Christian Bale Refusing To Appear In "The Flash" Makes Me So Happy
God, this makes me happy. Whether you liked it or not, Andy Muschietti's "The Flash" will go down as one of the most incredible cinematic bombs of all time. Does this mean that the quality of the film itself was bad? In this case, yes. I saw "The Flash" on Monday, and it was every bit the hollow, bloated disaster that I figured it would be from the beginning. The film was loaded to the brim with horrible-looking CG cameos from the likes of Christopher Reeve and Nic Cage, just to name a few. I doubt when Christopher Reeve was a badass and fighting for his life twenty years ago, that he imagined he'd be used as a shitty-looking CG puppet as DC tried to duct tape together the shitty universe that they've assembled over the last decade, but I digress.
I love the Christopher Nolan Batman films so much. They're so good to me that it's hard for me to include them when I rank the greatest comic book films. They belong in their own category. And what I love about them so much is that they've been untouched. They're three amazing films. They have no spinoffs and no other sequels. They exist as a beautifully cut diamond of a trilogy. And DC has tried for YEARS to get their grubby, untalented hands on Nolan's trilogy, and those involved have repeatedly said "No." Don't get me wrong, one day, DC and Warner Brothers will find a way to mutilate Nolan's vision. By the time we get to Justice League 27, they'll shoehorn in a CG Christian Bale and Heath Ledger cameo. It's only inevitable. At some point in my life, all my favorite franchises will be murdered, but for now, I love that these three films remain untouched.
Good for Christian Bale. He is one of the only actors left in Hollywood who is unwilling to sacrifice his dignity for a paycheck. He's done some crap (I could've done without the Terminator movie he was in), but it seems like with every project that he selects, it makes sense why he decided to do it. And he was adamant after "The Dark Knight Rises" came out that he was done playing Batman. Other actors have had similar sentiments about other roles, but that dump truck full of gold is often shiny and very persuasive. Hugh Jackman was responsible for one of the greatest character sendoffs ever with "Logan," Now he will be reprising his role in a comedy film because why not?
Like I said, I'm sure one day Warner Brothers will find a way to exploit Nolan's trilogy, but it's kind of incredible for the time being that they've stood on their own. It speaks to the fact that while the Nolan trilogy fell under the Warner Brothers umbrella, they were first and foremost Christopher Nolan movies. He's one of the few directors in Hollywood with the power to tell a studio when to fuck off. And if the day ever came when Nolan felt like he had one more in him, I'd be first in line. That's because Nolan is a real filmmaker, and Christian Bale is a real actor. But for the time being, I can kill with memories of three awesome films.