Here at Screen Rant, we love movie mash-ups. Whether it’s an epic preview of things to come (Ultimate 2011 Summer Movie Trailer) or an imaginative twist on a couple of blockbusters (Inception/Toy Story 3 Mash-Up), it’s always fun to see someone take a fresh look at film footage and come up with something new and unique.
That’s why we were so excited when we came across this new mash-up video called The Batman Complex. The video, structured as a full-length movie trailer, comes from YouTube user themanbatman. Using footage from an array of movies, including Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Inception, Batman (1989), and more, The Batman Complex poses an interesting question: What if Batman was a figment of Bruce Wayne’s imagination?
Check out The Batman Complex for yourself below. Some of the other films featured in this mash-up include Shutter Island, The Machinist, and The Prestige (he really dug into the Nolan film canon). I should also call special attention to the haunting choice of music, which comes from Darren Aronofsky’s excellent film, The Fountain.
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On YouTube, themanbatman offers an explanation of the video and what his intentions were for the trailer. Check out his explanation below.
Here we have a full length (well, a bit longer than the norm, but hey, what can you do…hahaha) theatrical trailer that delves a little deeper into the story behind The Batman Complex. As explained in the teaser, the gist of the idea revolves around a few fun topics, mainly the whole “what is real?” train of thought, and also every fans desire, deep down or upfront, to be Batman at least once in their lives. LOL. And so, I tried to craft a story where we see what happens when someone takes their dream of being Batman a little bit too far. An idea, after all, is a truly resilient parasite.
While some of it is still left a bit ambiguous (both unintentionally and intentionally – while there’s only so much that can be strung together, I often like to leave a little bit open so as to see what fellow fans are able to imagine/create), I believe it offers a bit more than the teaser. As you might be able to tell, the theatrical trailer takes on less of a “horror” vibe than the teaser. For this extended look, I wanted to focus more on the character aspects (and a bit of the tragedy as well), and attempt to move past the initial shock of the psychological twist. One aspect I tried to hint at was the paralleling descent of both Bruce and Cobb. As Cobb and the team go deeper into Bruce’s mind, they start to encounter the truly dark issues that his subconscious houses. As a result, Cobb himself gets caught up in the obsession of all that lingers in the mind of a Batman.
The reason I think that The Batman Complex works so well is because it taps into a plausible narrative. Some mash-ups succeed because of their silliness, but this one succeeds because it works as an actual story. An Inception-style journey into the mind of a man who believes he’s a crime-fighting bat? That sounds pretty cool to me.
From a technical perspective, the editor did a great job of maintaining continuity between the different movies (of course this is partly due to the fact that the editor used four different Nolan movies with nearly identical casts). The only thing that took me out of the narrative was the sudden inclusion of Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman, but even that was relatively smooth.
All in all, I would call this a tremendous effort from a very talented editor. Here’s hoping we see more from him in the future. What did you think of The Batman Complex?
BONUS: For fun, try and list all of the films featured in the trailer.
Source: YouTube – Very Special Hat Tip to Kyle Coley for pointing this our way!
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I would pay to see that
Seconded. Motion to carry.
Stop talking about psychology,youll scare the sheep.
Interesting.
So plausible. Makes a better plot than the one Inception had.
And you never know Nolan. He might just end up merging Batman and Inception.
The post credits scene in The Dark Knight Rises might just leave us all baffled.
I swear to God if Leonardo is cast in TDKR this is gonna be the real deal.
I had an idea like this a few years ago, where Batman’s rogue gallery was in his head. Two-Face was the manifestation of the struggle between Bruce doing whats right when fighting criminals and just going Frank Castle on them. The Penguin would be his lustful, greedy, playboy persona he never really got to live due to his obligations being Batman, and the Joker is what would have happened if he had not channeled the witnessing of his parents death for good. In the end he would be fighting these parts of his psyche while in a straight-jacket at Arkham.
Dang it man!!! you ruined the ending…
Seriously though, if this were the ending of TDKR I would be mad… If it were a film short that toyed with the idea, NOT starring any of these guys (bale caine etc) then the film could be good…
A film short that is alot like Marvels “What If…” comics… just make a few 10+ minutes shorts that asks the question… “WHAT IF?…”
Batman wasnt real, spiderman kept the venom suit, FF were the bad guys and doom was good… etc… someone do it, and cast me as a writer…
I am actually working on a short film and this could be our second project if you two would like to work together with us
This, was, AWESOME! Man I’m really glad that you guys showed this, other wise I probably wouldn’t have seeing it. And I would totally watch that movie in theaters. I’ed love to hear what Christopher Nolan would say to this. I just can not get over it, it just so cool.
Very cool…if somewhat depressing.
I loved the Rorschach bat as the final image before the title popped up.
:56 Equilibrium…such a good movie.
Not a good movie… Absolutely amazing movie
Amazing. I would pay to see that in a heartbeat.
Amazing…nuff said
your welcome SR(: ( i’m the one who sent vic the video via twitter lol)
Look at me!
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but thanks!
Sorry Kyle, didn’t know that. We’ll put in a very special shoutout to you!
There ya go bud, check the “sources” entry at the bottom of the post.
hahah thanks, i didnt mean to sound rude or anything.
Ambitious. Interesting. And.. good thing Christian Bale has taken on so many extreme body mods in his work! Much to draw upon.
That was Awesome.
Did I see clips from Smallville?
Batman Begins, TDK, The Machinest, Inception, Shutter Island,and The Prestige… Did I miss any? no smallville clips sorry
Holy Bat symbols how can i forget Tim Burton’s Batman is also used
mind: BLOWN!
*WARNING – Smallville Geek showing….**
That Psychiatric Doctor looks just like the one from Smallville Season 6 Labyrinth. He even gets choked the same way.
RandomMovieFan 19 hours ago
Batman Begins, TDK, The Machinest, Inception, Shutter Island,and The Prestige… Did I miss any? no smallville clips sorry
There looked to be a bit of American Psycho, definately saw clips from Reign of Fire and Children of Men too.
Seen a few of these fan made trailers on Youtube (go over there and check them out, there’s hundreds of mash up styles) and this is up there with the best. Coherent, stylish and from a man who knows his films inside out.
Very well done my man.
American Psycho! ah! is that when he is cryiing on the steps, And Children Of Men i dont see i dont think i catch any Reign Of Fire? good eye thats all i can say, this trailer was amazing seen it like 10 times lol.
Yep…..definately some clips from Smallville!! Season 6 ‘Labyrinth’
Yep…..definately some clips from Smallville. Season 6 ‘Labyrinth’