Ashes to AshesHere’s yet another “Batman” fan film directed by Julien Mokrani and Samuel Bodin. While Sandy Collora’s “Batman: Dead End” was 5 minutes of pure fun, “Ashes to Ashes’ is something more and something less at the same time.
It is three times longer, having a running time of 15 minutes + 3 minutes of end credits and yet it feels very rushed. I’ve read on the official page that the script in its original form was 100 pages, and had to be cut to mere 20. Collora’s work is self contained, short and sweet and in that 5 minutes he managed to round it up nicely, while “Ashes to Ashes” leaves something to be desired. I know it sounds ridiculous, but despite having no story, “Batman: Dead End” had a better story than “Ashes to Ashes”. “Ashes to Ashes” tries to bring some serious drama and character development, and in my opinion, falls flat because there isn’t enough time to properly draw out the characters and it the end it feels pathetic. You know, those supposedly very deep psychological dramas. All the critics usually praise such works, but these films dwell so deep and engage in some “smart’ psychobabble and you can’t shake the feeling you’re actually watching bullshit.
Truth to be told, the first time I’ve watched I was left pretty much confused in terms of what I’ve just seen. I understood there were three guys who robbed someone’s house, and then Batman killed them, while The Joker was babbling something and Harley was doing… something. Feeling utterly stupid, I checked the synopsis on the official website, replayed it and things finally started to make some sense.
Another major turn off is French as spoken language. Generally, there’s two languages I can’t stand hearing on film – French and German. While I’ve reviewed and liked some French spoken films, in “Ashes to Ashes” it really got on my nerves. And finally, the last con before the pros – Batman, the character. OK, it’s modeled after Frank Miller’s darker version (which I prefer), and looks scary, visually… but his voice in “Ashes to Ashes” is awful. The directors told that the only thing their Batman has in common with Nolan’s Batman is the gruff voice. It doesn’t. Here, Batman doesn’t speak. He just screams over and over. And the screams sound like the wails of a dying animal.
Now for the good part – the visual style of “Sin city” and the “The Spirit”. But even that’s not flawless. There’s glow effect added on the white color which really doesn’t do anything good, except prevent you to see a scene clearly.
The more I think of it, the worse “Ashes to Ashes” gets. Yes, it looks interesting at first glance, but that’s about it. It wants to be bigger than it is, causing its own undoing. Nevertheless, as this is a non-profit fan film, I urge you to at least give it a look, regardless of what you have read here. Besides, you may end up liking it for all you know.
P.S. Watch the “HD” version on Dailymotion. The "LD" is just awful and unwatchable.
Rating: 4/10
- review by Ventilation Shaft
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