Batman-What the F***? Keaton?
There have been quite a few Batman flicks since the 1989 “original” staring Michael Keaton. The story is well-known: guy sees family murdered, becomes a bit of a psycho, starts wearing tights and beating the crap out of bad guys, oh yes and he dresses as a bat.
Now, what really makes Batman a fun ride are the performances. Keaton as Batman wasn’t a very good pick. It didn’t make any sense in 1989, 1999 and it won’t make sense in 2009. Tim Burton is a genius, but this was a bonehead move all the way. He does a decent job overall, but almost everyone was saying the same thing–Keaton? What? Are you serious? In fairness to Keaton it took a long time to find the right fit for the costume. Kilmer was a bit flat but showed some promise, Clooney was, well Clooney who should stick to directing as Confessions of a Dangerous Mind was quite well done.
Only American Psycho, Bale, seems to be doing the trick. That is due in large partm from moving the series away from the nipple suits and goofiness of Batman and Robin and more towards the adult universe of the comic. The rest of the cast, however, really adds to the grand feel of the film. Probably most talked about is Jack Nicholson as the Joker and deservingly so for he completely steals the show. Basinger, Jack Palance and Billy Dee Williams all toss in performances that helped give the film a polished feel.
There is much that works in Batman: the car, the costume, the set design, just about all of the Joker’s scenes. It is only when we see Keaton as Bruce Wayne that the suspension of disbelief takes a tough blow to the face. As a whole, the film had an original look and feel for its day and showed shades of exactly what Burton could be capable of doing.
Like it or hate it, Batman was innovative. This innovative look and feel undoubtedly helped it score a huge take of a little over $400 million on a budget of around $30-$40 million. Thus, making it one extremely profitable film. Today, of course, the film would probably cost more like $120 million dollars if all involved “did the impossible and thought outside the box.” This is a true indicator of how much the industry has changed in just 14 or 15 years. Obviously, the cost of living has not increased by a factor of 300% but I digress.
Like many blockbusters part of what made Batman a wild success was the high level of name recognition. We see this with not only sequels, such as Star Wars or the Terminator films, but with other works that ride the wave of familiarity, ranging from kids films like Aladdin or Tarzan to Spider-Man and Harry Potter. The point being that Batman was simply not a huge risk, as there was a built in fan base which likely assured a profit regardless of quality.
Batman was fun, especially for fans of the old television series or comic that had been starving to see a big-screen incarnation for decades. And it worked, it satisfied the hunger and wetted the appetite for more. Unfortunately, what followed was less than tasty or appealing. While, a bit corny and silly at parts and suffering from some horrible casting decisions, such as Jeri Hall, (did you try to block that out?) Batman still had enough style, enough moodiness, enough strong performances and enough sexiness to earn a high grade.
Story B
Acting B
Visuals A
Originality/Innovation B+
Enjoyability Grade B+
Home Theater/HD Factor B
Overall Grade B+
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