Verdict: The Original Batman Films

The Original Batman Films

This week I go back over the old Batman movies because... well I got all the films on DVD and it seemed like a good idea. So lets all look at them all separately, starting with:

BATMAN:

Wow, is it just me or is the quality of Circ Du Soleil really going downhill

Tim Burton's first film was quite an interesting experience, going in I knew that I would inevitably compare the film to The Dark Knight (In a mirror of the Heath Ledger problem). But from the start my fears were immediately allayed. Batman is a very different movie to Knight, while they both are dripping with grit, Batman  does it in Tim Burton's usual fashion where it is so stylised you don't know how to take it is it so far gone in a self-knowing ironic way, or is it serious? I'm still not one hundred percent sure but I'm leaning toward the later. Anyway in this film the title character was played by Michael Keaton (an actor who I haven't seen much of) and it was a really strong performance, not quite the terminally unhinged performance Bale brings, rather it is one I found more enjoyable to watch as he moves through his times as Bruce Wayne with a self saddening glide, as though he is troubled by the unfortunate duality he leads. While as Batman he is akin to smoke, there one minute and gone from site the next, it reminded me a lot of the Batman in Arkham Asylum. And now to address the thing that concerned me the most.... The Joker. Let me explain, I think that Heath Ledgers Joker could be the single greatest character portrayal I have seen in all my experience, so I was hesitant to compare the two men, however Nicholson's Joker proved to be a different beast, rather than a self assured man who  only wants to show everyone how mad they are, Nicholson's Joker was just there for 'te LOLz' and I want to go along with it in that fun spirited sort of way. It wasn't without it's flaws though, the Joker was like the one splash of colour in the otherwise dreary city and while sometimes that could be exiliratingly funny, but there were too many occasions that it felt out of touch with the rest of the film.

BATMAN RETURNS:

hmm... I think we're doing it wrong

I feel as though I can't add much to the first tow aspects of my previous review here, Burton was still Burton and Keaton was still good. It is the change in villains that really sets this piece apart, with the superhero laws of movies demanding two villains we now get the Penguin, as a spurned freak who only wants vengeance despite the direction of Max Shreck, and Catwoman a nebish office worker turned sexual goddess thanks to some cats. Lets start by letting the cat out of the bag:

So in this film Catwoman acts as the principal love interest toying with Batman and trying to get Bruce Wayne into her Batcave. I think this character is a lot better built for Burton's trademark style as she can fit in with the darkness and the light, as reflected by her personality. The Penguin also works really well, being played to the point of grotesque by Danny DeVito (Whose back catalogue I now want to raid) once again the character fits better with the scenes he finds himself in and clashes less than the Joker. So in the end I rate Batman Returns higher than Batman, but not quite up to Nolan standard

BATMAN FOREVER:

"If I could just reach my Bat Orgasm spr.. Ahh there we go"

And now we enter Schumacher ville, I promised a friend I would enter this as I would an episode of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. So keeping that in mind lets begin with the villains. Dressed in colourful clothes and fancy purple make-up Tommy Lee Jones is Two Face and if done right I would have nothing wrong with this, however because the film seems so determined to harp on about duality and his bloody coin I felt as though old Face was a bad choice as a villain, if they had just had him as a homicidal lunatic who determined people fate with a coins, so with out the whole DA back story I would have like it a lot more. And then the other villain is the Riddler played by Jim Carey in good old Jim Carey fashion, and I honestly thought I would never say anything like this but.... This version has killed all other versions of the Riddler as I don't think any others will work. The Riddler is the perfect villain for this campy style Batman, he is hilarious and the right level of unhinged to get it across with out clashing with the overall message of the thing. As for the directing, the world Schumacher creates is the nice blend of colour and darkness to make it interesting to watch the cinematography at least. Now if you are wondering why they mix colour with darkness, the big wigs at WB wanted the Batman series to become more family friendly and thus sent it to Schumacher to kiddy-ies so this is meant to be the easing process, with the next film being the full fledged cam version. Darkness you say? But the villains were bright colours and lights? Ahh well that's where Batman comes in, Val Kilmer isn't quite up to the same standard as Micheal Keaton and when he speaks it is like I can see the puppeteer putting his hands up his ass and making the motions, but as the Jokers colour clashed with the darkness of Batman then Batman's darkness clashes with colour of Batman Forever. And Robin was not needed, seriously Batman could have easily taken both of them out, and he pretty much did, so aside from holding a few storylines together I would have cut Robin.

BATMAN & ROBIN:

The movie a lot of people seemed to think they were watching

... Okay I don't know why this requires a review, either you've seen it and didn't mind it or you want to tie Joel Schumacher down to the railway tracks and set moustache twirling Justice on him.  So as far as I'm concerned this movie was just bland, there was nothing about it to set it out as good or memorable and nothing in there like say.... large robot testicles to make me want to hate it. So why do people hate it, well I think that rather than it being the "WRST MVIE EVAR!" it is more what it represents. This movie was the thing that killed the Burton franchise, gone was the dark and brooding Batman of the Burton days, now we had George Clooney and his crotch shots, I mean could you imagine if in the next Batman film Hippy man was made the villain, it would completely tarnish everything that has come before, including Heath Ledger's performance. No this isn't Transformers 2, so I can't hate it, but here is someone who can:

Summing up:

So the whole lot were a steady progression from above middle, top, below 1 and at the middle point, so the Verdict?

Verdict: