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Flashing the Robin Signal
So recently, in honor of the first film's 30th anniversary, Fathom Events screened the four original 1989-97 Batman movies in theaters over the last two weeks. I'd never seen them, and was fresh off the high of the Gotham finale, so I decided that I might as well watch them all for the first time on the big screen. (I made a twitter thread of my more immediate thoughts and hot takes here.)
And it was certainly an experience.
Normally, when I binge-watch franchises like this, I tend to do the obligatory movie ranking. However, the first two films are so different tonally and content-wise that it's hard for me to compare them, and even mesh them together as the same continuity. Outside Alfred and Commissioner Gordon, the movies recast anyone who reappeared - including three Batmans over four movies. I will say that, for me anyway, the latter two films actually had an advantage. I found them more fun to watch - for both the right and wrong reasons - and it almost certainly has nothing to do with my extremely gay reaction to Chris O'Donnell as Robin.
I'm only mildly embarrassed to admit that if I had seen Batman Forever as a kid I would've figured out I liked guys way sooner than I did. That laundry scene was so weirdly unnecessary but I am here. for. it.
I wasn't as enamored with some of the other casting though. I thought Alicia Silverstone was unforgivably awful in Batman & Robin, and frankly was the only part of that movie I outright hated (well, aside from the blatant shilling for action figures). In Batman Returns, I thought Danny Devito did too good a job in that his performance as the Penguin is not something I would casually watch for fun (a running thread through a lot of that movie, honestly). And while I thought all three actors did a good job as Batman, Michael Keaton still feels like a weird fit to me.
And therein lies my disconnect from these movies as a continuous story: The tone, direction, and overall style of these movies changes drastically from Batman Returns to Batman Forever. It's not a change I really object to nor celebrate. The aesthetic and tone of Tim Burton's interpretation really worked for me in Batman, but I felt like it leaned way too dark in Batman Returns. Subsequently, the more campy approach by Joel Schumacher really worked for me in Batman Forever, but definitely leaned way too camp in Batman & Robin (though I maintain that the camp that actually hurts the movie are the shots designed to sell toys and all the Batgirl stuff, not the ymmv homoerotic elements or the villains).
Something I appreciate though is that this film series runs the full gamut of what makes Batman... Batman. I usually tend to lean towards the darker interpretations of this property (like The Dark Knight trilogy and Gotham... Not so much Batman v Superman) rather than the campier ones, but its undeniable how fun well done camp like the original Adam West Batman TV show is (The Lego Batman Movie is... certainly a shot at it). The darker reading of Jack Nicholson's Joker feels just as valid as Uma Thurman's high-camp Poison Ivy, and it's this element that really manages to make these films feel connected. These villains are all ridiculous, but each performer takes them seriously.
I'm probably not gonna go out and buy the 4K restorations coming out in Blu-ray next month, mostly because I'm very discerning about what movies I actually buy on disc now, but these are films I'm very happy I spent time with. Hell, maybe in a few months time I'll take a stab at watching Batman & Robin alone in my apartment when there isn't a theater full of failed NYC stand-ups trying to shoot their shot.
And it was certainly an experience.
Normally, when I binge-watch franchises like this, I tend to do the obligatory movie ranking. However, the first two films are so different tonally and content-wise that it's hard for me to compare them, and even mesh them together as the same continuity. Outside Alfred and Commissioner Gordon, the movies recast anyone who reappeared - including three Batmans over four movies. I will say that, for me anyway, the latter two films actually had an advantage. I found them more fun to watch - for both the right and wrong reasons - and it almost certainly has nothing to do with my extremely gay reaction to Chris O'Donnell as Robin.
I'm only mildly embarrassed to admit that if I had seen Batman Forever as a kid I would've figured out I liked guys way sooner than I did. That laundry scene was so weirdly unnecessary but I am here. for. it.
I wasn't as enamored with some of the other casting though. I thought Alicia Silverstone was unforgivably awful in Batman & Robin, and frankly was the only part of that movie I outright hated (well, aside from the blatant shilling for action figures). In Batman Returns, I thought Danny Devito did too good a job in that his performance as the Penguin is not something I would casually watch for fun (a running thread through a lot of that movie, honestly). And while I thought all three actors did a good job as Batman, Michael Keaton still feels like a weird fit to me.
And therein lies my disconnect from these movies as a continuous story: The tone, direction, and overall style of these movies changes drastically from Batman Returns to Batman Forever. It's not a change I really object to nor celebrate. The aesthetic and tone of Tim Burton's interpretation really worked for me in Batman, but I felt like it leaned way too dark in Batman Returns. Subsequently, the more campy approach by Joel Schumacher really worked for me in Batman Forever, but definitely leaned way too camp in Batman & Robin (though I maintain that the camp that actually hurts the movie are the shots designed to sell toys and all the Batgirl stuff, not the ymmv homoerotic elements or the villains).
Something I appreciate though is that this film series runs the full gamut of what makes Batman... Batman. I usually tend to lean towards the darker interpretations of this property (like The Dark Knight trilogy and Gotham... Not so much Batman v Superman) rather than the campier ones, but its undeniable how fun well done camp like the original Adam West Batman TV show is (The Lego Batman Movie is... certainly a shot at it). The darker reading of Jack Nicholson's Joker feels just as valid as Uma Thurman's high-camp Poison Ivy, and it's this element that really manages to make these films feel connected. These villains are all ridiculous, but each performer takes them seriously.
I'm probably not gonna go out and buy the 4K restorations coming out in Blu-ray next month, mostly because I'm very discerning about what movies I actually buy on disc now, but these are films I'm very happy I spent time with. Hell, maybe in a few months time I'll take a stab at watching Batman & Robin alone in my apartment when there isn't a theater full of failed NYC stand-ups trying to shoot their shot.