> Wait, it's not the director's fault the movie sucked? No, it is. Unless you're going to cite studio pressures (and I have no reason to believe that "Batman & Robin" sucked because WB was meddling) the director is pretty much the fellow with the final say on everything.

Agreed, although I do believe that WB did, in fact, meddle overmuch. Unfortunately studios meddle more than not, depending on the calibre and reputation of the makers. Batman, being WB's prize franchise, would have gone to great lengths to muck it up as thoroughly as possible. But I do blame Schumacher as much as they, if not more so. I also blame Akiva Goldsman, the primary screenwriter. Those one-liners were atrocious, and there was absolutely no room for character development whatsoever. But even giving Schumacher the benefit of the doubt, blaming the script and casting and whatnot on the screenwriters and WB, Schumacher is still clearly at fault for the shoddy acting, silly incongruous set pieces, implausible action scenes, campy atmosphere, and that horrid Las Vegas look he gave to Gotham following Tim Burton's departure.

> > Schumacher directed 9MM, which I enjoyed slightly... he directed A Time to Kill, which I thought was incredible.
>
> I didn't see "9MM" for two reasons:

My reason was that there is no such movie. (It's "8MM." Ok, now I'm nitpicking. Fine. :-) )

> Schumacher directed it, and 2) it looked far too similar to "Se7en" which is one of my least favorite all time movies. "A Time to Kill" was allright, but I liked the book better.

The books are always better, by the natures of the mediums. The written word can stimulate the imagination, while visual imagery mandates a particular interpretation. Visuals can still stimulate the imagination, certainly, but it's not the same. At any rate, irrespective of the reasons behind it, I think I can count on the fingers of one hand how many movies I've seen that were better than the books they were made from, and none are clear-cut cases.

At any rate, I liked "A Time To Kill" a lot. I think Schumacher's just fine on things like that, but he sure stinks at comic book type stuff.