Written
and Directed by Matt Garman and Neal Barlow
Based
on the DC Comic Characters Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger
Adapted
from the Comic Story Arc by Chuck Dixon
Cinematography
by Matt Garman and Neal Barlow
Make-Up
by Michelle Barlow and Neal Barlow
Costume
Design by Neal Barlow
Original
Motion Picture Score Composed by Mike Baltz
Scott
Huizenga … Dick Grayson/Nightwing
Neal
Barlow … Reynard
Matt
Garman … Detective Dudley Soames
James
Barton … Police Chief Redhorn
Nicole
Dabulewicz … Tandy
Suzanna
Russell … Mrs. Minh
Daniel
Pagan … FalseFacer 1 (Horatio)
Eric
Olsen … FalseFacer 2 (Enoch)
Scott
Russel … Minh Bodyguard 1
Mike
Potiere … Minh Bodyguard 2
Chad
Boucher … Van Driver
Dustin
Jantz … Teen 1
Matt
Jantz … Teen 2
Daneil
Pagan … Clown FalseFacer
Neal
Barlow … Bruce Wayne/Batman
Jason
Comfort … Police Officer 1
Eric
Olsen … Police Officer 2
Matt
Garman ... Black Mask (Voice)
When
Black Mask dispatches members of his Falseface Society to begin seizing control
of Gotham’s sister city from crime lord Freddie Minh, Nightwing takes up the
case to prove his ability as a solo vigilante.
--------------------------------------------------------------
As
with the rogue’s gallery, Batman’s pantheon of allies has been met with their
own foray into the realm of fan film.
One
of the earliest efforts came from filmmaking duo Matt Garman and Neal Barlow in
2004 when their “Two Man Movies”
production house shot and released “Nightwing: A Knight in Bludhaven.”
A nearly-strict adaptation of the 1998 comic of the same title by Chuck Dixon,
the story finds Batman in the middle of a turf war that’s spilt out of Gotham
and down to Bludhaven, its sister city.
Wanting
to prove himself to his longtime mentor, Dick Grayson (Scott Huizenga) takes up
the case on his own and ventures out to the town, stumbling upon an operation to
dismantle crime figurehead Freddie Minh being conducted by a group of
Falsefacers; the devout followers of the notorious criminal Black Mask.
Nightwing soon realizes he has his hands full fending off the Mask’s efforts to
muscle in on Bludhaven while working to keep himself out of the handcuffs of
Detective Dudley Soames (Matt Garman).
But
through it all, he recognizes the potential good he can do, deciding to call
Bludhaven his home as its new vigilante defender.
Released
in the initial firestorm of the first fan film line, “A Knight in Bludhaven” is
the very definition of ‘rough around the edges’ when it comes to the concept of
fan filmmaking.
As
with efforts such as “Batman: Dark Descent,” the one saving grace is really
just the fact that it’s a window into a physical manifestation of a fan’s
passion for the Batman mythology. As a former fan filmmaker, I know from
experience that it takes a lot to have the dedication and drive to conceive of
wanting to do a project and sticking with it, executing it.
So
many fan films are announced and hyped and eventually they fade into obscurity.
“A
Knight in Bludhaven” saw it through and it’s one of the first of its kind; it
was Batman fan filmmaking before it became passé and trendy among amateur
filmmakers.
Scott
does a wonderful job with what he’s given. His approach to Grayson might be a
bit more mild-mannered than it should and there’s really no hope for exuding
authority, like in the scene with Tandy when he arrives in Bludhaven. You can
feel him trying, but it just comes off as forced-confidence. Truthfully, he has
far more presence as Nightwing but again, as with a lot of younger or less
experienced actors taking on these icons, the costume ends up wearing the man
rather than the other way around.
The
best performances come from the “Two Men” themselves. Like Eric Smigiel, it’s
their project and therefore they’re totally invested in the idea more than
anyone else in their cast.
Neal
Barlow’s Reynard is the clear standout; he’s genuinely threatening in several
of his scenes and he has authority over his subordinate Falsefacers for sure. I
loved the motif of his desire to prolong Nightwing’s suffering in situations.
“I
want you to see this coming.”
Not
to be outdone, Garman’s performance as Soames is very good as well. He knows
how to play off of the other characters and his chemistry with Chief Redhorn
and especially Reynard at the end plays very naturalistic and well done.
There’s
a great moment when he reveals to Nightwing that he’s going to let him go.
Obviously they can’t have Nightwing up and depart, so Soames creates the
necessary alibi by allowing Nightwing to take him out, but not before one
condition.
“Make it look convincing and, uh, mind the bridge work.”
There’s
no production design to speak of here; Bludhaven looks like
any-moderate-sized-city USA and there’s not a whole lot going with that. The idea
to have the final confrontation take place in the middle of a car theft ring in
a chop shop is charming though.
The
cinematography is also fairly pedestrian. When I first saw the movie, it was
horribly interlaced and while that doesn’t contribute to the film itself it
does hinder my initial reaction to it.
Some
of the comedic elements fall flat and some dramatic moments hit that low point
of being unintentionally funny.
Case
in point when Grayson rescues Tandy from a pair of hoodlums.
Couple
things:
1:
It’s broad daylight that this ‘mugging’/whatever is occurring.
2:
The duo of goons look like they rolled out of (and off of) a bed and stumbled
into the shot, which might’ve been how they got the roles. The head goon has
even less presence than Grayson and THAT’s saying a lot.
3:
Grayson’s eye work when he delivers the Shatner-esque line “You didn’t
say...please” is almost biblical in its lameness.
And
it all ends with...I don’t even know what...as Dick starts pulling for
something that the goons presume is a gun, causing them to flee. Grayson
reveals it’s a bus ticket, to which he points it at them and whispers “bang.”
Ugh.
There’s
also the goofy, out-of-left-field moment where, after a brutal shootout and
suspected kidnapping at the Minh estate, Nightwing gives chase to the
Falsefacers by riding on top of a delivery truck as the driver blares “I Want
Candy” from the radio.
Comic
relief!
The
fight choreography reeks of staging but they’re doing their best with it.
The
Nightwing costume is well handled (I watched a Featurette back in the day of
them working on it; a lot went into it as it turns out) and it really says
something that the fox mask has become so synonymous with Reynard for me that
when I saw it in a store last Halloween, this movie was immediately what I
thought of.
“A
Knight in Bludhaven” might not be the best. It might not even be all that
great, but it was the first of its kind and very ambitious for such a no-budget
affair. It also chose not to focus on Batman, making a statement that his supporting
characters could possibly hold their own in a movie just as much as their
legendary mentor.
Time
will tell if we ever see Nightwing in any sort of official live action vehicle,
film or television etc.
I’d
certainly be interested in seeing it happen.
----------------------------------------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment