No One Puts Nolan in a Corner

Warner Brothers Pushing for Batman 3-D

Wanna Know how I got these scars? Because of misuse of 3D that's how.

Some new reports are circulating that Warner Brothers Studios is pegging acclaimed director Christopher Nolan to film his next Batman film in 3D. Given the obvious success of Avatar, Warner Brothers hopes to put the best of a great narrative, cohesive action sequences, and 3D technology into one bundle of a batarang film in Batman 3D. According to several reports, Warner Brothers says it is also planning on converting Nolan's latest masterpiece "Inception" into 3D, in a joint deal with a new on demand 3D channel HBO is planning to release next year. Although Nolan has flirted with the idea of filming in 3D, the Batman helmer admits that he doesn't think the timing is right, and I ride the "in Nolan we trust" bandwagon.

My problems with 3D films are plenty. For starters, many films hoping to duplicate the success of Avatar are adding the 3D label as a gimmick. (See 'The Last Airbender' if you don't believe me) Films like 'Clash of the Titans' and 'Alice in Wonderland' used a post production conversion process to create their 3D effects, and the end result was a sloppy mess of fake depth. In both of these films, I never felt like I could 'Last Action Hero' my way into the movie like I felt with Avatar. The best way I could compare it was like the first time I read a pop-up book, it was fun for a while, but you eventually put it away in your repressed childhood memories. I think in order to make a successful 3D film, you need to have the right technology, the right direction and camera work, and the proper post production time to add the finishing touches. Case in point, Avatar did all of these things. It took something like 4 years just for the actual filming process. 

IMAX at its finest...3D not necessary

So what's Nolan's take on 3D? Straight from the man's mouth, Nolan spoke at a press conference in the UK before the release of Inception saying "3D is something we’re looking at, but I see at the moment significant technical limitations to the presentation format, mostly with the dimness of the image and the fact that you have to wear the glasses. The post-conversion process can be done very effectively, actually - we did tests for this film, but decided we didn’t have enough time to get it to the standard that we wanted." So besides some of the technical jargon involving color and lighting effects on film, Nolan believes that 3D CAN be done with the right technology and production time. I think the idea of an on demand HBO 3D service is great idea that will pave the way for 3D TV's in the future. However in the case of Batman 3D, Warner Brothers is hoping to release the film by summer 2012, and the film is only in the early script stages...Meaning no time for love Dr. Jones!

Unless Warner Brothers intends to rush the 3D conversion process, then Batman 3D will be laughable. As is the case with all these 3D wannabe movies, the studios are looking to make money. But you don't have to tack on a lame 3D conversion process to reel in the big bucks. The Dark Knight was able to haul in more than $1 billion because of many reasons, but most significantly was the use of IMAX. Many scenes in The Dark Knight were shot in IMAX very effectively. Nolan used at least 4 IMAX cameras to film The Dark Knight, and had to re-invent the wheel when it came to filming many of the action sequences. The same was said when James Cameron filmed Avatar. If you want to create a successful product, you need to go the extra mile when creating your films. The Joker chase scene in The Dark Knight re-imagined the way IMAX can be used in films, just like how Avatar changed the way 3D technology can be used in films. I'm not against 3D movies, I just don't want a half-assed product that'll ruin such a beloved franchise similar to what Spider-Man 3 did. Otherwise, Warner Brothers will have to listen to fanboys screaming their lungs out as to "Why do we fall down?" And besides, all this talk of Batman 3D is premature. How about Warner Brothers and Nolan figure out who's going to be their next villain already.