Batman Film Retrospective: Part 2 (Animated Films)

In terms of the ‘Marvel-DC’ debate when it comes to their film adaptations, I’m admittedly a bigger fan of Marvel. This is mostly in regard to their live-action films, as Marvel, of course, has had a lot of success with the Marvel Cinematic Universe while DC is still sort of struggling to establish their own Cinematic Universe and I’m not too supportive of some of the moves that they are making in regards to that. However, if there’s one thing about DC that I just can’t disagree on, it is that they have fared much better when it comes to their animated films and those are the films we’ll be looking at today for Part 2 of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s ‘Batman Retrospective’. Now, for this part, I’m only looking at the DC animated films where Batman is the lead character, which mostly consists of the films from the original DC Animated Universe, though I will include a couple of the recent DC animated films from the company’s ‘DC Universe Animated Original Movies’ lineup. I’m not including any of the ‘Justice League’ films that he’s in for this post, like ‘Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox’ or ‘Justice League: The New Frontier’, and that’s because this post would go on for way too long. However, I probably will do a post on the rest of those films in the future. But for now, let’s dive into a select few of the animated Batman films.

BATMAN: MASK OF THE PHANTASM (1993)

‘Mask of the Phantasm’ is the film continuation of ‘Batman: The Animated Series’, a show that has been widely regarded as one of the greatest animated shows of all time, if not the absolute best. The film was originally supposed to be a direct-to-video release, but was eventually released into theaters… and because this was done on short notice, the film bombed at the box office. On just a $6 million budget, it just missed getting its money back with a total gross of around $5.6 million. Ultimately, this makes ‘Mask of the Phantasm’ one of the most underrated films of all time and also one of the best Batman films ever. Yes, I’d say that this film is actually better than a few of the live-action Batman films, particularly the two Joel Schumacher films, which came out after this film was first released.

First off, let me start by saying that I didn’t really grow up with the show. I was barely a year old when the show ended in 1995 (not counting the later spin-offs (e.g. ‘Justice League’)). But in recent years, I have gotten around to seeing a couple of episodes and I can certainly say that I agree with the statement that it’s one of the best animated shows of all time. It has excellent animation and a great visual style, but most importantly it has a full lineup of great characters, both good and bad. Batman easily has the most iconic Rogues gallery of any superhero, from the Joker to Mr. Freeze to Poison Ivy to the Penguin (and that’s just to name a few) and this show is proof of that. The movie exemplifies the great qualities of the show but also gives you an excellent story where Bruce finds himself reliving an old relationship he once had with a girl named Andrea. Back then, it ended in heartbreak and without giving too much away in this film, it ends the same way as it did before. But back then that heartbreak was what ultimately led Bruce to becoming the vigilante known as Batman in the wake of losing what was perhaps the only chance he had at a normal life. If you haven’t seen ‘Mask of the Phantasm’, it’s certainly worth checking out.

Rating: 5/5!

BATMAN AND MR. FREEZE: SUBZERO (1998)

Now this film was pushed back from its original release, summer 1997, due to the release of ‘Batman and Robin’, which also featured Mr. Freeze as the main antagonist, and of course part of this was because of the incredibly negative reception towards ‘Batman and Robin’. So, it was instead released in March of 1998… and, as you might have guessed, it’s at least 50 times better than ‘Batman and Robin’. It’s basically the same general plot as the live-action film, though this one takes place in the continuity of the Animated Series and after the events of ‘Deep Freeze’, which at the time was the last episode of the series to feature Mr. Freeze (for now, we’ll ignore the ‘The New Batman Adventures’ AKA ‘Season 4’ of the series). In this film, Mr. Freeze looks to cure his wife, who’s diagnosed with a terminal illness but is on the brink of death after an incident where she’s released from cryogenic slumber. His plan is to perform an organ transplant and his intended donor; Batgirl, even though this means that she would die because of it. So, overall this film has a lot of high emotional stakes to it and as it was in the show, it features the great writing and characterization of Mr. Freeze and his tragic backstory. All of this results in an ending that is both heartwarming but also sad at the same time.

But, I can’t really say that this is ‘as good’ as ‘Mask of the Phantasm’. While that film was certainly fitting for a theatrical release, this definitely fits the bill for a ‘direct-to-video’ release. It feels more like a two-part episode of the show, but on that note, it does sometimes feel a bit too dragged out. The final fight does kind of go on a bit too long. Still, it’s a solid entry in the franchise with the usual great Warner Bros. animation and the great writing that has been a defining part of the show that these movies were based off of. Obviously when comparing the two Batman films with Mr. Freeze, this one was much better than ‘Batman and Robin’, though I will give the writers of that film credit for actually doing a pretty decent job at handling the whole subplot with Freeze and his wife… that’s one of the few good things about that film. Still, in the end, it’s no contest… this is the superior Mr. Freeze-centered Batman film.

Rating: 4/5

BATMAN BEYOND: RETURN OF THE JOKER (2000)

Okay, I’m kind of cheating here because this technically isn’t ‘Batman’; it’s ‘Batman Beyond’, a spin-off of ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ taking place years into the future where a new Batman, teenager Terry McGinnis (voiced by Will Friedle), fights to protect Gotham City as the protégé of an elderly Bruce Wayne. I’m mainly including its film adaptation ‘Return of the Joker’ here because I think that it’s arguably just as notable as some of the other animated Batman films. Why? Well, for one reason this film attracted quite a bit of controversy for being way too violent. This film was released in the wake of Columbine when there was a lot of political debate over the depiction of violence in movies and video games and as such, the film was heavily edited to reduce the violence for its initial release. However, in 2002, the film was re-released unedited and given a ‘PG-13’ rating. Also, as the title suggests, this film features the return of everyone’s favorite Clown Prince of Crime, the Joker so why shouldn’t this be included in this retrospective?

First off, let me start by just doing a little mini-review of the ‘Batman Beyond’ television series, as I did watch a few episodes of it on Netflix before watching the movie and overall it is a pretty good show. I liked how it continued the timeline of the original DC animated universe and while it was a new show focusing on a new lead character, it still managed to connect itself to the previous series, namely through having Bruce Wayne still around as Terry’s mentor. Admittedly, it’s not as good as ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ but then again, that is sort of a hard act to follow. And, to the credit of this show, it is still a very entertaining superhero show that’s just as visually impressive and well-written. The movie ‘Return of the Joker’ is a solid continuation of that series and of course is highlighted by the Joker. Kevin Conroy is the definitive animated Batman, and the same can be said for Mark Hamill, the definitive voice for the animated Joker. Hamill’s just as good as Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger (heck, we can throw Cesar Romero from the Adam West series in here too; every interpretation of the Joker has been pretty darn good). As evident from the violence that was cut from the original release but restored in the unedited cut, included an early death scene for the Joker that, well, is actually more violent in the edited cut if you really think about it (in the unedited cut, he’s impaled with a spear gun but in the edited cut, he’s electrocuted… I don’t know about you but that latter one sounds more disturbing… and that one we don’t actually see), this movie serves as one of the few chances we’ll ever get to see the darker side of the Joker from the comics. As is, ‘Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker’ is a solid entry in the Batman animated film franchise.

Rating: 4/5

BATMAN: MYSTERY OF THE BATWOMAN (2003)

Remember how I said that ‘Subzero’ was a bit too drawn out… well, ‘Mystery of the Batwoman’ is an even bigger example of that. This one really drags at times and like ‘Subzero’, the final fight goes on just a bit too long. For the record, while this film may be called ‘Mystery of the Batwoman’, there really isn’t much mystery to this story. You can tell who the mysterious vigilante known as Batwoman is just a few minutes into the movie and even though they try to make it out to be a mystery, with three separate women being possible candidates… well, I don’t really know how I can even explain how that ultimately plays out. Overall, the reveal of the ‘identity’ (or ‘identities’, to be more specific) of Batwoman is rather weak. Really, what was the point of making it a mystery when the reveal was what it was? The animation is still really good and the voice acting is pretty good as well (though they don’t really establish why the Batwoman sounds different when she’s not in costume), but overall, this is not an animated Batman film that I’d really recommend. I’m not saying that it’s bad; it’s just that this is one that I’m not really going to re-watch that much.

Rating: 3/5

BATMAN: UNDER THE RED HOOD (2010)

In between ‘Dark Knight’ and ‘Rises’, there was another animated Batman film that came out, one that stands toe to toe with not just ‘Mask of the Phantasm’, but also the live-action Batman films as one of the best entries in the entire franchise; ‘Under the Red Hood’. This film is more fast-paced than ‘Mask’, but the end result is never boring and the film still has a really great story that, like ‘Phantasm’, is based around one of Bruce Wayne’s personal struggles as we see how he tries to cope with ‘one of his greatest failures’ which comes back to haunt him in the form of the ‘Red Hood’ (whose identity I won’t spoil here), a character who is out to do what Batman does, but is willing to break the one rule Batman will never break. The film has excellent animation and a terrific voice cast, particularly Bruce Greenwood and John DiMaggio who both doing fantastic jobs as Batman/Bruce Wayne and the Joker respectively. This film was recommended to me by my friend Matt and I must say that it’s a very good recommendation. It’s one that I pass on to you folks as well, as ‘Under the Red Hood’ is a film that’s just as good as the Nolan films that came around the same time. I’ve heard a LOT of people say that this is better than all of the live-action Batman films. I don’t necessarily agree with that, in fact I actually sort of think ‘Phantasm’ is the better animated Batman film, but regardless ‘Under the Red Hood’ is still a must-see for ‘Batman’ fans.

Rating: 5/5!

BATMAN: YEAR ONE (2011)

As the title suggests, ‘Year One’ follows the first year of Bruce Wayne’s career as the vigilante Batman after returning to Gotham City after spending 12 years abroad. At the same time, the film also focuses on Jim Gordon and his early days with Gotham’s police department. Their storylines are balanced very well and we see how their two lives intersect trying to deal with the corruption and crime of Gotham City and also how the arrival of Batman affects everyone in Gotham. Oh yeah, and Gordon’s voiced by Bryan Cranston! But in all seriousness, Cranston does a very good job as Jim Gordon as does Ben McKenzie (who’s set to play Gordon in the upcoming prequel series ‘Gotham’) as Bruce Wayne/Batman. If I had any complaints at all about this film, it would probably be the story sort of goes by a bit too fast in just an hour-long runtime but then again, that’s probably how it was in the original story (written by Frank Miller in 1987), which I haven’t read but like the next film coming up, I have the feeling that this film was as faithful to the source material as possible. So, overall, ‘Batman: Year One’ is another solid entry in the series that highlights both the Caped Crusader and the man who would become one of his greatest allies.

Rating: 4.5/5

THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS: PART 1 (2012) AND 2 (2013)

Regardless of how people view the 60’s ‘Batman’ television series, one thing is for certain; it helped bring the character into the mainstream of pop culture. However, it wasn’t until the 80’s when the character would return to his darker roots. The first major success on this front was Frank Miller’s 1986 miniseries ‘The Dark Knight Returns’, which officially helped the character regain a lot of popularity. It has played a major influence in three of the live-action Batman films; Tim Burton’s ‘Batman’, Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, and also the upcoming ‘Batman vs. Superman’ film which isn’t a direct adaptation of the story but partially inspired by it. In 2012, DC and Warner Animation produced a film adaptation of the story which was released in two parts. Part 1 was released in September of 2012 while Part 2 was released in January of 2013. The two were then combined into one single film and that version (the ‘Deluxe Edition’) was released in October of 2013.

Now first off, let me start by saying that I haven’t read the mini-series before watching the films, but it’s clear here that the filmmakers were as faithful to the source material as possible from the imagery to the story to the dialogue. It certainly helps to have this story be in two parts so that they don’t leave much out. Also keep in mind that both of these films are only 76 minutes each so it’s not really along the same lines as ‘Harry Potter’, ‘Twilight’, or ‘The Hunger Games’. This is one of the good examples of splitting a story into two films. The animation is terrific, and to put it simply, this is without a doubt a ‘Batman’ film for an older audience as it does get dark, violent, and even bloody most of the time and it isn’t afraid to do so. The voice acting is great; Peter Weller does an excellent job as the older and angrier Batman and Michael Emerson is also fantastic as this film’s Joker. The final scene between the two in Part 2 is one of the best Batman-Joker moments ever put on film, even outshining the moments between them from both the 1989 ‘Batman’ film and ‘The Dark Knight’.

I don’t really want to compare the two parts of this film that much, but if I had to choose the one that I think is the better half of the story, I would go with ‘Part 1’, in which Bruce Wayne first comes out of retirement to deal with the crime in Gotham City; it has really great pacing and sets up the story really well. ‘Part 2’ does have the best moments of this two-part story, with Batman’s fight with the Joker and Batman’s fight with Superman, but overall ‘Part 2’ runs without much of a plot, really. Oh yeah, Superman’s in this part of the story too as is a plotline from the story revolving around Cold War tension. It kind of feels a bit tacked on for a story that was mainly revolving around Batman, but at the same time, it’s pretty awesome to see these two iconic characters face off against each other. Overall, ‘Dark Knight Returns’ is an excellent adaptation of the story it was based off of and another great entry in the lineup of DC’s animated films. Even though they’re having trouble getting their live-action cinematic universe running, they certainly make some fantastic animated films.

Ratings:

As a Whole: 4.5/5

PART 1: 5/5!

PART 2: 4/5

And here’s where I’ll be ending this retrospective. Again, I’m not going to cover any of the ‘Justice League’ films featuring Batman in this post because I don’t want this to go on too long but I will likely do a post on all of those films in the future. Now, it’s time for rankings; here is how I’d rank all of the animated Batman films that I’ve covered in this post.

1. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

2. Batman: Under the Red Hood

3. The Dark Knight Returns (Parts 1 and 2)

4. Batman: Year One

5. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker

6. Batman and Mr. Freeze: Subzero

7. Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman

And here’s a complete ranking of all of the films I’ve covered in this retrospective, live-action and animated (again, not counting the 1966 film).

1. The Dark Knight

2. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

3. The Dark Knight Rises

4. Batman: Under the Red Hood

5. The Dark Knight Returns (Parts 1 and 2)

6. Batman (1989)

7. Batman Begins

8. Batman: Year One

9. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker

10. Batman and Mr. Freeze: Subzero

11. Batman Forever

12. Batman Returns

13. Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman

14. Batman and Robin

Batman Film Retrospective: Part 1 (Live-Action Films)

75 years ago, during this month in the year of 1939, DC Comics introduced the character of Batman in Issue #27 of Detective Comics. Since then, Batman has gone on to become one of the most iconic comic book superheroes of all time, if not arguably the most famous. He’s been one of the main heroes of the DC universe and as far as his franchise’s films are concerned, he’s had the most successful run out of all of DC’s heroes (and possibly every other comic book superhero, for that matter). And today, to honor the 75^th Anniversary of the Dark Knight’s first appearance, it’s time for a Batman film retrospective. Now I was originally going to save this for when the upcoming ‘Batman vs. Superman’ was to come out in 2015. But, as we now know, that has gotten pushed back to May 6^th, 2016. Basically, I figured that now would be a good time to do it just for the occasion of the Caped Crusader’s 75^th Anniversary. This is the first half of a two-part retrospective, and today’s entry will encompass all of the live-action Batman feature films, from the film adaptation of the 1960’s TV series to the Christopher Nolan ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy. ‘Part 2’ of this retrospective will cover a select few of the animated Batman films.

BATMAN (1966)

Technically, Batman made his first on-screen appearance in two separate serials, 1943’s ‘Batman’ and 1949’s ‘Batman and Robin’. But we’re starting off this retrospective with the 1966 film ‘Batman’ (AKA ‘Batman: The Movie’), the first feature length film that the character starred in and the film adaptation of the 60’s television series of the same name starring Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin. For those who haven’t seen this show before, let me start by saying this… this show is very, very campy. This was way before the darker ‘Batman’ films that we’ve seen in the years since this film came out. Need proof of that? In one scene, a shark is grabbing onto Batman’s leg and Batman defeats it by spraying it with ‘Bat Shark Repellant’. The shark then proceeds to blow up once it hits the water. Yeah, this is a very goofy movie. But for what it’s worth, compared to a certain film that we’ll get to in a bit, this is a good kind of campy. It’s clear here that everyone involved was able to roll with this film’s silliness and that’s really the reason why this film is so entertaining; it’s campy 60’s fun with an enthusiastic cast. One of the best scenes in the entire movie (and quite possibly one of the funniest scenes ever put on film) is when Batman is trying to get rid of a bomb but he finds that he has a lot of trouble just finding a spot to put it. It’s like they say, ‘Some days, you just can’t get rid of a bomb…’ Overall, if you’re able to accept this film’s corny tone, then you’ll find that it’s a pretty fun superhero film. It may not be the Batman that you’re expecting, but it certainly captured the essence of the show it was based on.

Rating: 4/5

BATMAN (1989)

But for some, the 60’s ‘Batman’ was not the kind of Batman film that they wanted… and they eventually got their wish in 1989 with director Tim Burton’s ‘Batman’. Even after all of the Batman films that have come out since this was released to theaters, the 1989 film is still one of the best in the entire franchise. Granted, though, it has aged a bit, namely in regards to some of the designs and the soundtrack (which features songs by Prince). Despite that, this film is still a solid superhero film that perfectly captures the dark tone of the character of Batman. Basically at the end of the day, Burton, known for his dark and gothic style, was a great choice to direct the film. However, most people weren’t in support of the casting of Michael Keaton in the role of Batman, mainly because of his previous work as a comedic actor. In other words, this was pretty similar to the reaction that Ben Affleck got when he was cast as Batman for the upcoming ‘Batman vs. Superman’, only this was way before that ever happened. This was WAY before the time of social media and the internet.

However, in the end, Keaton was fantastic in the role and out of all of the actors who have ever played Batman in a live-action film he is perhaps the best in portraying both Bruce Wayne and Batman, whereas other actors have done better as Bruce Wayne then they had as Batman. He has a great presence as Batman but as Bruce Wayne, he is effectively unsuspecting. You would never guess that this guy was Batman, which is pretty ironic considering that this was exactly the reason why many people were against having him in the role and yet that’s why he was so damn good in the film. But of course it is Jack Nicholson who steals the show as ‘The Joker’. What else can I say? It’s just Jack Nicholson at his finest. The ‘hero-villain’ relationship between the Batman and Joker of this film is one of the best in any superhero film, mainly because they each were responsible for making the other who they were today. We see that it was the Joker, back when he was just a criminal by the name of Jack Napier, who killed Bruce’s parents and Bruce, as Batman, was responsible for Jack falling into a vat of chemicals, effectively turning him into the Joker. With an excellent cast, a great production design, and one of the best film scores of all time by Danny Elfman, 1989’s ‘Batman’, though rather dated by today’s standards, is still one of the high marks of the superhero film genre.

Rating: 4.5/5

BATMAN RETURNS (1992)

Following the success of ‘Batman’, Burton was brought back for the sequel and this time, he was given far more creative control than he had during the last film. However… maybe that wasn’t the best idea that Warner Bros. had made. For the record, I’m not saying that ‘Returns’ is a bad superhero film… far from it, in fact. It’s just this is a very notable case of when you give a director too much free reign to do whatever he wants. This is very much a Tim Burton film, but far darker than that of its predecessor. Stylistically, it’s not a big problem and you can really admire the film for its atmosphere and look. However, for a film that was generally aimed at a younger audience, it wasn’t the best move. It’s so dark and sometimes disturbing to the point where it could potentially give kids nightmares. It’s also sometimes a bit too adult at times, like during the scene where Catwoman meets with Penguin for the first time and the Penguin’s dialogue mostly consists of innuendos (‘Just the pussy I wanted to see’… need I say more?). You know… for kids!!!

Also, this film showcases a rather noticeable problem in how the character of Batman is portrayed in Burton’s films. This is not the fault of Michael Keaton, who is once again fantastic in the role. It’s just that it’s very clear that in these movies, particularly here, Burton focuses more on the villains than Batman. In fact, for the previous film, it was Jack Nicholson who got top billing as the Joker. It was fine there because in that film, Keaton still had a very substantial role that was solidly balanced against Nicholson’s. Here, he’s not even in the Batman suit for the majority of the film. He’s still in the film, but the character of Batman basically disappears from the film altogether for large periods of time. As for the villains, this film’s portrayal of the Penguin is a far contrast from what the comics were like. Instead of being a sophisticated criminal, this Penguin is far more sadistic and frightening in this film (like I said, this is potential nightmare fuel). He’s portrayed to be a misfit (a common theme in Burton’s films) but because he’s a despicable character, we can’t really sympathize with him and yet the movie is trying to make us do so. Despite all that, Danny DeVito does do a very good job in the role as it was written. It’s Michelle Pfeiffer, however, who truly steals the show as Catwoman; she really captures the dual personality of the character quite well. Finally, we have a third villain, businessman Max Shreck, played by Christopher Walken… simply put, it’s Christopher Walken. That’s all I need to say about that.

Ultimately, ‘Batman Returns’ is not a bad film, as it is a solid follow-up to its predecessor. However, it’s clear that Burton was given way too much creative control on this film. It’s very much a Burton film, but as a Batman film, it’s way too dark when compared to the other films in the franchise. Also, this one really doesn’t give Batman much to do here to the point where the villains are the main characters in the film. Again, keep in mind that the best of the Batman films are known for their dark atmospheres and tone, but this was a case where the film was just way too dark (figuratively, not literally), especially when considering that it’s basically being marketed to a younger crowd. And now it’s clear why Warner Bros decided to go in a different direction for the next film. Again, this one’s entertaining, but I can’t say that it’s one of my favorites.

Rating: 3.5/5

BATMAN FOREVER (1995)

Because of the controversy surrounding ‘Returns’ for its darker tone, the film wasn’t as big of a hit at the box office as Warner Bros had hoped for; this led to them to make a few changes for the next film, ‘Batman Forever’. In the position of director, Tim Burton was replaced by Joel Schumacher, though Burton did stay on as a producer for this film. This was also the first film to not have Michael Keaton in the role of Batman. Here, he was replaced by Val Kilmer but he would not return for the following film. Simply put, ‘Forever’ is, without a doubt, a far different kind of film than the two Burton films that came before it. Schumacher took his inspiration from the older Batman comics from the 50’s as well as the 60’s television series. The result is a far more ‘family-friendly’ film than Returns and while I can’t say it’s good as something like the 89 film or Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight Trilogy’, I have to admit that, in some ways, I actually think that this is a better film than ‘Returns’. In other words, I feel that it’s actually a little underrated.

For the record, it’s still not the best in the series. Just like its immediate successor, this film is very bright and flashy in regards to its look and tone, resulting in a film that can be quite loud and bombastic at times. However, Schumacher does do a few things here in this entry that work better here than they did in ‘Returns’; namely giving the character of Bruce Wayne a far more substantial amount of development than in the previous film as in this one, he battles his inner demons and begins to question his act of vengeance as Batman. Val Kilmer does a pretty good job as Bruce Wayne but as Batman, he sort of stumbles. It’s not really his fault, though, as in this film he’s mainly stuck with just quoting one-liners (“It’s the car, right? Chicks dig the car!”). If this were more along the lines of how Keaton’s version of the character was written in the Burton films, then Kilmer would have arguably been one of the best to have ever been in the role but as is, he’s just not as good as either Keaton or Christian Bale.

This film also introduces the character of Robin (who was originally supposed to be in ‘Returns’ played by Marlon Wayans but was then cut due to an overabundance of characters). While he does come off a bit whiny at times, this film does give him a pretty solid character arc as we see his journey to avenge his family after they are murdered, which almost directly parallels how Bruce looked to avenge his parents’ death many years earlier. For what it’s worth, Chris O’Donnell does a good job in this film. As for the villains, we have a good one… and a bad one. As the Riddler, Jim Carrey may just be Jim Carrey playing… Jim Carrey, but he is easily the scene-stealer of the film. It’s clear that he’s channeling Frank Gorshin’s performance in the role from the 60’s show and in that regard he does succeed in doing so. Tommy Lee Jones, on the other hand, just comes off as way too cheesy in the role of Two-Face. That’s rather sad because if in a different movie, he would have been a great choice to play Two-Face but here, he’s just as campy as Carrey as the Riddler though in Carrey’s case, that worked out much better for him. So overall, I’m not saying ‘Forever’ is a ‘great’ film as it is still a very campy film and sometimes a little too goofy. However, some of the good things in this movie turn out really good, namely Bruce Wayne’s character arc. If anything else, it’s better than the next Batman film that Schumacher did.

Rating: 4/5

BATMAN AND ROBIN (1997)

I don’t think I need to go into this one that much because everyone else has, but if for some reason you haven’t seen or heard of this film yet, here’s the rundown. ‘Batman and Robin’ is not only the worst Batman film ever, but one of the worst superhero films period. The campiness factor is through the roof on this one. The sets and designs are ridiculous, the villains are terrible, the acting is just as bad from all involved, and the script consists of nothing but one-liners, especially from Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze. As much as I (along with many others) love Arnold for being one of the best at spewing one-liners, this was a case of a huge miscast. Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy actually could have worked… if in a different movie. As for the main characters, George Clooney as Bruce Wayne/Batman is just… that; George Clooney as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Chris O’Donnell’s Robin gets way too whiny in this one, and Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl is basically just an afterthought. Also, what the hell did they do to Bane?

But with all of that said, is this the absolute worst superhero film of all time? Actually, it isn’t; don’t get me wrong, this is still a terrible film but I’ve seen far worse in this genre, like 1990’s ‘Captain America’, ‘Catwoman’, and ‘Superman IV’ which, like this film, killed its franchise for many years. However, unlike ‘Superman IV’, there is actually somewhat of an ‘entertainment value’ to this film because it’s so bad. Like ‘The Room’ or ‘Troll 2’, it’s one of those ‘so bad, it’s good’ movies whether it’s because of all of Mr. Freeze’s ice-related puns or the infamous Bat Credit Card. As a result, it’s not really the absolute worst thing ever. Though, as a Batman film, it’s definitely an ‘epic fail’. This effectively killed the franchise for years (a fifth film, ‘Batman Triumphant’ was canceled because of this film’s terrible reception) until Christopher Nolan brought it back to prominence 8 years later and thank god he did.

Rating: 1/5 (Film), 3/5 (as far as Entertainment value is concerned…)

BATMAN BEGINS (2005)

Following the debacle that was ‘Batman and Robin’, there were numerous attempts to get the franchise rolling again, including a potential crossover with Superman that is actually now getting made, just years later with a different cast and crew. Ultimately, it was director Christopher Nolan who brought the franchise back from extinction with ‘Batman Begins’. It effectively returned the franchise to its darker roots and did an excellent job at detailing the origin story of Bruce Wayne, an origin story which we haven’t really seen before. I mean, we all know about the moment when his parents are murdered, but this goes beyond that as we see how Bruce Wayne truly became ‘The Batman’, part of which includes his vigilante-style training with the ‘League of Shadows’. Christian Bale is excellent as Bruce Wayne, as he is given some of the best material that any actor has ever gotten in this role. He does a pretty good job as Batman too, as he has a very nice intimidating presence and as for that highly controversial gruff voice that he uses… I’m not too bothered by it, mainly because it’s just so fun to imitate (‘WHERE ARE THEY!!??’).

Overall, out of all Nolan’s Batman films, this one is perhaps the closest to the comic books, though that is sort of up for debate. Now, with this trilogy, Nolan’s intent was to make a superhero film that was much more grounded in reality. On that note, he does that very well, but he still sort of maintains the atmosphere and lore of the comics. The only problem in this one, though, is that the camerawork and editing during the fight scenes is, well, kind of bad. It’s one of those films where the action is shot close up and the editing is very fast, meaning that it’s sometimes rather hard to see just what is going on during the action sequences. However, I attribute that more to the fact that this was Nolan’s first full-fledged action film. Thankfully, this aspect of the films improved with its sequel but as is, ‘Batman Begins’ is a rock-solid superhero film that we can very much thank for making the character of Batman prominent once again.

Rating: 4.5/5

THE DARK KNIGHT (2008)

Like ‘Batman and Robin’, this is another entry that I don’t really need to delve into that much given that pretty much everyone else has. But where ‘Batman and Robin’ was universally despised, ‘The Dark Knight’ is universally acclaimed and for good reason as it truly is an excellent film. Coming off of ‘Begins’, Nolan takes the superhero genre to a whole new level with this film, giving us a really effective  and compelling story where Batman is pushed to his limits by the Joker and I’m just going to come out and say it; Heath Ledger’s Joker is the best live-action portrayal of the character to date. It’s nothing against Jack Nicholson, but Ledger’s Joker is a much more fascinating character; an ‘agent of chaos’ who’s ‘ahead of the curve’. He serves as a great foil to Batman just as the character always has been in the comics, other movies, and various television shows. In many ways, he’s far more frightening than Nicholson’s Joker, who mainly came off as being rather creepy. It was rightfully fitting that, following Ledger’s tragic death on January 22, 2008 he was awarded the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for what truly was one of the best performances of this past decade.

But while Ledger has basically gotten the bulk of the film’s praise for his work, another member of the cast who is fantastic in this, just as much as Ledger, is Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent. Like the Joker, Nolan does a fantastic job in portraying Dent’s rise and fall where he eventually becomes the criminal Two-Face though he sort of ends the character’s story a bit too early by having him killed off at the end of the film but I think that the implications of what will happen to Gotham because of what he did and the decision that Batman makes to deal with this problem serve as an excellent set-up for the following film.  There’s not much else I can say except… if you haven’t seen this movie yet, where have you been?

Rating: 5/5!

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2012)

This film is apparently becoming a case of what I like to call the ‘Phantom Menace effect’. By that I am referring to a film that is highly anticipated, perhaps more so than usual, but ends up disappointing a lot of people. Now, this is not entirely the same case as ‘Phantom Menace’. This film did get very good reviews from critics and, like its predecessor, it grossed a billion at the box office. However, I find that many people have expressed a lot of disappointment towards this film, specifically more recently. There were some detractors of the film when it first came out (and those detractors more than likely received death-threats from Nolan ‘fan boys’), but apparently after a few more viewings, some are beginning to change their minds about the film. Once again, this shows us that overhyping a film is never going to turn out well. But at the end of the day, I still stand by this film. I mean, yes, it’s not as good as ‘The Dark Knight’, but as we all know, that was an extremely tough act to follow and for what it’s worth, this is one of the few great superhero film ‘threequels’ out there.

So what is it that many are complaining about in this film? Well, amongst some other things, the most common thing I’m hearing about this is in regards to the film’s ‘plot holes’. They include, but are not limited to; Why would Bruce avoid his responsibilities as Batman for eight whole years? How did Bruce’s back get fixed after just being hung from a rope for a few hours? How did Bruce get back in Gotham after it was put on lockdown by Bane? The list apparently goes on and on. There are definitely a few more that I’ve heard people mention, but these are the ones that are pretty much being brought up the most. Overall, these have not really bothered me in the slightest, though I did sort of find the back repair one to be a bit of a stretch. The one about him getting back into Gotham is actually kind of plausible but then again, they don’t really explain it either. He just shows up and the film moves on from there. I do want to point out that plot holes in films are common all the time. It’s just that this film just so happens to be one where the plot holes are frequently talked about for some odd reason. Why? I don’t know…

There is more to the film than just that. What I really admire about ‘Rises’ is its finality. This was truly intended to be the finale of the ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy. It brings the story of Bruce Wayne to a close but also ends in a way that, while it won’t be followed up upon (even though they do bait us with the possibility of a sequel), does an excellent job at exemplifying the character of Batman; a symbol that can’t be corrupted, as Bruce noted in ‘Batman Begins’. That is exactly the case as Joseph Gordon Levitt’s character John Blake, whose real name is revealed to be Robin (not the actual character, but still a very nice nod to the fans), discovers the Batcave, implying that he will take over as the protector of Gotham City. It is also here where Christian Bale gives his best performance as Bruce Wayne, who here is a shell of his former self that must get back into action when his city is threatened. Also, sort of like ‘Iron Man 3’, he may not exactly be in the Batman suit for long, but like that film, it’s not much of a problem because this is very much a Bruce Wayne story and as I always believe in regards to these superhero films, the suit doesn’t make the man. The man makes the suit.

Of course, like in the previous Nolan films, he’s backed up by an excellent supporting cast. All of the returning members, including Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine are fantastic once again. Caine is not in the movie as much as the others, which is understandable considering how the character of Alfred isn’t really necessary for this story, but he makes the most out of his time on screen. The scene where he tells Bruce he is resigning is one of the most effective and emotional character moments in any superhero film I’ve ever seen. The newcomers to the cast are excellent as well. As the main villain Bane, Tom Hardy makes the most out of having his face covered up by a mask (like Batman, his muffled voice is fun to imitate) and as Selina Kyle, Anne Hathaway is phenomenal taking over the role of Catwoman (without ever being referred to by that name) from Michelle Pfeiffer. The only one problem I do have with the entire film is how they handled the character of Talia Al Ghul, played by Marion Cotillard. It’s not a problem with her as she does do well in the role, but I feel that they should have introduced her character in one of the previous Nolan films rather than being sort of hastily introduced in this film especially when considering the relationship she has with Bruce in the comics.

Still, ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ is one of only two ‘third films’ in any superhero trilogy that I can think of that is truly excellent, the other being ‘Iron Man 3’. No, it’s not as good as ‘The Dark Knight’ but it doesn’t need to be. Instead, it is a solid finale to this trilogy and it ends the series on a high note rather than a low one.

Rating: 5/5!

To end off this part of the retrospective, here are my rankings for the live-action Batman films (not counting the ’66 film because it’s its own thing).

1. The Dark Knight

2. The Dark Knight Rises

3. Batman (1989)

4. Batman Begins

5. Batman Forever

6. Batman Returns

7. Batman and Robin

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this Batman retrospective as we’ll look at a few, not all, of the animated Batman films, including ‘Mask of the Phantasm’ and ‘Under the Red Hood’.