for the new Batman movie, “Batman Begins“, most of them lamenting what the previous series of movies sunk to by the time Batman & Robin came out. The trouble is these reviews tend to lump all of those together, which does a great disservice to the Burton/Keaton Batman. The new Batman is supposed to be edgy and dark and feature Wayne/Batman’s psychological problems prominently? Well so did Burton’s film, and I would be very surprised if Christian Bale can pull it off any better than the surprising Michael Keaton did 16 years earlier.
Michael Boyle's weblog
aj says
I never liked Burton’s / Keaton’s Batman. The villains were always much more interesting, Keaton as Wayne was much more of a cipher – there was exposition but not much actual display of ‘disturbed’ behaviour. Plus, it’s hard to escape the fact that it’s, you know, Michael Keaton. Mr. Mom. Burton has a weird sense of casting to be sure.
And then there’s that rather disturbing undercurrent of misogyny in all of Burton’s films – women are weak, vain, greedy, slutty, and/or virgin sacrifices, usually subject to rather horrific tortures or deaths…
long says
The first four movies looked more liked four very long episodes of a tv show.
Anthony says
Strange that as a comic book reader, I don’t feel more excited about this film. Maybe it’s just that (aside from the cheesy-but-fun 60’s Batman movie, which I own on DVD) I never liked the other live-action versions of Batman as much as I like the recent animated version. Or maybe I’m just afraid it’ll reflect the tone of the last decade or so of Batman comics (which are pretty much complete dreck IMO…Batman’s “personality” in the current comics reminds one of Dick Cheney or John Ashcroft…); my favorite comic book version of Bats is his 70’s and 80’s version.
Then again, I don’t seem to get to the movies often enough these days, anyway; I still haven’t gotten aronund to seeing “Spider-Man 2” yet…
John says
I thought Keaton worked in the context of what was basically “Tim Burton’s Batman.” Burton, at the time, was very good at imaginative set pieces but his characters didn’t have a whole of depth.
Anthony, I haven’t been a big Batman fan in the comics recently, either but it seems this year a lot of his actions are having serious consequences for him personally. Jason Todd seems to be back. Batman’s global satellite surveillance system, which he invented to keep tabs on the “metahumans” who once betrayed him, has been stolen, and his inaction led to the death of one of his colleagues. So yeah, lately, Batman’s a dick.
I’ll still see the movie. But why does he have to have a love interest every time? He does better when he’s alone, or hanging around naughty chicks in PVC, or with young boys.