To those Batman fans, since this seems to be totally different than the other Batman movies, do you know if this is a sequel, continuing where the others leftoff? Cause I really don't care to see the others.
is a sequel to director Christopher Nolan's
Batman Begins (2005), but that film isn't, I imagine, a pre-requisite - though I am going by previous outings here...
I wouldn't count all of the above films as one franchise; if I did, I would then inevitably have to include any other film adaptation of the Batman comics, including the Adam West one from the 1960s. Since you can watch any of the films in RRA's post without needing to see any other (a bit like most of the Bond films, there's little continuity between each effort), I'd chop them down by director:
The Burton films (
Batman, Batman Returns), the Schumacher films (
Batman Forever, Batman & Robin), and now the Nolan films (
Batman Begins, The Dark Knight).
Mask of the Phantasm is an animated film that doesn't sit along these as a
franchise (or maybe it does; I'd have to think about the definition). Burton's
Batman, Mask of the Phantasm and now
The Dark Knight all have the Joker in, and all three are set in exclusively hermetic seals, their own interpretation of Gotham City. That the Jack Nicholson Joker dies at the end of
Batman doesn't make a difference to Heath Ledger playing him.
In short, TIS, delve into
The Dark Knight knowing there's only one other film that it directly follows (
Batman Begins). Since you're a fan of the
Bourne films, you may be mesmerised by Nolan's direction of action scenes - and, for me, there's not a better mainstream director currently working in terms of narrative rhythm or timing. (For a sense of his genius, watch
Memento and
The Prestige, and since I know you're a fan of Pacino, check out
Insomnia, which Nolan also directed.)
Anyway, I can't wait for this film; I love Nolan, Bale and Ledger, and its running time makes it an action epic. I was never as emphatic in my hatred towards the Schumacher films (I actually liked
Batman Forever), but with
Batman Begins, Nolan showed how much an otherwise overlooked genre (in terms of the filmic canon, superhero movies are treated as "surface" products) can benefit from having a master directing.
