by Flack » Sat Apr 23, 2022 7:45 pm
Decades before Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, or Robert Pattinson donned the cape and cowl (and years before Affleck and Patterson were born), it was Adam West who, along with his gray tights and an uncomfortably prominent "Bat-Package", appeared on screen as the first Batman.
Batman: The Movie was originally intended to introduce audiences to the campy world of Batman, Robin, and a rotating cast of villains and guest stars, but that's not how things worked out. Due to an abrupt shift in schedules the 1966 television show went into production prior to the film going into production. As a result, the film was filmed and released between the first and second seasons of the show.
As the target audience was already familiar with the characters, the film wastes no time introducing them to viewers. Thirty seconds after the opening credits conclude, Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson have entered Wayne Manor, slid down the Batpoles, turned into Batman and Robin, and exited the Batcave in the Batmobile. Five minutes later, the dynamic duo have flown over the ocean in the Batcopter, discovered a yacht (which turns out to be a hologram), and fought a shark that turned out to be a bomb in disguise. By the ten minute mark audiences know whether or not Batman: The Movie is for them, although truth be told, most people know before the movie starts.
Each week on the television show, Batman and Robin found themselves battling wits with the likes of the Joker, the Riddler, the Penguin, and Catwoman. In the film, all four combine forces against our caped heroes. The yacht illusion was just the beginning of the group's plans, whose ultimate goal is to use their latest acquired weapon, the Total Dehydrator, to turn the United World Organization's Security Council into piles of powder.
The plot, along with every other part of the film, is absurd. In one of the film's more famous scenes, Batman discovers a bomb with a burning fuse and spends several minutes attempting to get rid of it. Everywhere he attempts to toss the bomb is occupied by increasingly absurd things -- pedestrians, a marching band, lovers in a rowboat, a pair of nuns, and even a small group of ducklings, which leads Batman to look into the camera and exclaim, "Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb!"
It's fair to say that the campiness of Batman works in half-hour doses, but at an hour forty-five, it drags. Action scenes are further apart than modern audiences are used to. In no world should a movie with this many goofballs be boring, but for long stretches, it is. The zany scenes with the criminal masterminds, the action scenes with Batman and Robin, and the wacky fight scenes all entertain, out there simply aren't enough of them. There are far too many scenes of people talking and doing nothing else. Five minutes into the film, Robin is hanging upside down from a rope ladder attached to the Batcopter while Batman repeatedly punches a shark in the head. If only the rest of the movie were as action-packed.
Similar to every episode of the television show, nothing is ultimately resolved. The bad guys are sent to the Gotham City Jail. a place they walked out of as often as quickly as Batman dropped them off. As viewers we know Batman and Robin's victory will be temporary; two more seasons of the show followed, almost all of them featuring one of the criminals from this film.
No Bat-Nipples, no raspy voices, and no brooding -- just good, campy fun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeyMfq6v190
Decades before Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, or Robert Pattinson donned the cape and cowl (and years before Affleck and Patterson were born), it was Adam West who, along with his gray tights and an uncomfortably prominent "Bat-Package", appeared on screen as the first Batman.
[i]Batman: The Movie[/i] was originally intended to introduce audiences to the campy world of Batman, Robin, and a rotating cast of villains and guest stars, but that's not how things worked out. Due to an abrupt shift in schedules the 1966 television show went into production prior to the film going into production. As a result, the film was filmed and released between the first and second seasons of the show.
As the target audience was already familiar with the characters, the film wastes no time introducing them to viewers. Thirty seconds after the opening credits conclude, Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson have entered Wayne Manor, slid down the Batpoles, turned into Batman and Robin, and exited the Batcave in the Batmobile. Five minutes later, the dynamic duo have flown over the ocean in the Batcopter, discovered a yacht (which turns out to be a hologram), and fought a shark that turned out to be a bomb in disguise. By the ten minute mark audiences know whether or not [i]Batman: The Movie[/i] is for them, although truth be told, most people know before the movie starts.
Each week on the television show, Batman and Robin found themselves battling wits with the likes of the Joker, the Riddler, the Penguin, and Catwoman. In the film, all four combine forces against our caped heroes. The yacht illusion was just the beginning of the group's plans, whose ultimate goal is to use their latest acquired weapon, the Total Dehydrator, to turn the United World Organization's Security Council into piles of powder.
The plot, along with every other part of the film, is absurd. In one of the film's more famous scenes, Batman discovers a bomb with a burning fuse and spends several minutes attempting to get rid of it. Everywhere he attempts to toss the bomb is occupied by increasingly absurd things -- pedestrians, a marching band, lovers in a rowboat, a pair of nuns, and even a small group of ducklings, which leads Batman to look into the camera and exclaim, "Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nri3o0KFg-8
It's fair to say that the campiness of Batman works in half-hour doses, but at an hour forty-five, it drags. Action scenes are further apart than modern audiences are used to. In no world should a movie with this many goofballs be boring, but for long stretches, it is. The zany scenes with the criminal masterminds, the action scenes with Batman and Robin, and the wacky fight scenes all entertain, out there simply aren't enough of them. There are far too many scenes of people talking and doing nothing else. Five minutes into the film, Robin is hanging upside down from a rope ladder attached to the Batcopter while Batman repeatedly punches a shark in the head. If only the rest of the movie were as action-packed.
Similar to every episode of the television show, nothing is ultimately resolved. The bad guys are sent to the Gotham City Jail. a place they walked out of as often as quickly as Batman dropped them off. As viewers we know Batman and Robin's victory will be temporary; two more seasons of the show followed, almost all of them featuring one of the criminals from this film.
No Bat-Nipples, no raspy voices, and no brooding -- just good, campy fun.