mention Mooney feels like the Mad Hatter. The next episode the Mad Hatter appears.
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Post by acathala on Oct 4, 2016 19:18:25 GMT -5
Yeah well I think that whilst not Batman's biggest threats, Mad Hatter's certainly one of the more creepy of Batman's Rogues' Gallery.
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Post by TG Barighm on Oct 4, 2016 19:25:03 GMT -5
The guy they cast for him is definitely on the creepy side. I've seen him before, but I forget where. He actually comes off a lot like Penguin, but more goth.
And I just saw an interview where Affleck explained why he thinks the Batman vs. Superman movie got poor reviews. He blamed it entirely on the serious tone.
I really hate it when these people don't take responsibility for poor movies. I get the tone criticism, but that's not really a problem. That's just how DC comics are. There's nothing wrong with it. The problems were everything I suggested earlier: poor pacing, weird story choices, and an excess of lore crammed into a single movie.
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Post by acathala on Oct 5, 2016 11:40:11 GMT -5
The serious tone wasn't the problem. I like the serious tone of the comics. For me they just tried to do too much too soon. I'm also fairly the director was pandering to his own ego. The plot was over complicated, and I know people who haven't fully understood all the stages of Lex's plan. It was just poorly written and edited, coming across as fanfiction written by a Frank Miller fanboy. This was a missed opportunity.
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Post by TG Barighm on Oct 17, 2016 22:12:34 GMT -5
I'm more convinced than ever that they're trying to speed up Batman's appearance. In tonight's episode of Gotham, they made a point of noting that Bruce looked taller. Indeed, in just a week since the last episode, Bruce has suddenly matched Gordan in height and is much taller than Selena. Of course, despite their best efforts not to show Bruce's shoes, you could tell he was wearing tall shoes. There are multiple scenes where other characters magically grow taller than Bruce from shot to shot.
If Bruce was getting taller, there would really be no need to make a point of noting it. It's obvious...unless they NEEDED Bruce to be taller and wanted it to be less awkward when they finally reveal the reason why: because he's going to become Batman sooner rather than later.
This might not be so bad if it happens after the season ends and then they imply a few years pass before the next season begins and THEN Batman appears. At least that's reasonable, but this show has never been reasonable. They're going to force it. You watch.
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Post by acathala on Oct 18, 2016 19:10:22 GMT -5
I'm so angry I don't trust myself to write.
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Post by TG Barighm on Oct 19, 2016 18:00:39 GMT -5
And now I think that I figured out WHY Bruce would become Batman sooner rather than later: he needs to take down the Court of Owls, but he has legally agreed not to investigate them. He needs a way to do it without using anyone that can be connected to him.
He needs a way to hide his identity. An alter ego, perhaps?
He needs...BATMAN!
Cue a year one scenario where he fumbles his way through various mishaps before finally settling in as a proper crimefighter. Maybe Alfred doesn't know he is doing it, but Fox does and gives him various gadgets to protect him which unintentionally prove to be too useful to give up and lead to the real gadgets used later. He might not even be Batman that whole time. Just a guy in a costume until he figures things out. Heck, he might even meet Ras and Talia during that time and somehow THEY do something that inspires the eventual Batman persona.
It's so butchery and disrespective of canon that I'll bet that's exactly what will happen.
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Post by acathala on Oct 19, 2016 19:42:16 GMT -5
Right. Calmed down after some challenge map therapy. Smallville had a lot of faults but it showed you could take a superhero up from the origin, to the point where they become the hero. We had, don't know if you agree, a good Bruce Wayne who I was looking forward to seeing him gradually become Batman. The actor earned and deserved to make that journey. However we are going to robbed of that chance by a creative team I've frankly lost faith in. I think they're out of ideas, and this is why they're doing it. FYI, I'm sure that Talia was conceived in the 1960s, not that it matters since the Lazarus Pits keep her young and the hottest of Batman's love interests. Yes I prefer Talia to Selina.
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Post by TG Barighm on Oct 19, 2016 20:44:38 GMT -5
Gotta thing for dark hair, huh? Too many fair haired lasses, eh?
But it's just speculation. I could be wrong.
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Post by acathala on Oct 20, 2016 3:41:20 GMT -5
Hey the blonde thing was only really Michelle Pheiffer in Batman Returns and most of the animated series before they changed the art. In the comics Selina is dark haired. I just find Talia more attractive. I so, so, hope you are wrong. I so do not want to feel the way I did when I saw the Highlander movie Sequels.
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Post by TG Barighm on Oct 28, 2016 21:31:25 GMT -5
Okay, so...deep breaths...
Penguin is gay.
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Post by acathala on Oct 29, 2016 8:41:41 GMT -5
I can't say I'm surprised. It's definitely canon in the comics that he's straight. I wonder if this is a directive from way on high to make the show more diverse.
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Post by TG Barighm on Oct 29, 2016 10:42:49 GMT -5
Likely or the director can't grasp buddy relationships. He spent entire episode professing his love for Nigma.
Am I being too spoilerly?
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Post by acathala on Oct 29, 2016 20:03:04 GMT -5
It might be the second one. In the comics they're best buds. Penguin even left the Iceburg Lounge to Riddler in his will, when he thought he ewas going to be murdered(Penguin had lost a war with a rival crime organisation. He was actually fairly classy in facing his impending death, which is probably one of my favourite arcs for him. Needless to say Bats saves him). I get that they want to put their own stamp on the characters, which is fine for the minor characters(Firefly was never really that interesting or much of a threat), but they need to be a bit more respectful of the original material when it comes to the main characters. It appears that Gotham's greatest enemy is supervillains, but it's writers. Don't worry about Spoilers. I'm seriously considering not watching it when it returns. Something once upon a time would have been unthinkable.
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Post by TG Barighm on Oct 30, 2016 0:57:23 GMT -5
Yeah, there is this bizarre belief these days you can't like someone else without there being some kind of sexual interest involved. PS: I'm not attracted to you.
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Post by acathala on Oct 30, 2016 6:41:30 GMT -5
It just shows a lack of maturity and experience in their writing. Oh no, I'm so totally in love with you and want to marry you! Just kidding. We're bros. I just saw the animated movie based on The Killing Joke. My advice, read the comic first. The movie adds additional content which is icky. Very icky.
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Post by TG Barighm on Oct 30, 2016 12:43:54 GMT -5
Icky?
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