Mediocre movie, great scene (Batman/Vader)

There aren't many pop culture characters bigger than Batman and Darth Vader. Even if one's an all-time villain and the other the greatest superhero ever invented, they're actually pretty similar in a few ways: orphaned, greatly feared, black outfits, physically imposing, violent. Due to the their popularity and the number of times they've appeared in major media (films, tv and more), everyone knows who they are whether or not they're big fans of DC Comics or Star Wars. For whatever reason I was thinking the other day and find it amusing the best action scenes we have for both come from mediocre films.

The best Batman movies overall are the Christopher Nolan 'Dark Knight' trilogy (starring Christian Bale), though the Tim Burton entries (Michael Keaton), especially the 1989 original, shouldn't be overlooked. Most of the best action from Nolan involved vehicles like the big chase scene in the Dark Knight where they actually flipped a semi-truck. Nolan's hand-to-hand sequences often played into building the myth and legend of the Batman, focusing on the guys getting beaten up and letting Batman be a blur around them. This involved more tricky camera work than fight choreography. If we're looking for the best Batman has to offer I want to see him brawling and absolutely kicking ass. The best example of that came from a film that's a bit of a mess.

I probably like Batman v Superman more than most (I swear the extended 'Ultimate Edition' is an improvement) but I can admit Zack Synder once again over-packed it narratively and otherwise. It suffers from being the middle section of an intended trilogy. Metropolis and Gotham have weirdly become something they've never been before, neighboring cities. Most importantly, the whole plot hinges on the should-be middling detail that both heroes mothers have the same first name. All that said, we got some awesome set pieces.

In this story Batman almost kills Superman before befriending and allying with him. Superman has two places to be at once so Batman helps with one of them. It's a rescue mission where two dozen armed men are holding an important hostage and a perfect opportunity to showcase a close-quarters rough-and-tumble Batman. He's heavily armored and using some gadgetry but his best weapons remain his fists. This is the best Batman fight scene to date, though amazingly it's not even the best part in its own film (which of course is the movie-stealing sudden first appearance of Wonder Woman and her theme music).

On to Darth Vader. Without spending time ripping the more recent Star Wars films, The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker in particular, let's just say that the best the series has to offer featured a mature Darth Vader (i.e. the original trilogy). Even if he wasn't the actual big bad, until the end of Return of the Jedi he was the primary figure to fear and even supplied the big plot twist (and always misquoted line). Being voiced by James Earl Jones certainly enhanced the menacing quality of his character. As a perfect archetypal villain, he was named #3 on AFI's Top 100 list that came out in 2003.

For all this we never saw a no-holds-barred Darth Vader. He ruled through fear as the right hand of the Emperor and got his way using the Force from time to time. When fighting with Obi-Wan and Luke in lightsaber duels they were highly technical, almost like fencing matches. He did pull down a few things in the finale of The Empire Strikes Back but these scenes were restrained by the technology of their time (a fact George Lucas completely overcompensated for in the prequel trilogy).

It was Rogue One that finally gave us a taste of the full power and resulting terror Darth Vader would've inspired in a galaxy far far away. Rogue One is a mostly interesting film that I liked initially and yet have had almost no interest in revisiting. In theory it's a story you want to learn more about but it's simultaneously hampered because you know everyone is going to die. You're left only with the how it all goes down. What hurts it most in retrospect is none of the protagonists, with the exception of the robot K-2SO, is overly magnetic or likable. Luckily, or wisely on the part of Lucasfilm, they added a scene at the end that linked directly to the opening of Episode IV ('Star Wars' originally, or 'A New Hope'). Involving an unleashed Darth Vader made it far and away the most memorable part of the movie.

Basically the Rogue One crew, as expected, is successful in their mission and able to transmit the Darth Star plans to nearby Rebels. Those plans need to be taken out of the reach of attacking Imperial soldiers, which includes Darth Vader at his action best.

This feels like it could be a fun series of posts. Let me know if you have any other favorite scenes from otherwise meh movies, especially if they best represent beloved characters. For now thanks for reading and I'll see you next time.