What Do You Think?
This relates to my earlier post, "In Defense of Adam West," and, while ultimately of no consequence, is something the movie geek in me finds vexing. There seems to be a trend lately to downgrade Tim Burton's first Batman movie - the one with Jack Nicholson as the Joker, Kim Basinger as "the dame," and Prince as the funkalicious soundtrack tie-in composer. The same geeks who sang the movies praises as compared with Joel Schumacher's Batman and Robin are now slagging it off in comparison with Batman Begins.
Without getting into mountains of criticism (though I can if you want), I think Burton's film still stands up as a very worthy entry in both his unique ouvre and the club of faithfully-adapted comic book movies.
So, what do you think, gentle reader?
posted by Austin @ 9:56 PM
8 Comments:
I actually love Tim Burton's Batman as much if not more than Batman Begins. As much as I love the realism of the new take on Batman, I love the manic quality that Burton's had. Gotham is a crazy world and I think he captured the sort of insanity and obsession that both Batman and the Joker have. Also, unlike Batman Begins, the comedy is great and works in the movie. When Commisioner Gordon gets in the Batmobile in Batman Begins all the comedy falls flat -- like suddenly this heavy, realistic drama became Another 48 Hours. On another quick note, go see Serenity if you haven't already. Its great!
I think comparing the Burton films to the Joel Schumacher ones is a fair comparison; they're part of the same series, using the same actors, apart from the leads. Batman Begins is more of a re-envisioning for a different time. The gritty new film plays better today in our current reality-TV crazy pop culture.
I like both, and if you ask me which I like better will depend on what mood I'm in. Sometimes I want something slightly surreal and fantastic with a great Danny Elfman score, other times I might want something more real. Both are good and are excellent films.
And I'd like to add to Ruben's note: Even if you have already seen Serenity, go see it again!
Yeah, I still like the old Batman, even though I like the new one a lot too. The zany stylization of the first two works really well.
I will say that I'm hoping the Sean Penn-as-Joker rumors pan out. Just in thinking of the gritty version of Batman that is being done, he seems perfect for the kind of sleeze the Joker would be in that world.
Well, I think there's a subtle difference between funny and absurd.
I should probably rewatch all of the Batman movies before I make a complete and total objective decision, but I'd have to say that Tim Burton's film is definitely no worse, but different. It's like saying who would win in a fight between Gandalf and Dumbledore. Both of them have different types of magic and skills and powers and can't really be compared.
Are you really saying that Galdalf can't take out Dumbledore? That's like saying an Imperial Star Destroyer wouldn't rip the Starship Enterprise apart.
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