Batman has a sordid past. He was painted as a gunslinger, accused of homosexuality, racked with dark tendencies, and suffered campy failure. But through it all his many incarnations has captivated people since the ’30s.
The reinvigorated franchise broke records this weekend with The Dark Night. So, I decided to tackle the most difficult of Batman questions, (insert dramatic pause here): Who plays the best Batman?
Yes, yes, the words on most viewers lips are ‘The Joker.’ Admittedly Heath Ledger’s portrayal was breathtaking, unnerving and made most viewers squirm with a disturbing glee - but the movie is called The Dark Night. So lets talk about the Bat.
Adam West, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney and Christian Bale all took a stab at playing The Bat. Some are captivating, awakening a viewers imagination, while others, frankly, take the big sleep. To fairly decide who plays the best Batman, I’m looking at how closely the character in each Batman installment remains true to the Pulpy original character, box office sales and of course, my arbitrary tastes are tossed in there for good measure.
Batman, 1966, starred Adam West as the Caped Crusader and was a spin off of the TV series. West has a Shatner-esque manner of speech throughout the movie - great for a laugh. But the endless Bat naming of everything in sight is tiresome: Bat ladder, Bat shark repellent. What’s next Bat toilet paper? It is kind of funny - but in a laughing-at-you not laughing-with-you sort of way. Verdict? It’s great for the “POW” and “ZIP” of a comic book and “Da na-na na-na na-na BATMAN!” will be stuck in the heads of generations to come. But, West doesn’t Bat cut-it.
Michael Keaton played Batman twice, in Batman and Batman Returns. Batman grossed $413,200,000 world wide and was met positively enough to garner a ‘sequel.’
Was Keaton the best Batman? Ebert thought the movie was too dark and lacked the humor of the original comic saying, “(it)discards the recent cultural history of the Batman character - the camp 1960s TV series, the in-joke comic books - and returns to the mood of the 1940s, the decade of film noir and fascism.” My verdict? There is humor in the film, and the fact that Batman is more in tune with the darker side of things weighs heavily in its favour......
In Batman Returns Keaton reprises his role as Batman. Although it is thought of as a sequel, director Tim Burton approached the movie as a completely separate entity from Batman and took it as a chance to make a movie more reflective of his own style.
The movie grossed $282,801,937 world wide. Ebert, once again, gave the movie only two stars and sighted the gloomy atmosphere of the film as the main problem. Ebert obviously misses the over the top camp of the 1960s Batman, but do I? Nope.
Verdict? Batman Returns was great fun but the story limits Keaton’s character this time around - in fact the movie should be called Catwoman.
Val Kilmer, what can we say? Is he a good Batman? Ebert gave the film two and a half stars - why? Well it seems he likes bright things and one-liners.
The movie grossed $335,000,000 world wide and yet it seems to be the least memorable Batman movie of the bunch; Val Kilmer is also just as forgettable. Unfortunately the nerve grating cackling of Jim Carrey is not.
George Clooney reportedly said he feared that playing Batman ruined his career - obviously it didn’t. But maybe he ruined Batman? Batman and Robin grossed $237,300,000 world wide - considerably less than the previous movies. It was met with poor reviews and as debonair as George Clooney is, he ain’t a good Batman.
Christopher Nolan could be said to have dragged the Batman franchise, kicking and screaming, from the brink of destruction. Batman Begins grossed $371,824,647 world wide - a stunning comeback. So what was it about Batman Begins that made this Batman so much better? Directors and art producers aside, Christian Bale, our would be bat, was allowed to explore the conflict between Batman and Bruce Wayne. The film was true to the Pulp roots of the comic, but with a style that didn’t overpower the actors - a criticism easily levied at Burton and Schumacher. Verdict? Despite Bale’s double chin when in the Batsuit, his portrayal of a spoiled bachelor with too much money gives him a bat-leg up. “Bale wins.”
Christian Bale in The Dark Night is just as good. So for all of you who haven’t seen the latest bat movie, brave those lineups and enjoy.
Sources
www.numbers.com
Batman the Complete History, Daniels
rogerebert.com
picture: ace_clipart.com
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