> Agreed, although I do believe that WB did, in fact, meddle overmuch. Unfortunately studios meddle more than not, depending on the calibre and reputation of the makers. Batman, being WB's prize franchise, would have gone to great lengths to muck it up as thoroughly as possible. But I do blame Schumacher as much as they, if not more so. I also blame Akiva Goldsman, the primary screenwriter. Those one-liners were atrocious, and there was absolutely no room for character development whatsoever. But even giving Schumacher the benefit of the doubt, blaming the script and casting and whatnot on the screenwriters and WB, Schumacher is still clearly at fault for the shoddy acting, silly incongruous set pieces, implausible action scenes, campy atmosphere, and that horrid Las Vegas look he gave to Gotham following Tim Burton's departure.

Yeah, the script was the worst part of that movie. For anyone who disagrees, I have four words: "Hocky Team from Hell". Gah! Also, Akiva is an idiot. As for the look, the worst part is that he seemed to try to merge Burton's ideas into his own, creating something that made no sense. Of course, it could be that he just really dug the 70s Batman...

>
> > > Schumacher directed 9MM, which I enjoyed slightly... he directed A Time to Kill, which I thought was incredible.
> >
> > I didn't see "9MM" for two reasons:
>
> My reason was that there is no such movie. (It's "8MM." Ok, now I'm nitpicking. Fine. :-) )

Yeah, I realized that when I checked the IMDB (AFTER my post). Doesn't change the fact that I have no desire to see it.

>
> > Schumacher directed it, and 2) it looked far too similar to "Se7en" which is one of my least favorite all time movies. "A Time to Kill" was allright, but I liked the book better.
>
> The books are always better, by the natures of the mediums. The written word can stimulate the imagination, while visual imagery mandates a particular interpretation. Visuals can still stimulate the imagination, certainly, but it's not the same. At any rate, irrespective of the reasons behind it, I think I can count on the fingers of one hand how many movies I've seen that were better than the books they were made from, and none are clear-cut cases.
>
> At any rate, I liked "A Time To Kill" a lot. I think Schumacher's just fine on things like that, but he sure stinks at comic book type stuff.

I suppose. My point is that Schumacher really hasn't done a lot to make me like him in the first place, and his contribution to the Batman series was just plain sad.

Ste "Though I don't dislike him as much as Roland Emmerich or Dean Devlin" phen