Here on our message board discussion of Batman Begins, many people are blaming all the stuff they don’t like in the film on David Goyer. There’s this impression, it seems, that Christopher Nolan was forced to use some Goyer screenplay and that the director valiantly worked to beat it into shape. From what I understand that’s bullshit – Nolan wanted Goyer on the project and had to talk the guy into doing a draft in the first place. On top of that, Nolan did enough work on the script to get screenplay credit. I just want to nip this apologist myth in the bud – don’t dogpile on Goyer.
Or if you’re going to dogpile on Goyer, do it for a good reason, like the fact that his next directing gig will be The Invisible, a remake of a movie only three years old. I guess hanging out with your boyfriend Chris Nolan rubbed off on him, as Nolan was early on the "remake of a recent foreign film" bandwagon with his Insomnia (based on a movie that is so much better than his, and I actually like his version. If you haven’t seen the original Insomnia, I recommend you check out the Criterion Collection edition here – it’s the same film, but completely non-Hollywood. So excellent).
The Invisible is based on a 2002 Swedish film where a teen is beaten and left for dead. Stuck between this side and the other, and invisible to living people, he has to find his body and make sure it doesn’t die. The film will start shooting for Touchstone in Vancouver this September.
In the meantime, lay off Goyer. He’s a good guy and his heart’s in the same place as yours. As much as I think Batman Begins is essentially a failure, it isn’t all his fault and you shouldn’t be scapegoating him.