An open letter to Michael Caine.
Dear sir,
Let me first say that you are a veritable acting genius, and I fucking love you. But please, please stop fueling the rumors for the third Batman movie. Please. Just because you say that you "heard" a studio exec claim that the only way to top Heath's performance is to cast Johnny Depp as the Riddler and Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the Penguin DOES NOT MEAN IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN. And even if it did, here's why it would be wrong.
As much as I love Johnny Depp, he should not be the Riddler, nor should he go anywhere near the Batman franchise. And he won't. Why, you ask? Because CHRISTIAN BALE is the star of the Batman movies - durr, he's the goddamn Batman - and neither Warner Bros nor Chris Nolan is going to put a bigger name than Bale's in the role of a villain. And you know that movie that both Bale and Depp just finished filming, Public Enemies? Guess who has first billing. Yeah, that'd be Johnny Depp. And guess where Heath Ledger was billed in The Dark Knight? THIRD, AFTER CBALE AND MCAINE. Johnny Depp doesn't do that shit anymore, kthx.
And sure, Johnny said it would be "fun" to play the Riddler. THAT IS NOT A CONFIRMATION, OKAY. But whatever, he's still wrong for the part. As bad as this sounds, Johnny Depp is just not right for comic book movies, and besides that, he doesn't need to add his face to another franchise. He's already got Pirates, and he's had a thing going on with Tim Burton for 18+ years. And yeah, fine, he'd probably be fucking brilliant as the Riddler... if Nolan completely changed the character so that he'd fit the Johnny Depp aesthetic. So just. No. Pick somebody else, please. And pick another villain, too. No matter how hard I try, I just can't see a Nolanized Riddler.
Now, as for Phillip Seymour Hoffman - do you realize that this rumor has been floating around since BEFORE Batman Begins? Which means that it's basically worthless.
Still, I could see this happening. Hoffman is a superb character actor (see: Capote, every other movie he's been in), and he could easily pull off a Nolanized Penguin - one who is not deformed, but rather a dapper gentleman who comes in out of nowhere to take over the mob, perhaps? I would even go as far to say that he could be a politician - a real one, not like in Batman Returns. But that brings me to my final and most important point.
Both the Riddler and the Penguin have been done before - the Penguin successfully, the Riddler not so much. If the third movie is going to work at all, it needs to include a lesser-known villain, and a subtler one to boot. Nothing is ever going to top Heath's Joker, and they shouldn't even try. The next movie (if there's even going to be one) needs to be about Batman, not the villain he faces. And I really, really hope Nolan and WB see that. AND YOU TOO, MICHAEL CAINE, YOU CRAZY OLD MOTHERFUCKER. Whom I love with all my heart, aherm.
That said, my pick for the next villain?
HARVEY DENT, BITCHES. Nolan can just suck it. :PPPPP
Sincerely,
A VERY MIFFED BELLA.
Let me first say that you are a veritable acting genius, and I fucking love you. But please, please stop fueling the rumors for the third Batman movie. Please. Just because you say that you "heard" a studio exec claim that the only way to top Heath's performance is to cast Johnny Depp as the Riddler and Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the Penguin DOES NOT MEAN IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN. And even if it did, here's why it would be wrong.
As much as I love Johnny Depp, he should not be the Riddler, nor should he go anywhere near the Batman franchise. And he won't. Why, you ask? Because CHRISTIAN BALE is the star of the Batman movies - durr, he's the goddamn Batman - and neither Warner Bros nor Chris Nolan is going to put a bigger name than Bale's in the role of a villain. And you know that movie that both Bale and Depp just finished filming, Public Enemies? Guess who has first billing. Yeah, that'd be Johnny Depp. And guess where Heath Ledger was billed in The Dark Knight? THIRD, AFTER CBALE AND MCAINE. Johnny Depp doesn't do that shit anymore, kthx.
And sure, Johnny said it would be "fun" to play the Riddler. THAT IS NOT A CONFIRMATION, OKAY. But whatever, he's still wrong for the part. As bad as this sounds, Johnny Depp is just not right for comic book movies, and besides that, he doesn't need to add his face to another franchise. He's already got Pirates, and he's had a thing going on with Tim Burton for 18+ years. And yeah, fine, he'd probably be fucking brilliant as the Riddler... if Nolan completely changed the character so that he'd fit the Johnny Depp aesthetic. So just. No. Pick somebody else, please. And pick another villain, too. No matter how hard I try, I just can't see a Nolanized Riddler.
Now, as for Phillip Seymour Hoffman - do you realize that this rumor has been floating around since BEFORE Batman Begins? Which means that it's basically worthless.
Still, I could see this happening. Hoffman is a superb character actor (see: Capote, every other movie he's been in), and he could easily pull off a Nolanized Penguin - one who is not deformed, but rather a dapper gentleman who comes in out of nowhere to take over the mob, perhaps? I would even go as far to say that he could be a politician - a real one, not like in Batman Returns. But that brings me to my final and most important point.
Both the Riddler and the Penguin have been done before - the Penguin successfully, the Riddler not so much. If the third movie is going to work at all, it needs to include a lesser-known villain, and a subtler one to boot. Nothing is ever going to top Heath's Joker, and they shouldn't even try. The next movie (if there's even going to be one) needs to be about Batman, not the villain he faces. And I really, really hope Nolan and WB see that. AND YOU TOO, MICHAEL CAINE, YOU CRAZY OLD MOTHERFUCKER. Whom I love with all my heart, aherm.
That said, my pick for the next villain?
HARVEY DENT, BITCHES. Nolan can just suck it. :PPPPP
Sincerely,
A VERY MIFFED BELLA.