I don’t know exactly what the intended meaning behind “Albert & Juliet” was originally, but the entire time I sat through Nic Barker’s gut wrenching short film, all I could think of was “This is a film about a mom and her child.” I mean it would be a bit overbearing in dramatic weight to feature a mom with a newborn baby being relentlessly tortured by everyone around her, but in a sense I felt as if “Albert & Juliet” was symbolic of a single mom and her baby.
So we learn in ten minutes of “Batman: The Movie” that Batman manages to store and keep handy a Bat Copter in a warehouse manned by a bunch of workers without actually giving away his identity as Bruce Wayne, office buildings oddly house a large group of scantily clad groupies all of whom will willingly stand on a launch pad to wave at Batman (so much for covert operations), and that Batman labels the ladder in his copter with “Bat Ladder.” Oh so this is the Bat Ladder! I often get it confused for the Hyena Ladder and the Panther Ladder. Good thing it’s labeled. Prudent. Also, even if a shark is robotic, it’s vulnerable to shark repellent.
Batman creator Bill Finger cites 1926’s silent crime thriller “The Bat” as one of the primary inspirations for Batman. And it’s easy to see where he draws his influences from. The Bat in this film is actually a criminal and a master one who steals from the rich. Like Batman he has a bat beacon, he brands all of his calling cards with a bat shaped symbol, The Bat dresses up like a giant bat with a cape and all, and rather than a utility belt, he wields a utility bag where he stores his tricks and supplies including a bat shaped grappling hook. The similarities just don’t stop there. The Bat climbs tall buildings with his ropes and uses the rooftops as his stalking grounds, lurking in the darkness.
For readers unaware, the Turkish film industry has a long and hilarious history of taking Hollywood films and remaking them sans copyrights and approval from creators. Cult film lovers know of Turkish films and their many knock offs but to see them for yourself is an experience. The Turkish film industry has created their own low budget versions of films like “Superman,” “Star Wars,” “The Exorcist,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “ET,” and of course “Batman.” These films can only be found by bootleg dealers and online sources as they’re so illegal and ripe with potential for lawsuits, the chances of seeing deluxe editions is laughable.
It would be a rare treat if one of the many Batman rip-offs from one of the many foreign countries would actually get Batman right. I think my head would explode if I stumbled on to a Batman wannabe that channeled the tone of the Batman comic books. But, like every other Batman knock off, “James Batman” is a copyright infringing take off on the Adam West Batman series even including a variation of the iconic theme song. This version of Batman however is played as a buffoon by Filipino comedy star Dolphy who takes on the cape and cowl and makes Batman someone as immeasurably incompetent as Inspector Clouseau.
I guess this can be considered a fan film worth watching. Only if you’re willing to endure what it has to offer in the way of pathos and cruelty. “Batman: Ashes to Ashes” pretty much re-thinks the mythos of Batman while knocking off classic movies in the process. Directors Samuel Bodin and Julien Mokrani take from “A Clockwork Orange,” “Batman Returns,” and heavily relies on imagery reminiscent of “Sin City” to get its story moving, while characters like Harley Quinn are turned in to femme fatales with major villains playing only small parts.
For a purported comic genius his knuckle dragging fans claim he is, Seth McFarlane really does lob something of a soft ball in his cinematic debut. I can just imagine Seth one day playing with a teddy bear and giving it foul language in his Peter Griffin voice while laughing hysterically and snorting another line off his Asian hooker’s backside, thus leading to writing the script for “Ted.” McFarlane’s cinematic debut is nothing short of abysmal and infantile with the basis of the film centered on a talking live teddy bear with a foul mouth and serious sex addiction. His owner and friend is a man child whose own immaturity borders on mental retardation at times. But hey, “Family Guy” fans might just find this to be genius. Because talking inanimate objects is comedy gold apparently.