Christian Bale has openly admitted that he ‘s a little jealous that Ben Affleck would be donning the cape and taking up the role of the Caped Crusader in the upcoming film “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.”
In a recent interview with shortlist.com, Michael Keaton, was asked the same prodding question he was quick to come back with a resounding no and a really good reason why.
“No,” Keaton stated “Do you know why? Because I’m Batman. I’m very secure in that.”
How badass of a reply is that?
As most of you know by now, or at least you should, Keaton took on the role of Bruce Wayne and his superhero alter ego “Batman” in the 1989 version of the film. It was Keaton’s portrayal of the the Dark Knight which truly paved the way for the incantation of Batman that we know today. “Batman” and “Batman Returns” are my two favorite Batman flicks; they hold so much nostalgia for me, I remember watching them and being instantly hooked.
Michael Keaton has bragging rights because he provided proof of concept. His deft, slightly unhinged approach showed you could do a big budget Batman film in the Age of Irony. Actors get given all kinds of stuff to do their jobs — lighting, sets, props, costumes, makeup, scripts, direction, etc. — but ultimately they’re the ones who have to actually bring it to life. The bat suit is just a bunch of latex. It’s a good-looking, well-sculpted bunch of latex, but that’s still all it is until you get an actor in it to make it live. There will always be deficiencies in that stuff; it’s not actually the real world, after all, and hell, even the real world can come off looking fake if the actors don’t make you believe in it. The more improbable the gear, the more important the actors become in persuading you to suspend your disbelief. Keaton was able to convince us that he was a devastating fighter despite wearing a suit that he could barely move in, and which surely requires more help to don than just a single elderly butler. Some of this is to the credit of the script and the fight choreography; they persuade us that Batman wins his fights in a fairly zen manner, by doing nothing until exactly the right moment, rather than by just punching things until they stop getting up again.
To this day, nobody has really captured the feel of melancholy and loneliness of Bruce Wayne and Batman. Even other characters comment to him that he is living a very solitary and torturous life. In “Batman”, when Vale asked him why he had be Batman, why he couldn’t let someone else save the city, he responded: “Because nobody else can. Look, I tried to avoid all this but I can’t. This is how it is.” In “Batman Returns”, Keaton’s Bruce just sits in his living room, staring into the darkness and without any purpose. When the bat-signal is shined into his room, he stirs up to his only focus in life, to intimidate and defeat criminals.
Bale was a meh Batman. And I’m not just talking about the voice. In “Batman Begins”, he was thinking of retiring. In “The Dark Knight” he was planning his retirement, and at the start of “The Dark Knight Rises” we learn that he actually has been retired. He comes back for a little while and… you guessed it, retires again! George Clooney apologized to fans for his stint as Bats and Kilmer, well…his performance in Batman Forever is easily forgettable. Micheal Keaton is the definitive edition Batman.
-Dagobot
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