There was a Ninja, some woman with green hair named Gertrude, probably my sister Vengeance, and Lord Skywalker. You know. The one that likes to snorkle.) colabed on a story! Random thoughts: Robin Day and Gotham City · 6:03am Jul 30th, 2018
So a couple things.
It's apparently Robin day for me! Watched Teen Titans Go to the Movies with the daughter unit.
It's a bit over the top in places, but... It's a Teen Titans Go! movie, so...
It's delightfully self-aware as well... oh that delicious meta-humor. Say what you will about Teen Titans Go! but when the writers decide to elevate their comedy above butt and fart jokes, they do it well. There was even a recurring gag to obscure characters that had my howling because I'm probably like one of five people on the planet the joke was specifically for.
On a side note, when they wanted to do action sequences, they went HARD and delivered. It's action via Go! Shenanigans at times, but well-animated choreography deserves appreciation.
If you're a big comic book movie fan and especially a fan of the DC universe, give it a watch... provided you can tolerate some low-brow humor here or there.
Now, I find myself watching Batman Vs. Robin. It's good in that most DC animated movies are pretty good... a couple of the Justice League movies maybe missing the mark... Though, not to spoil to much, this is the second movie in which an Anti-Hero starts a murder spree because Batman won't and it kinda begs the question as to why anyone commits crime in Gotham. By my reckoning, there's an 89% chance you'll be stopped by the police, Batman, or one of the bat family... I mean, provided you don't put up much of a fight, the police will just arrest you or you'll get banged up before being arrested. Putting up a fight means either being shot or pummeled with something being broken. And I'm not just talking bullets! I mean, was mugging that old lady really worth the cross-bow bolt the Huntress shot into your forearm?
Then there's like... a 10% chance some anti-hero wants to prove Batman is too soft... He or She will 'prove' this through murder. Like... Okay, I know the franchise is fond of reminding us that Gotham is the most crime-ridden city in the US but I'm guessing your only real option is to indulge in crimes the libertarian party would applaud you for because the alternative is being concussed and imprisoned or getting your still-beating heart pulled out.
"Robin, I have removed the pulsing blood organ from the Mad Mod."
*GASP* "WE DON'T DO THAT, STARFIRE!!"
"But...in the video games, that is customary at the end of a battle, is it not?"
"In VIDEO GAMES, yes, not in real life!!"
"Oh." *beat* "Should I not then have also bagged the tea on the bloody corpse?"
*beat* "...teabagging is acceptable, Star." *long pause, close-up* "Oh, yeah, teabag that dirtbag..."
"...Robin? You are creeping me the out..."
You're overexagerating (this is the hardest word I ever used, I never got it right and I stopped caring) it. There's way more crime in Gotham that Batman and his family can deal with. You don't have to look furhter than a random Batman comic, where Batman shows file on some low level thug and names at least five confirmed crimes he commited and got away with. Now imagine having hundreds of those guys running around all the time, either avoiding the law or getting oout jail on technicalities. All of a sudden it doesn't seem like that bad of a deal, as long as you think getting punched once in a while is worth it more than having to work a full shift with a-holes you don't like and can't hurt.
And if that doesn't convince you, then remember that most Gotham criminals are kinda insane and don't think straight.
Honestly, outside of the original cartoon Teen Titans, the best Robin and Nightwing I've seen is in Young Justice.
As for crime in Gotham, in case you haven't seen many Batman content, you're severely underestimating the kind of scum that Gotham creates or attracts. It has become such a hellhole of a city that you start questioning whether or not one should just nuke it since it seems to be mostly inhabited by criminals. And if you think the police are gonna be much help, outside of Commissioner Gordon and his allies, the police department is so corrupt that it makes the NYPD have one of the cleanest records in the world.
And if I may quote the Nostalgia Critic, supervillains, by definition, are the most motivated people in the world. Whatever the backstory may be, the criminals, both super and ordinary, have their own agendas and aren't going to change their minds even with Batman and the others patrolling it. The villains can range from criminals who know that Gotham is an easy target for crime and illegal activities or supervillains who are insanely psychopathic (Joker's in it just to rack up a bunch of body counts in flamboyant ways, as well as to torment Batman).
Gotham has become an easy target for all criminals because of its constantly broken system that no one's going to fix, not even the writers. Especially because Batman won't cross the line and kill, whether the reason is plausible or utter BS, even with the other heroes running around, Gotham has long become a lost cause.
4910425
When playing the Arkham games I couldn’t help but wonder if Batman went back and made sure that every thug I beat up & left unconscious outside in the middle of winter, was actually ok afterwards,,
Green Lantern: “I had a movie... but we don’t talk about it.”
Me: “It’d faster to count how many of their own films DC DOES acknowledge.”
4910479
Pfft. When you hear half the conversations these thugs have, or maybe even a quarter of it, Batman shouldn't spare a passing glance after beating the snot out of them.
4910425
4910368
Oh, I completely buy the super villain angle as Batman often attracts these types and they can usually hold there own long enough to show there a real threat and often times can stand up to even the more dedicated anti-hero.
The organized crime aspect is slightly less flimsy in my eyes. I mean, again, if they're mostly dealing in stuff that one could argue shouldn't be a crime because consenting adults should be able to do whateves, I kinda get the picture Batman and crew don't care so long provided things don't turn violent. ...Unless you start selling drugs to kids and they OD, that is... then the Huntress starts filling drug-dealer appendages with crossbow bolts. But they're still often conducting business in a city where there's a good chance Batman or someone is going to show up uninvited, ruin the buffet table, and send most the guests to the hospital. That is unless someone is out to show Batman "how it's done!" then it hopefully a lot of the presents at that party with body bags.
I mean, unless they're okay with the occasional extended stay at Chateau de Hospitable, maybe they should try movie to Metropol...Star Ci... Whatever the DC comics equivalent of Miluake Michigan is and hope Great Lakes Man only gets feisty if they dump bodies in the lakes or that Brewery Boy is so drunk all the time his greatest power is throwing up on the shoes of criminals.
As for the amount of crime, I feel that breaks down a bit when we get to the point where Batman starts collecting Bird-themed sidekicks and mostly animal-themed sexy lady supporters like he's starting a menagerie. I'll grant though that this is more a problem in say, the comics, where they have to juggle everyone one and less the other types of media where Batman is usually limited to one side-kick and maybe a couple on-again, off-again sexy lady supporters. Also, more contained stories seem to actually be able to address this a bit with the Christopher Nolan films actually having crime drop for a time.
Comics aside, because there's just so much going there at any given time, I see why the writers have to Chrissis Event every decade or two and start fresh, I guess I'm mostly picking on the DC Animated Movie Verse, or at least the one with Red Hood, Dameon Wayne, and Nightwing (and a fair amount of the Justice League, it seems). Batman has begun to amass a bit of a crime-fighting family from the looks of things and we've had two movies where criminals were getting put down permanently for a bit there. Not saying those factors would turn Gotham into land free of crime, but if you're a career criminal living in Gotham, all that has to make the mid-west look a lot more attractive...
4910482
Watching this, I thought it was funny they didn't go out of there way to maybe roll-call who has gotten a movie. If only because I'd sell a kidney... someone's kidney... to see Constantine and Swamp thing fist bump over their somewhat forgotten films.
4910305
From what I've heard about the new Titans live-action trailer, you might have the makings of an episode here.
4910526
Yeah, it's kind of why I wish Red Hood starts being more like the DC version of Punisher (when written properly) and that Batman sticks to the reason behind his no-kill rule being that he's afraid to do what's necessary.
And as for trying other cities, there are places like Bludhaven where it's just as bad or even worse than Gotham, but being DC's poster boy, Gotham and Batman often gets the most attention. And apparently, there's just that many criminals that they flock to Gotham or Bludhaven or Star City like moths to a flame. And for Metropolis, while that place has a bunch of disasters, it's balanced out by Superman saving the day and people loving their hero unlike Gotham. On top of that, Superman can pretty much hear criminal activities happening, so criminals moving their operations from Gotham to Metropolis is a terrible idea.
I do agree that the comics have it the worst because they're always ongoing so they gotta drag out the crime-fighting career and such, whereas movies and TV shows are mostly self-contained, so it makes sense that crime can face a significant drop even in a place like Gotham when the writers actually allow that. But like I said, places like Gotham or Bludaven are easy targets to commit crime because even though Batman and his Bat-Family are there to patrol it, they're only human and can only do so much compared to the rest of the DC powerhouses. Superman can hear and see you committing crime and stop you in an instant, Flash can move fast enough to stop crime before anyone can even move a muscle, etc. DC metahumans are way too powerful and when they're in a city, the criminals are smart enough to stay away from those places and go for the least worst options, which are places like Gotham. At least they can get something done there.
4910526
Did you see the end credits scene?
WE MIGHT GET THE ORIGINAL SERIES AGAIN!
4910510
Can't say I recall any of them being as heinous as the Joker
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True, but depending on the writers, you got plenty of them that can rack up quite the body count.
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Yep! I stuck it out to the very end! Hopefully, they can make that happen. I mean... they've proven it wouldn't be hard to get the requisite VAs together. I do wonder what stories they'll focus on, though. Most of the heroes have more or less dispatched their wood-be arch-nemesis.
Still though, if "Titans" lives up to the "hype" of the trailer, we'll need something to wash the bad taste out of our mouths.
4910675
F*** Batman
Have you seen the wigs?
They're so badly designed.
4910677
I've so far avoided watching it, to be honest, as I am given to understand that doing so is the opposite of a good time.
4910691
it's probably going to be.
>it kinda begs the question as to why anyone commits crime in Gotham.
I don't think anyone's mentioned it yet, but I think it's at least semi-canon the Gotham's been literally cursed by a demon or something and that's why there's so much crime.
Also there's the fact that in the DC universe, there are major super heroes everywhere- they aren't all concentrated in New York like in Marvel. So if you're criminal and want to commit a crime, out of all the available super heroes you could go up against, Batman's probably your best bet actually. He's going to be a lot more vicious than the Flash or Superman, but he covers a lot less ground.