Quentin Tarantino Explains 'The Lone Ranger' Love, Dismisses Batman

In truth, I wasn't surprised to hear that Quentin Tarantino found The Lone Ranger to be a personal favorite of 2013, so far. Sure, earlier this year I broke down in detail why I think the movie doesn't work, but that process included a lot of discussion about what The Lone Ranger wants to be — and it wants to be a lot more than most failed experiments aspire to. That's enough to make it worth a conversation, at least.

That said, when recently asked about the choice, the explanation offered by Tarantino wasn't quite what I would have expected to hear. Check out that quote below, along with QT's discussion of his general take on Batman. (Some spoilers for The Lone Ranger follow.)

In an interview with with French outlet Les Inrockuptibles (via The Playlist) Tarantino said,

The first forty-five minutes are excellent ...the next forty-five minutes are a little soporific. It was a bad idea to split the bad guys in two groups; it takes hours to explain and nobody cares. Then comes the train scene—incredible! When I saw it, I kept thinking, 'What, that's the film that everybody says is crap? Seriously?

That being said, I still have a little problem with the film. I like Tonto's backstory—the idea that his tribe got slaughtered because of him; that's a real comic-book thing. But the slaughter of the tribe, by gunfire, from the cavalry, it left a bitter taste in my mouth. The Indians have really been victims of a genocide. So slaughtering them again in an entertaining movie, Buster Keaton style... That ruined the fun a bit for me. I simply found it...ugly.

I agree completely with that take on the slaughter of the tribe, which fit awkwardly against the rest of the film. And I like that the opinion isn't an all or nothing affair for QT — the movie had problems, he concedes, but the good stuff still wins out. Fair enough.

Meanwhile, the more attention-getting comment from Tarantino is his general dismissal of Batman as a character. Asked about Ben Affleck being cast in the role, he said,

I have to admit that I don't really have an opinion. Why? Because Batman is not a very interesting character. For any actor. There is simply not much to play. I think Michael Keaton did it the best, and I wish good luck to Ben Affleck. But, you know who would have made a great Batman? Alec Baldwin in the '80s.

Get some more talk at that Playlist link above. Guess this scuttles any fan fantasies of having QT make a Batman film.