Batman: The Dead Knight in Hollywood?

Do you remember what you were doing in June of 1989? If you are like me, you were in the movie theater watching the lastest summer flick on the big screen. This particular summer was the summer that showed the greatest comic movie to hit the big screen: BATMAN. With an accurate depiction of all the characters, great visuals, and a stunning soundtrack by Danny Elfman, it is a classic!

Fastforward 8 years. Three films spun off of the first, with this one starring the THIRD Batman; George Clooney. With Joel Schumacher behind the helm, this being his second batman film, there was much anticipation to out do the mediocre "Batman Foever", I sat in the theater and saw....CRAP! This outting, Joel Schumacher decided his first batman would not be the worst one... THIS ONE WILL! Very little good came out of this film. Lets look at how the characters got ruined being translated incorrectly from the comics to the big screen, or just totally misused.

THE GOOD:

BATMAN/BRUCE WAYNE: George Clooney was probably the best Bruce Wayne out of all of them (Michael Keaton and Val Kilmer). He was shooting this AND ER at the same time. Clooney made Bruce Wayne work; brought dimension to the character, and was a decent Batman to boot.

NIGHTWING/ROBIN: This was close to a storyline of Robin wanting to break into his own Identity and not just a sidekick

THE PROPS: The batarangs and red wing accessories were great!



THE BAD: The campy dialogue that was found in the 60's tv show starring Adam West and Burt Ward.

BANE was a total waste of a character. The comic book version broke Batman's back!!!! This one only grunted words, and was not used properly.

BATGIRL: One word: why?? She didn't enhance the story AT ALL. She is Comissioner Gordon's daughter in the comics. Now she's transformed into Alfred Niece.......uh.....

Mr. FREEZE: Why Patrick Stewart wasn't cast into this role.....anyway. Mr. Freeze is an ENGLISH SCHOLAR who rely's on his mental abilities more than his physical strength. Arnolds portrayal is a man with gimmicks and an ice gun. Also, It was in his contract to turn Mr. Freeze semi good at the end of the flick.



If you have not seen this installment of the Batman series; You aren't missing anything. The newest Flick should be good for two reasons. First, It is based on the Frank Miller's YEAR ONE story. The early years right after Bruce Wayne Becomes Batman. Lastly, JOEL SCHUMACHER ISN'T DIRECTING IT!!!