Appealing For Bond And Batman

It is that time of the year again when people, from professional critics to us moviegoers shuffle out horoscopes from our personal, most precious opinions and predict who will be the big winners at the Oscar night. As this February ends, I am all for Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg winning his third trophy and his epic biopic bagging enough wins to wipe out all the recent skepticism we had about his prowess. And I am equally hoping for oft-misunderstood Quentin Tarantino to achieve Oscar glory after missing it for two previous occasions. But here, I am not making any predictions. What I wish to do is to make an appeal.

I would like to appeal that Batman and James Bond get a chance at Oscar glory as well.

Well, outrageous as it may sound, that is NOT an unreasonable demand. Fans of both the Batman franchise (yes sir, I am talking about the rebooted version) and the 50-year old James Bond series are probably wondering why the hell Uncle Oscar does not quite look at them with love. It is the same as paying respect to two master performers- one a 7 year old child, the other 50 years old and in a time when younger, more dynamic people are bagging big wins, it still feels unfair that these two often miss the chance.

Consider the James Bond series itself. The 23 films spanning 5 decades spawned an immense fanfare and even hard-core Ian Fleming loyalists could not help but give in. Each film was structured like an episode- the central character, the one who mentions his second name first and gulps down, mostly martini, was one of the few common threads and pretty much everything was new in each film- the mission, locations, beautiful women (always a requisite), gadgetry, new cars fitted with new devices and plenty of action and explosions. Oh yes, at times, villains were recast, old alliances were re-introduced but all the 23 films, each one of them, gave us devoted fans more than enough summer-movie entertainment. Sure, the series did have some lows, more often than not. But there have been many gems as well which stay with us pretty long.

And this year, another gem was included. As if commemorating the mostly fun-filled years that agent OO7 gave us, solid director Sam Mendes gave us the rip-roaring, classy and wonderfully charming ‘Skyfall’ a much anticipated 23^rd outing that fantastically blended the new and the old, the glistening muscles and abs of Daniel Craig with the more luminous muscles of good old Aston Martin DB5, Whoa!

And what about Batman? This year, there was another anticipated blockbuster, the hotly awaited sequel to the seminal ‘The Dark Knight’. When ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ was eventually unfolded, a few were disappointed but most welcomed it as nothing less than an epic conclusion to the impressively edgy Batman saga, started by director Christopher Nolan back in 2005. For me, it was a complete film, a perfect end to a saga and pretty well-done at that. The film was a perfect mix of epic drama with enough suspense and intrigue to make for a truly stunning experience.

And yet, the Oscars, being blatant, have ignored both these films completely. This is downright criminal and it even feels terribly unfair.

There are some who lamely justify the Academy’s stance on James Bond films and the superhero films by saying that the jury would not accept normally fantasy or superhero films. It even feels like a fair explanation but the past itself throws up several loopholes in the law.

Consider 1939’s ‘Wizard of Oz’. It was a full-fledged fantasy movie and yet it is loved by everyone who watched it and critics go on to call it the finest film that year. And even if it lost to the hot contender ‘Gone With The Wind’, there is no denying that ‘Wizard’ did have a big chance at the Oscars.

Then came 1977’s ‘Star Wars’, a full-fledged sci-fi fantasy movie stuffed with aliens, robots, comic-book heroes and villains and essentially a comic book in its storytelling. And yet, the Academy recognized the film’s entertainment value and gave it enough due. Which space film can ever dream of bagging 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, and winning away 6? In these days, it would feel like a dream itself.

And there are so many other cases as well. ‘Raiders of The Lost Ark’, at heart a no-brainer but helmed with such a free flow of humor, action and spectacle and it actually, was according to some, the real Best Picture of 1981.

Really, I wonder whether the new spate of ultra-realistic films has blinded the Oscar jury from all those occasions. Fine, okay, the Academy has made some serious blunders- like giving away the pulpy ‘Forrest Gump’ the Oscar instead of ‘Pulp Fiction’, that year’s true winner. But dismissing fantasy, or rather good fantasy, is a criminal act. Fantasy is someone’s vivid imagination and when done exceptionally well, it not only intrigues. It also amazes us and leaves us spellbound. That itself is a form of entertainment, a form that needs to be duly celebrated. To ignore it, in the name of adhering to ground rules, is something that does not feel right at all.

In fact, it also feels hypocritical. In 2004, the ‘Lord of the Rings- Return of the King’, often dubbed as the weakest film in the trilogy, went on to capture infuriatingly 11 Oscar wins, beating that year’s worthy rivals like ‘Mystic River’ and ‘Master and Commander- The Far Side of The World’. But in 2008, the year’s truly best film ‘The Dark Knight’ was not even considered proper for the Best Picture. Isn’t that unfair?

Okay, so I am being a fanboy. There are many people who will say that both Batman and Bond don’t quite make the cut. But this year, we have been handed smart blockbusters that entertain as well as fare high in their ideas and intelligence. Not giving them equal chance is really bad.

In a time when even our most cherished fantasies are becoming smart and grown-up, why not give them a chance to contend with the usual collection of forefront nominees?