Michael Keaton as Batman ** 89 trailers pg 3

Re: Michael Keaton as Batman

I did enjoy the first two Keaton outings. Still do.

I like Nolan's more grounded version, though, too.


In terms of Bale's performance...I think it's tough to gauge.

The first one takes the character along such a journey that it's never 100% clear where the line gets drawn, which I think is the point. Where does Bruce Wayne end, and Batman begin? I think part of why I got that sense was because so much of the first Nolan film was about Bruce Wayne's journey to BECOMING Batman. You didn't get to see as much of him as an established Batman, and, consequently, as an established Bruce Wayne. The closest you get to the fake Wayne persona is the scene during the party where he pretends to be drunk and rude to get everyone to leave. Outside of that, everything else is Wayne preparing for his mission, which really isn't that different from Batman.

By contrast, Batman '89 draws much starker differences, but is in many ways a less personal journey. Mostly because it's not a journey for the Wayne/Batman character. It's an introduction to Batman. Two different things.


With TDK, I think the big problem was the lack of focus, and the splitting between three principal characters. You had to take all this time to show who Harvey Dent was, so that you could show what happens as he becomes Two-Face. You had to show the Joker's arrival on the scene, so that you build up the menace he represents. Oh, right, and Batman was somewhere in that film, too. And I think Bruce Wayne was in it for...what...30 seconds?

TDK was entertaining as a thrill-ride, but I found it to be a lot less satisfying as a BATMAN story than Batman Begins. The focus was lost. Much as I would've wished in Begins to see a bit more of what makes Scarecrow tick, in retrospect, I'm glad we didn't get much of him. He isn't the point of the film -- Batman is. TDK, on the other hand, is a lot more about Dent and The Joker and oh-by-the-way-Batman-too, and as a result it never feels like it gives any one of the characters enough time. MAYBE the Joker, but I think people were just focused on the whole "Last Role" thing. (even though it wasn't his last role)

I still enjoyed TDK, but...it felt kind of all-over the place. I've only seen it once, so maybe repeated viewings would help it coalesce for me, but Begins always felt very tightly focused, and I appreciated that.



Oh, and I dislike the Bat-Voice, too. I think it got worse in TDK because you saw so much of it. I kept wondering how Bale didn't just break into coughing fits or give up and go all Doctor Claw. "I'll get you next time, Joker! NEXT TIME!!"
 
Re: Michael Keaton as Batman

Oh, right, and Batman was somewhere in that film, too. And I think Bruce Wayne was in it for...what...30 seconds?

I dislike the Bat-Voice, too. I think it got worse in TDK because you saw so much of it.

So, wait, not enough Batman or too much? :lol

I think that the narrative having multiple point-of-view changes does not dilute the effectiveness of the Batman character in TDK because the presence of the other characters it cuts to are only defined insofar as they apply to Batman.

They present opportunities for him to further define himself in opposition of them. It's not the story of Harvey Dent, or the Joker, but of what they represent for Batman. How they help to define HIM.
 
Re: Michael Keaton as Batman

Oh, and I dislike the Bat-Voice, too.

I love the bat-voice, because it makes it more fun to read this to my kid:

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as it is presently his favorite bedtime book.
 
Re: Michael Keaton as Batman

So, wait, not enough Batman or too much? :lol

Not enough Batman, but what you saw were extended periods of him talking, instead of extended periods of him beating up thugs. So, you got a lot of the voice when the character was on screen, but his appearances on screen, for me, seemed almost incidental to the rest of the story which came across as far more focused on Dent and the Joker.

I think that the narrative having multiple point-of-view changes does not dilute the effectiveness of the Batman character in TDK because the presence of the other characters it cuts to are only defined insofar as they apply to Batman.

They present opportunities for him to further define himself in opposition of them. It's not the story of Harvey Dent, or the Joker, but of what they represent for Batman. How they help to define HIM.

Yeah, I didn't really get that from the film. But then, as I said, it's been a while since I saw it and I only saw it once in the theater. What stuck out in my mind was that there was a lot of focus on the other two. Maybe that was done to bring them into contrast with Batman, but my memory is a movie about Two-Face/Dent, the Joker, and that other guy who talks funny.
 
Re: Michael Keaton as Batman

Does anyone remember Keaton on SNL where he was Bruce Wayne and Alfred kept bringing people down to the Batcave? I can't find that clip anywhere.
 
Re: Michael Keaton as Batman

They all look so... happy. Are they having a birthday party?

Joker's happy to have stolen the Batmobile, and Batman is happy to have caught him. Seriously, man; little kids don't care about the Tim Burton-on version of Batman, because parents don't expose them to it. How does Batman become Batman isn't a question that occurs to kids. He's Batman. That's all they need to know. You tell a three year old that Batman's parents got killed and he dresses in black to strike fear into the bad guys, who, every time he punches one, he sees the face of Joe Chill, the guy who murdered Mommy and Daddy right in front of him, and, well... you're going to be up a lot in the middle of the night. If not actually adding a future serial murderer to society.

We're cracking through the Adam West version, so as far as my three-and-a-half year old knows, Joker's just a bad-guy clown.
 
Re: Michael Keaton as Batman

Loved Keaton in the role, in any role for that matter.
 
Re: Michael Keaton as Batman

We're cracking through the Adam West version, so as far as my three-and-a-half year old knows, Joker's just a bad-guy clown.

Which, to be fair, is scary enough. Especially with greasepaint overtop a moustache. >shudder<
 
Re: Michael Keaton as Batman

All of this inspired me to watch Batman last night (on my newly acquired 60" lcd tv :love).


I had forgotten just how little of Batman was actually in this film. :lol


Despite this there are many brilliant moments in this film-

Batman delievring his "warning" to the thug on the roof, then jumping off the roof itself. A total Batman move.

The entire Axis Chemicals sequence from the first appearance of Batman to Napier's bleached white hand emerging from the river.

Joker shooting boss Grissom several times (especially the over-the-shoulder shot) and topping it off with "Ehh what a day!"

Joker's coversation with the charred remains of Antoine Rotelli. Nicholson was brilliant repeating the line "I'm glad you're dead!" over and over, laughing more maniacally each time. I burst into laughter even after all these years.

The Batmobile. Love it!

The Batcave and Batman's command console.

The Wayne murder flashback. This couldn't have been done more perfectly in my mind despite blowing it by having Napier revealed as the killer. The low camera angles, the echoed/heightened sounds, the pearls and popcorn falling; all very dreamlike and memory-like. Ripped right from the pages of a comic book!

Keaton "grimacing" while pulling up in the Batwing. I don't know why- but this really made me think "THAT'S BATMAN!" back in the theater in 1989. Wish he had done this a little more. But perhaps it would have been overdone and the one look was enough.


Of course I liked a lot more of this film, but these bits stand out the most for me. :thumbsup


Kevin
 
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Re: Michael Keaton as Batman

Ha! He doesn't even see it. Egghead and Mr. Freeze are the guys he doesn't like; Egghead is too manic and looks weird and Mr. Freeze is too German, or something. :)
 
Ha! He doesn't even see it. Egghead and Mr. Freeze are the guys he doesn't like; Egghead is too manic and looks weird and Mr. Freeze is too German, or something. :)

Thats why when kids need a superhero fix you buy them Sky High. They'll love you for it.lol
 
Re: Michael Keaton as Batman

I'm good pals with Kieron Dwyer, the artist who did the comic work in the credits. In my case it's not so much having to buy Sky High as having to buy ANOTHER copy, as we're wearing this one out. :)
 
Re: Michael Keaton as Batman

What's more, he's a VULCANIAN, people. Can it with this "Vulcan" crap, already! :D

It wasn't the only time, and not just at the beginning, either. :)
 
Re: Michael Keaton as Batman

He's just shooting blanks to scare the criminals. It's all part of an elaborate ruse.
 
Re: Michael Keaton as Batman

Joker's happy to have stolen the Batmobile, and Batman is happy to have caught him. Seriously, man; little kids don't care about the Tim Burton-on version of Batman, because parents don't expose them to it. How does Batman become Batman isn't a question that occurs to kids. He's Batman. That's all they need to know. You tell a three year old that Batman's parents got killed and he dresses in black to strike fear into the bad guys, who, every time he punches one, he sees the face of Joe Chill, the guy who murdered Mommy and Daddy right in front of him, and, well... you're going to be up a lot in the middle of the night. If not actually adding a future serial murderer to society.

We're cracking through the Adam West version, so as far as my three-and-a-half year old knows, Joker's just a bad-guy clown.

i was the compleat opposite when i was a kid in the 90's. i hated the goofy childish batman and loved the gritty darker batman. even when i was really yung like 3 or 4. i kinda missed out on the west batman though and was pretty much raised on the keaton films, batman forrever, the darker cartoon, and the 70's/80's/90's comics.
as far as im concerned Michael Keaton IS batman.
 
Re: Michael Keaton as Batman

Oh god, oh god. In, like, six months we're gonna have people on here saying things like "I remember when I was a kid in the Noughties, blah blah", and we'll all totally Darth Vadering over it.

Sorry. Old man moment.
 
Re: Michael Keaton as Batman

Joker's happy to have stolen the Batmobile, and Batman is happy to have caught him. Seriously, man; little kids don't care about the Tim Burton-on version of Batman, because parents don't expose them to it. How does Batman become Batman isn't a question that occurs to kids. He's Batman. That's all they need to know. You tell a three year old that Batman's parents got killed and he dresses in black to strike fear into the bad guys, who, every time he punches one, he sees the face of Joe Chill, the guy who murdered Mommy and Daddy right in front of him, and, well... you're going to be up a lot in the middle of the night. If not actually adding a future serial murderer to society.

We're cracking through the Adam West version, so as far as my three-and-a-half year old knows, Joker's just a bad-guy clown.

Hey I learned all of that when I was three or four... I'm not mentally disturbed... (I think.) :confused:lol
 
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