Post by ronnierocketago on Feb 27, 2009 5:11:35 GMT
WORLD'S FINEST aka THE BATMAN SUPERMAN MOVIE (1998) - ***1/2
"See that he's street pizza! In this town, some flying fool could have caught him!" [/size]
Well its not just Blockbuster that's getting murdered by Netflix, for my local long-struggling Silver Screen video store finally went under last month after some 22 years in business alongside cheap diesel fuel and watered-down booze. Oh how I'll miss that dump. Anyway, Screen had a firesale and I bought a truckload of movies for cheap, including many VHS tapes of movies still haven't been released on DVD, like Michael Mann's THE KEEP. But I also found this title, which surprisingly I had never watched considering my childhood love and mature admiration for the Bruce Timm/Paul Dini animated adaptations of DC Comics, which many fans still insist are the best representation of those characters in any media.
Some had replied to my BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM review about how that was less a legitimate film and more a glorified extended episode of the excellent BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, so I wonder how they would react to WORLD'S FINEST (or more cynically released on home video as simply THE BATMAN/SUPERMAN MOVIE) which consists of three episodes from the also-awesome SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES slapped together into a film. Since there was an actual overarching storyline connecting them, WORLD'S FINEST thankfully isn't as awkwardly dubious in editing or narrative rhythm as most such "movies" randomly string-along produced from a cartoon show like the infamous 1980s SHE-RA: PRINCESS OF POWER that the ThatGuyWithTheGlasses website ripped hilariously to shreds recently.
Now WORLD'S FINEST never comes close to the rich emotional dynamism or economical-yet-beautiful animation storytelling narrative success of MASK OF THE PHANTASM, but FINEST never really had that ambition. No it strives in being sheer saturday morning matinee adventurism fun, you know back when as a kid you would wake up early on the weekend (or weekdays) for the cartoons where with a mix with their beat-em-up joy and those extra-sugary breakfast cereals you would eat, you would be bouncing off the walls. That's a reason probably why so many of my generation is obese I'm sure, but dammit it was worth it![/i] Of course this point is obvious I guess considering the episodes making up the WORLD'S FINEST film first premiered on saturday morning.
The plot, or the excuse for this whole endeavor, is that Batman finally bankrupted the Joker's criminal empire in Gotham City, and the dude needs to eat. No offense Clown Prince of Crime, but had you invested your profits more wisely instead of blowing it on deadly joke props like marble ball bombs or the extravagant costumes for you and your lovely squeeze/sidekick Harley Quinn, you wouldn't be in the red. You Goofball. Plus it's a scientific fact that you can't kill the goddamn Batman, so he's being Ben Stein gullible in denial. Anyway, he finds a Chinese artififact made out of Kryptonite (how fucking convenient) and strikes a bargain with Lex Luthor: Joker murders Superman for a billion dollars. Obviously the Caped Crusader must be bored not kicking Joker's ass back at home, so he heads out to Metropolis and well he ends up in a cock fight with the Last Son of Krypton over turf and women.
Batman's first confrontation with Superman reminds me why I always much prefered Bats. I mean obviously Bruce Wayne knows all about this Blue Bomber fella, and knew that in a straight-up brawl he has no shot of winning, but what is his instinct when Supes grabs him? Flip him over the shoulder this side of Steven Seagal and onto a table! Then Superman gets pissed not really for getting tossed around, but for the fact that Batman had the gall to do that. I guess Superman with his mortal divine physicality expects everyone to just wet their pants in his presence, but not Batman. He's got balls, unlike Kal-El, and not afraid of nobody, not even someone faster than a speeding bullet.
Also compare how each other learn their true identities. Batman isn't fazed at all, yet Supes by his facial motion acts violated this side of DELIVERENCE. That begs the question, is Wayne really the world's greatest detective, or everyone in Metropolis that retarded for not having recognized the obvious for that long? Now Batman does come off as an asshole when he romances Lois Lane, and just rubs it in Clark Kent's face, but I can't feel sorry for Superman here for he had such ample opportunity to score her, and yet he never pulled the trigger. In short, that's what you get for acting like a pussy. Come on Man of Steel, man up! I was annoyed though at that storyline's predictable conclusion, because apparently you can't shake up the status quo too much in such episodic shows.
OK, I'm being unfair here for the SUPERMAN program gracefully portrayed a lighthearted principled charming public daytime boy scout, while BATMAN was more stylish Dirty Harry baddassry who'll whip your butt like cookie dough to kingdom come in an alley at midnight. They're each just different, as apples and oranges, war and peace, Republicans and fiscal responsibility. That's why both characters usually fail when people try to deny those essential appealing traits. Or basically, Bats is a dick but Supes isn't. Though the SuperDickery website would disagree....
Anyway, both Dini/Timm productions had their archnemesis be worthy of that title in substance and in voice-acting, whatever it be Mark Hamill's Joker or Clancy Brown's Lex Luthor. Speaking of which, anyone ever noticed how both villains have deadly-but-popular henchwomen created expicitly for the animated shows who later were incorporated into the comic books? Probably the best sequence in all of WORLD'S FINEST is when Luthor and Joker sit down to hammer out their hit contract, while in the background their girls fight and beat the shit out of each other, and yet the guys never seem to notice this. You know afterwards if I'm those women, I would question why I still around my man if he doesn't care that I took a beating for him.
A quick note, but I do think the Dini/Timm take on Luthor is the perfect interpretation, far superior to any other sort we've had other the years, even Gene Hackman. Yes like the comics he's ultra-brilliant and ultra-rich, but so? What makes Luthor be Supes' true adversary, even more so than more powerful hoods like Brainiac? The reason is Luthor's slickness in being a total bastard, that mythic "the man" usually reserved for anyone in government or a corporation that seemingly gets away with everything, a fitting description for Luthor considering in the comics at one point he was elected President of the United States. I mean his defining badass moment methinks was in that episode of Dini/Timm's JUSTICE LEAGUE where belonging to a rival supervillain gang despite having any superpowers at all, at point-blank he shoots his leader after a failed mission, takes command, and and calmly asks if anyone objects. Nobody does.
So in a way, Luthor is like Batman in that both primarily use their brains to even the odds with the mutant freaks, and yes both are willing to be dicks to get what they want. I'm sure somebody else realized that already, but if not I'm taking credit. OK enough of this embarrasing off-tangent fanboy rant.
There are so many great moments, from Superman failing to heed his new partner's advice of never underestimating the Joker to an armed terrorist on Air Force Force visibly shitting a brick when he finds Lane on board, and knowing who's predictably going to fly by. Did I enjoy this much more than I should have? Probably, even with the brainless moments, like how Superman can't decide if he's all-powerful or just modest-powerful, and how our heroes discover where the baddies are hold up, and yet somehow it took them hours to get there, my logic only based on how long I assume it took for Quinn to paint a smile onto a giant stealth bomber. But hey, I'm not apologizing at all for WORLD'S FINEST.
Besides, you all remember that aborted BATMAN VS SUPERMAN project from years ago that Wolfgang Peterson (DAS BOOT) was supposed to direct? You know, where somehow Wayne's (Colin Farrell) wife gets murdered by the Joker, and he blames it on Kent (Jude Law), who by the way just divorced Lane, and both end up battling.....Joker and Luthor. So you had Warner Bros. planning to basically live-action remake WORLD'S FINEST, but with an extra retarded twist of convoluted plotting. Jesus that would have sucked.
All I'm saying is, maybe WORLD'S FINEST executed as well (or fun) as a Superman/Batman movie can be. I mean hell FINEST overcame that shitty cover design, so should be thankful for that little miracle at least. Also, despite paying only $3 for WORLD'S FINEST, I then find out a week later that you can watch it on YouTube for free, so I feel kinda ripped off. Definatley not my finest day.