Batman on Film

My all time favorite comic book character is Batman. Some of the greatest comic book stories ever told are about Batman and the world he inhabits. For whatever reason, the character of Batman has consistently attracted the best writers and artists in comics to tell some action-packed, compellingly written and beautifully drawn stories. I personally love Frank Miller's All-Star Batman comic. It's hard-boiled and Miller's characterization of Batman here is one tough bastard and borderline psychotic. Plus it's funny as hell. With Jim Lee's awesome art riding shotgun, this is a pretty cool comic. It's one of those books where you either love it or hate it. I love it. Batman is a character that seems to lend itself very well to animation. I grew up watching Batman: The Animated Series and its later descendant shows like Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited and Batman Beyond. To me, Kevin Conroy, the actor who provided the voice of Batman/Bruce Wayne for all these shows is Batman and always will be. The 2004 animated series The Batman was a brand new interpretation of the Batman mythos. To me, it was a very uneven show. When i was a good episode, it could rival any episode of Batman: TAS. But the bad episodes tended to outnumber the good. Drawn in a borderline anime style, it took some getting used to but it grew on me. Overall I liked it, I just thought the producers made entirely too many filler episodes with the Joker. Until recently tough, live action Batman films were disappointing. The first Batman movie way back in 1989, Tim Burton's Batman was incredible. Michael Keaton's portrayal of a troubled Bruce Wayne was subtle and effective. Gotham City was portrayed as the definition of an urban nightmare. It was a corrupt town that desperately needed a Batman. Jack Nicholson's Joker was just cool. There's no other way for me to put it. It's Jack Nicholson, come on. After Batman, sequels began appearing that just weren't cutting it. Batman Returns in 1992, Batman Forever in 1995, and Batman and Robin in 1997. But the storytelling went through a serious decline in quality once Joel Schumacher took over the franchise with Batman Forever. Neon colors started seeping into the backgrounds and the villains really started getting cartoony and cheesy. I love Tommy Lee Jones but his Two-Face really loved chewing the scenery. Jim Carrey took his portrayal of the Riddler straight from the 60's TV show. That just annoyed me. I will defend Val Kilmer as Batman, I thought he did a good job and so did Chris O'Donnell as Robin. However, there is no possible way that I can say anything good about Batman and Robin. Schwartzenegger as Mr. Freeze?! With all those stupid ice jokes? "You're not sending me to the cooler!" Bane as nothing more than a steroid powered freak serving as muscle for Poison Ivy? Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl?! George Clooney as Batman?!?! OH MY GOD!! No wonder the Batman franchise flamed out. Thankfully, after eight years of trying, director Christopher Nolan in 2005 reinvented Batman for a new audience with Batman Begins, a film that showed just how exactly Bruce Wayne created Batman. Nolan created a vision of Batman as an ordinary man (albeit with extraordinary financial resources) transforming himself into a crusader for justice. Christian Bale was perfectly cast as a younger Bruce Wayne gathering together the equipment he would use as Batman. Michael Caine as Alfred. Nuff said. This is Batman the way he should be. Batman Begins was a great opening act but Nolan did something incredibly rare with sequels: he made a movie that topped the original. The Dark Knight is by far the best picture of 2008. With The Dark Knight, Nolan more than delivered on making a better film than its predecessor. The drama and action in this film are pushed to the next level as Batman goes up against a new criminal mastermind known as the Joker. Knowing that Batman has a code, the Joker, masterfully portrayed by the late, great Heath Ledger attacks pushing Gotham City and Batman to its breaking point. Fighting the Joker from within the law is Gotham's D.A. Harvey Dent who becomes a special project of the Joker's. It begs the question of why the Superman films can't be as gripping or as interesting as the Batman films. Batman Begins and Superman Returns came out a year apart. Batman's had a sequel and Superman is still in, what, development hell? Stop trying to remake the 70s and 80s movies. The Superman franchise has got to update the character for today or else risk having Superman staying permanently in Batman's shadow.