Batman: Revenge

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Batman: Revenge

Promotional Film Poster
Directed by Jonathan Markiewitz
Release date(s) 2003
Running time 6 min
Country United States
Language English

Batman: Revenge (The Batman LEGO Film) is a 2003, non-commercial, independent stop motion Batman LEGO Fan Film created by director and animator Jonathan Markiewitz. The film has been credited by BatmanFanFilms.Com and TheForce.Net among many spotlight web sources as the production which brought Batman fan films into the art of stop-motion animation and sparked a Batman LEGO MOC (My Own Creation) phenomenon. It is notable for being the first Batman LEGO fan film in history and one of the earliest fan film to use LEGO bricks as its creative medium. In 2005, Infuze Magazine stated "It might just be the ultimate fan made film!" Within its "opening weekend" on the Internet, the download number spiked to the multiple thousands with a SuperheroHypeDotCom member poll rating the film a 4.5/5 stars, and BatmanFanFilms.Com giving it a 5/5. According to Stop-Motion Online is the film that "made legos cool again."

Contents

[edit] Plot

The Riddler escapes from Arkham Asylum with the sole purpose of exacting revenge on the Dark Knight, doing so by placing one of Batman's closest allies, Commissioner Gordon, in jeopardy. With the use of the Batmobile and the Batwing, the Caped Crusader must again defend the people of Gotham City against the question-marked villain and his gang of henchmen.

[edit] How it Relates to the Batman Anthology

[edit] Batman Returns

The film's neo-gothic tone is largely reminiscent of Batman and Batman Returns, ranging from the design of the inner-city skyscrapers to the gritty alleyways to the look of the Batmobile, the Batwing, and Batman himself. Even the newspapers in the film read "The Gotham Globe", which is the newspaper seen most often in Batman and Batman Returns. Another example of how Batman: Revenge uses the Tim Burton style include the use of the Batman and Batman Returns music score by Danny Elfman, accompanied by a very dark tone both visually and creatively.

[edit] Batman Forever

Viewers will notice while watching the film that the Riddler leaves no riddles, nor does he act as his "typical" character. The director has stated that the Riddler in "Batman: Revenge" purposely acts much more classically psychotic than witty in response to the character's mental breakdown and demise during the closing sequences of the third Batman film to hit the silver screen, Batman Forever. Batman: Revenge however, was designed to visually and artistically resemble the Tim Burton Batman films and not the Batman films made by director Joel Schumacher. Although the film is not indended to act as a complete sequel to Batman Forever, it does use the character's ending in the film as a springboard for his actions, therefore simply as a continuation, though with elements of the first two films. Another noteworthy element of its relation is the use of the character, Doctor Burton, the psychiatrist seen in the close of Batman Forever. Though the LEGO version of the character seen in Batman: Revenge looks different than the character played by Rene Auberjonois, the director had titled the character this name.

[edit] Design of the Riddler

The design of Riddler minifig in Batman: Revenge seems to draw from several aspects of the character's long history in comics, radio, film, and print media, although the use of the top hat is a personal touch by Markiewitz to add one more variant to the character. It was reported in an interview that the director gave the Riddler a top hat because no other LEGO appliance seemed to work, and the top hat gave a classical style to the character. It should be noted as well that the typical apparel worn by the citizens of Gotham City in the film include a full suit with a top hat, so it could also have simply been the costuming style the director wanted to have.

[edit] Rating

The film was rated "E for Everyone" by BatmanFanFilms.Com, the equivalent of the MPAA rating system's "G". The director stated in an interview with Brick Journal Magazine, "Many parents have told me they appreciate having a film they can watch with their children, and I love hearing things like that."

[edit] Sequel Speculation

[edit] Batman Vs. Spiderman

It was believed in 2004 that the director of Batman: Revenge was intending to make a LEGO production entitled Batman vs. Spider-Man, which was speculated to have utilized official Spider-Man Lego sets as well as new custom Batman designs. There has still been no confirmation about this from Markiewitz Film, but when photos of new custom Batman designs were released, speculation of a sequel to Batman: Revenge did start among fans.

[edit] Batman: 1950

The studio responsible for Batman: Revenge did confirm that at one point test scenes were filmed for a Batman LEGO film that had the working title, Batman: 1950, though no known trailer or film was ever cut. The film was going to be shot in black and white color with heavy focus on lighting and dramatic effect. The Batman LEGO minifig in the film was reportedly to have used the comic book grey/black bat suit rather than the all black suit used in Batman: Revenge. No knowledge of the plot, running time, or film rating is known. The antagonist of the story is not known and there is very little information about the film that never was, if it were in fact ever intended to be.

[edit] Setting a Trend

Although there was an approximate one-year gap between the public release of Batman: Revenge and following Batman LEGO films, it is apparent that Batman: Revenge set an obvious trend and tone for Batman LEGO fan-filmmakers who wanted to similarly create large sets without the cost associated with the traditional production. Such similarities between recent Batman LEGO fan films that seem to reference the original Batman: Revenge LEGO film include choice of intro music, the inclusion of the Kenner Batman Returns Wayne Manor playset, cinematography direction, and similarities in plot. Most notably, however, may be the fact that Batman: Revenge seemed to standardize the introductory credits in Batman fan films. Also, it is common to see "Inspired by Jonathan Markiewitz", or "Inspired by Batman: Revenge created by Jonathan Markiewitz" in the introductory credits of Batman LEGO fan films either alongside or after the "Based on Batman created by Bob Kane" credit.


Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • It premiered nearly three years before LEGO officially announced their Batman product line.
  • The first showing of the film was in Tehachapi, California, on December 12, 2003. This was also the location of the film's principal photography, although no part of the actual city is visible on screen.
  • The Batmobile and Batwing models used in the film had completely articulated cockpits, but the inside of both vehicles are not visible in any shots utilized for the final cut.
  • The early edit of the film ran for approximately 14 minutes while the finished version (online) has a running time of 6 minutes. The first edit had a very festive theme, with Halloween undertones running in the beginning of the film and Christmas undertones near the close. It was, however, considered too long with test audiences, and was therefore edited to the version available online.
  • The title originally given to the project was Batman: Revenge, though it changed to Batman: Gotham Knight during production. The title reportedly reverted back to Batman: Revenge the night before the premiere.
  • The director has publicly stated he is "a fan" of some of the Batman fan film work produced by other directors in recent years.
  • The main newspaper seen in the early edit of the film was "The Gotham Times", but Markiewitz changed the papers to "The Gotham Globe" with the second edit to "connect the film even more" with Batman and Batman Returns as the Globe is heavily used in those films.
  • Many Batman fan film directors credit Markiewitz as the "Tim Burton" of the Batman lego film genre - being the one to not only reimagine the LEGO style, but bring LEGO and Batman together into "main stream" in a newly developed creative medium for the Dark Knight.


[edit] External links

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