I’m Batman: A look back at live-action Dark Knights

Posted by nerdblog

on June 23, 2009M at 12:06 pm

Today is the 20th anniversary of the 1989 “Batman” film starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson. I remember my brother and I desperately anticipating this film, which we then saw multiple times over the summer. (Thanks to the Bat-Blog for the reminder.)

With the 1989 “Batman” on my mind, I decided to take a look back at the men who have portrayed Batman in live-action over the years.

Lewis Wilson was the first man to don the cowl of the Bat in the 1943 serial “Batman.” It’s done well enough for the time, though the racial overtones are difficult, if not impossible, to get around. Batman and Robin protect Gotham City from Dr. Tito Daka, who’s about as stereotypical as you’d expect for 1943. Ironically, perhaps, the DVD of the serial was released by a subsidiary of Sony.

Robert Lowery replaced Wilson in 1949’s “Batman and Robin,” as the Dynamic Duo face the Wizard and his death ray. It’s cheaper, and not as well-done as 1943’s “Batman,” but contains less offensive content, if you’re considering checking it out with younger viewers.

Here’s what The Oklahoman’s entertainment editor Gene Triplett wrote about “Batman and Robin” for its DVD release:

The Saturday morning serial model of Batman shown in the theaters of 1949 was pretty low-budget: His pointy ears and nose more closely resemble those of a Doberman pinscher than a bat, Robin’s mask is of the dime-store rubber-band Halloween variety, and the Batmobile is nothing more than a stock 1949 Mercury convertible, sans fins, Bat-mask grille or any other snazzy options.

Batman is played by Robert Lowery, accurately described as a “colorless B-movie actor” in David Inman’s “TV Encyclopedia,” and best-known as Big Tim Champion on the ’50s TV series “Circus Boy.” John Duncan, a young body-builder with an Okie accent, is Robin, and B-movie stalwart Lyle Talbot (”Plan 9 From Outer Space”) is Commissioner Gordon. If you don’t take your Batman too seriously, here’s 15 chapters (261 minutes) of unintentional hilarity.

Batman next appeared when Adam West brought the character back with the campy 1960s television series. Rights issues have precluded the TV series from being released on DVD, though the 1966 movie is available. “Batman” reruns were a staple of television throughout the 1980s, showcasing the program’s quirky charm to another generation. My brother and I couldn’t wait to race home to watch “Batman” for years; we were older before we realized it was supposed to be funny.

The Oklahoman’s Renee Lawrence asked West in 2001 what he thought gave the 1960s “Batman” its staying power among later generations.

“I think possibly it’s because we made a great effort to do it on several levels: for the kids, so they would enjoy all the splash, adventure, color, the bizarre villains and situations and so the adults would see the humor and laugh along with it,” West said. “And I think it worked because, I’m not that old, but I have three generations of folks coming to see me at these live appearances. It’s wonderful.”

Though Batman appeared in his own cartoons and in “SuperFriends” in the 1970s and 1980s, that was it for live-action “Batman” for several years, until Tim Burton’s ” Batman” was a critical and commercial tour-de-force in 1989.

” Batman” took nearly a decade to get made, as multiple approaches were tried before director Tim Burton came aboard.

The film likely couldn’t have been made without the darker ” Batman” comics of the 1980s, including “Dark Knight Returns” and “Killing Joke,” which Burton showed at meetings to get the 1960s “Bam! Pow!” version out of executives’ heads.

Michael Keaton is an unlikely but outstanding Bruce Wayne/ Batman, who sees his parents killed and dedicates his life to fighting crime. Burton mentions he didn’t want a traditional muscleman for Batman. Keaton looked crazy enough to put on a Batsuit to frighten criminals.

Casting Jack Nicholson as the Joker was almost “too obvious,” Burton says in the commentary, while Kim Basinger was a last-minute replacement as Vicki Vale for Sean Young.

Things turned darker with 1992’s ” Batman Returns,” featuring Michelle Pfeiffer’s slinky Catwoman and Danny DeVito’s malformed Penguin. Christopher Walken was slimy businessman Max Shreck.

Critics and parents squawked at the misfit Penguin, who was a far cry from Burgess Meredith’s dapper interpretation.

The result was Burton’s sliding into the producer’s role for ” Batman Forever,” allowing Joel Schumacher to take over the directorial reins.

Val Kilmer makes a striking Batman and a perfectly acceptable Bruce Wayne; the film does offer some psychological insight into the character – now in a love triangle with Nicole Kidman’s sexy psychologist Dr. Chase Meridian. The origin of Robin (Chris O’Donnell) is right from the comics and manages a good introduction for a character Burton had twice avoided.

Where the film fails is with the villains. Tommy Lee Jones’ Two-Face is a poor man’s Joker, and while Jim Carrey’s Riddler is at times sparkling, the movie is too much at Carrey’s disposal.

Still, audiences were crazy for Carrey, and the lighter “Forever” was a huge moneymaker in 1995.

This led to almost immediate preproduction on ” Batman and Robin.” George Clooney, then best-known for his role on “ER,” donned the cape, cowl, and nipples of Batman. While Clooney isn’t a great Batman, it’s hard to say it’s entirely his fault.

The film introduces Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze, Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy and Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl. Schwarzenegger is badly miscast, doesn’t carry off the tragic arc of Mr. Freeze (imported from the excellent animated series) and can’t get through a scene without a hideous cold-related pun. The failure of ” Batman and Robin” kept the series on ice until the recent ” Batman Begins.”

The Oklahoman’s George Lang called “Batman Begins” the second-best movie of 2005.
Joel Schumacher’s ” Batman and Robin” was so ghastly in its day-glo kitschiness, it almost qualified as a directorial hate crime, and it fell to Christopher Nolan (”Memento,” “Insomnia”) to rehabilitate the moribund franchise. But this was no mere rehabilitation: ” Batman Begins” is a glorious creation story drawing from Frank Miller’s ” Batman: Year One” and featuring the best cinematic Bruce Wayne to date, Christian Bale. The British cult actor balances introspection with the expected physicality in a performance that never condescends – Bale takes every element of his task seriously. Throw in Nolan’s customarily nonlinear storytelling, a truly scary villain (Cillian Murphy as Scarecrow) and a supporting cast (Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Tom Wilkinson, Gary Oldman and Rutger Hauer) working at peak levels, and ” Batman Begins” becomes the first Batman film completely worthy of its subject.

That brings us to last year’s “The Dark Knight,” the best Batman film yet. While Bale’s Batman is overshadowed by Heath Ledger’s Joker – much like Keaton was overshadowed by Nicholson – it’s a tour-de-force of a movie. ”The Dark Knight” begins as a heist caper, as goons in clown masks execute a bank robbery. But the twists in that scene foreshadow the entire film: “The Dark Knight” will not be business as usual.

In Gotham City, an aggressive new district attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) and police Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) are following the lead of the crime-fighter Batman (Christian Bale) in taking it to the Mob. Together, the three have put a dent in the Mob’s control over the city. But the game is about to change. Anarchic madman the Joker (Heath Ledger) tells the Mob’s leaders that the answer to their problems is clear: Get rid of Batman.

The Joker looms large over the film “The Dark Knight,” at least partially because Ledger, who portrays the villain, died of an accidental drug overdose. But “The Dark Knight” is a tribute to his talents, as Ledger disappears into the role of the Joker. As the madman at the center of this crime epic, the Joker’s lunacy has the town on edge. While the Joker ostensibly is working for the city’s criminal powers, his real goal is chaos. This creepy vision of the Joker is original and unsettling, with greasy hair and a painted-on smile covering scars.

“The Dark Knight” is as much, or more, crime epic as comic-book adventure, and it reveals how far competent hands can take the Batman character when played straight. Batman’s alter ego, Bruce Wayne, yearns for a real life, possibly with Assistant District Attorney Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal). But as long as Gotham needs him as a protector, he must fill that role. Batman sees in Dent a possible replacement; his legal solutions for crime could take the place of Batman’s fists and technology.

The Joker doesn’t want a return to normalcy; he wants a city mad enough to need Batman for a defender. Their battle takes on multiple dimensions, both in the persons of Batman and the Joker, and the city at large, as director Christopher Nolan asks: What rules are worth breaking?

- Matt Price