22 January 2010

An idea for Christopher Nolan

So, I recently heard the idea to "relaunch" Spider-man in film....really? Wasn't once enough? In fact, once might have even been too much. Isn't there some law out there that prohibits films from being relaunched before a certain number of years? It is moments like these that I ask myself when Christopher Nolan is going to wow us again with another Batman movie. Now, I can be patient...I'm not asking for it right now. Honestly, it makes me happy he's taking so long. This proves he's going to take his time to create another Batman movie and not succumb to commercialism and put out some horrid installment that would cause us all to lose faith in him. After The Dark Knight, I wouldn't expect anything less than a few or even several years to create a film that even equals The Dark Knight. Perhaps one of the saddest setbacks and perhaps the most obvious reason why more time will be needed is the untimely passing of Heath Ledger. Were he still with us, another Batman/Joker film may not have taken so long. Thus, it seems that the most bearing question of the whole process is who is our next villain? Moreover, who do we find to play said villain in a way that doesn't simply make us miss Ledger even more? Now, while in Brazil, one of my mission companions and I (Elder Olsen, I must give you fair credit here) worked out a pretty awesome idea for a script. Perhaps it isn't as cool as we thought it was, which is why I'm posting it in a blog to see if anyone agrees with me. So...our new principal villain is, (as many have already suggested) The Riddler. See, the Gotham Police Department is now hell-bent on catching the Batman, convinced that the demise of their beloved Harvey Dent and others is his fault. Commissioner Gordon is, of course, just playing along, being one of the few individuals who knows the truth. Well, someone in the police department (or perhaps even the new District Attorney?) gets this idea to bring in a criminology specialist to help identify who the Caped Crusader is - enter Edward Nigma. He agrees, for a very large sum of money, (against Gordon's wishes, who thinks Nigma is far too unorthodox) to research all known evidence of the Batman and attempt to expose him. Thus begins an interesting game of cat-and-mouse between Nigma and Bruce Wayne, with Nigma's findings and deductions pointing him ever-increasingly to Wayne as his prime suspect. However, in order for him to be sure, he needs to actually see the Batman in action. So, unbeknownst to Gotham police, he creates his alter-ego "The Riddler," who rather than working with the local mafia or causing chaos, is a taunting, note-leaving, mind-messing serial killer. His hits could even be imitations of the murders of Wayne's parents...all in an attempt to force Batman to reveal himself...or to drive him mad. And, of course, after sometime of using this alter-ego as his means of getting inside Bruce Wayne's head, Nigma pulls an Arthur Dimmesdale and begins to fuzz the separation between his two personalities...perhaps even going mad himself and developing a Jekyll and Hyde complex. Now obviously this is a really rough idea; many of the details would have to be ironed-out...but I think a psychological, "Silence of the Lambs"-type feel would do really well. So, if someone forced me to come up with a plot for a Batman movie, there's my basic idea (thank you, Elder Olsen). But, seeing as how that is highly unlikely to happen, I guess I'll have to see what Hollywood comes up with. (Unless any of you happen to know Christopher Nolan...)