On June 15th the Dark Knight will dawn his cape for the first time in 8 years when Batman Begins opens nationwide.  Batman Begins is the fifth Batman film released by Warner Brothers since the original classic in 1989 based on the characters created by comic legend Bob Kane.  Each of the four films that precedes it is unique in is own rights, but the legacy left by them is uneven in quality at best.  So, for all those loyal Caped Crusader fans that have been waiting for the return of their hero, let’s take a look back at his previous adventures in the nights of Gotham City.

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Batman:  1989

In this original classic, master filmmaker Tim Burton made a place for himself among the directing elite and brought nationwide appeal to Batman for the first time since the TV series of the 1960s.  The first Batman is a classic match up between the Dark Knight and his most memorable nemesis, The Joker.  The film is a classic for many reasons, one of which is the unforgettable setting created by Burton and his creative team.  Gotham City is beautifully portrayed by a massive display of miniatures, matte paintings, built sets, and studio back lots transformed.  Just the right atmosphere of darkness and decay was created for the city overrun by crime that Batman must redeem.  Anyone who has ever seen a Burton film knows that he is a master of the dark, so it’s no surprise that he was brilliant at making this film.  Second is the casting.  Michael Keaton may sometimes seem one of the least striking men in Hollywood, but one thing is certain; he is a terrific actor, able to play the billionaire loner Bruce Wayne and Batman with equal grace and ease.  The strength and vulnerability of Wayne are played to perfection by Keaton, and it doesn’t hurt that he has remarkable chemistry with Jack Nicholson, who plays the Joker.  I’m not sure if we would ever have thought of it if Nicholson hadn’t been cast, but since he was, and we are able to see him in the green hair and white face paint, it can honestly be said that he was born to play The Joker.  Nicholson makes Gotham his own, parading through the film with equal sensibility and insanity, and giving the role just the right amount of over the topness.  Keaton and Nicholson are the perfect match, playing off each other with dead on comic and dramatic timing.  Also in the mix are Kim Basinger, playing sexy photojournalist Vicky Vale, Robert Wuhl as over excited report Alexander Knox, Michael Gough in his legendary portrayal of Wayne’s Butler Alfred, and Jack Palance as Grissom, the evil mob and business mogul of Gotham.
This incredible cast, combined with Burton’s amazing sensibilities of gothic place and comic book characters, creates an incredibly believable environment that would otherwise have been too fantastic to believe.  The Joker’s smiley potion that literally makes people die of laughter adds a slightly creepy element to the film, but overall the film smacks true of adventure and heroism, just like Batman should be.  Add that to Danny Elfman’s breathtaking score and you’ve got the perfect adaptation of a beloved comic book hero.

Batman Returns:  1992

Tim Burton and Michael Keaton return in this dark and fantastic sequel to the original that adds an even darker twist to the Dark Knight.  This time Gotham is being deceived and seduced by the bizarre Penguin, played to sinister perfection by Danny Devito in a role he, like Nicholson, was born to play.  The film’s opening sets up the creepy atmosphere that hangs over the whole film as we see the birth of the penguin as a hideous child in one of Gotham’s richest homes.  His parents dump him into the sewers of the city, and he grows to be a vengeful man thirty-three years later when the story begins.  He enlists the help of Max Shreck (the brilliant Christopher Walken), to take him up to the surface in an effort to find his humanity, but beneath this façade is a plot to exterminate Gotham’s first-born children as an act of revenge for what was done to him.  In the process, he is put on the platform as a mayoral candidate, and only Batman can reveal the truth.  Max Shreck has his own problems when his secretary finds out about his plans to built a power plant that will actually suck power from Gotham, so he pushes her out a window, but in so doing he creates from Selina Kyle, his assistant, the sexy, mysterious Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer).
The setting for Batman Returns is even more gothic than the first, set during Christmas time (there’s something about Gotham covered in snow that just makes it so much creepier).  The Penguins carnival henchmen are also creepy as they rampage through Gotham.  But what really sets Batman Returns apart is that it seems to be a more villain based movie.  We see more of Penguin and Catwoman than we ever do of Batman, but something about that is satisfying, it increases the myth of Batman while it provides us an insight into evil.  The film isn’t better or worse than the original, but it is decidedly different.  Batman Returns is filmed in a much fantastical way, whereas the original was more straightforward, but one thing is for sure, the images will stay in your head.

Batman Forever:  1995

Val Kilmer dons the cape in Joel Schumacher’s first shot at a Batman film.  Two more iconic villains, the Riddler and Two Face, are brought to light in this film, but the problem may be that they are brought to way too much light.  Tim Burton’s dark, dreary vision of Gotham has been transformed into a candy colored neon wonderland that doesn’t so much dazzle the eyes as blind them.  Also, somehow Batman has turned from being a superhero into a public figure that attends parties and celebrity galas.  In the first two films we barely saw him when he wasn’t fighting villains, now he’s everywhere, taking away both the credibility and the mystery of the hero.  The cinematography is dismal, with far too many close ups and not enough showcasing of the once wonderful world these characters existed in.  Normally, I’m a Joel Schumacher fan, but this was just too awful.  Then there’s the villains, the normally smooth characters of Two Face and the Riddler were transformed into giggling, rambling idiots by Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey.  They do nothing the whole movie but make cheap jokes and cheap plots, all of which turn once threatening villains into the village idiots of Gotham.  This takes away their credibility, making it seem too easy to fight them.  Nicole Kidman makes an appearance as psychologist Dr. Chase Meridian, but she too is caught in an avalanche of cheesy banter during her romance with both Batman and Bruce Wayne.  I don’t know if it’s the actors or the script, but something is definitely wrong.  This film also is the first appearance of Robin, played by Chris O’Donnell, who is also trapped by bad writing in a character that could have been great.  The one bright spot in the film is Kilmer, who portrays the conflicts and triumphs of Bruce Wayne with cool mastery, despite the bad lines.  Danny Elfman’s music is absent, changing the feel of the Bat.  Plus, the great injustice, nipples on the bat suit. Somehow the Dark Knight just isn’t so dark anymore.

Batman and Robin:  1997

The second chance for Joel Schumacher and George Clooney’s foray as Batman, Forever gives us the return of Robin (Chris O’Donnell in a definite improvement), and the appearance of Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman), as well as the debut of Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone).
What can be said about this film except:  Not again!!!  The villains are once again over the top idiots who can’t seem to do anything sinister, the script is a mix of outrageous plot and witty banter, the once dark world of Gotham City is a rainbow colored wasteland, and the film is shot like the Fast and the Furious in funny costumes.  Clooney as Batman is a tolerable element, but he doesn’t seem to have the same dynamism as Keaton and Kilmer, and the film simply doesn’t live up to the characters it was built around.

Now we come to the long awaited Batman Begins, which stars Christian Bale as Batman and brings in two other villains, Ra’s Al Ghul (Ken Watanabe) and The Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy).  The film also features Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, Michael Caine as Alfred, and Gary Oldman as a young commissioner Gordon.  It is directed by Cristopher Nolan of Memento and Insomnia fame.  Nolan’s other films are definitely dark, and judging by the trailers he has definitely outdone himself in that department.  The only thing I’m worried about is that it almost looks too real, like it could really happen, which isn’t the basis of comic books.  Batman is set in a believable world that’s just barely outside the realm of reality, but we’ll see just how well Nolan portrays that.  As for the first four films, I recommend seeing all of them, even though the last two don’t live up to the Dark Knight’s power.  Still, as always, you gotta love Batman.

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