No Right Answer: Best Batman Ever
- Thread starter Firefilm
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This is difficult because we have yet to have a Batman movie where the studio wasn't pressing the villian in your face rather than the main character. Sure the main character had more lines and more camera time, or whatever, but who stuck out at you better?
Keaton or Nickelson?
Kilmer or Carrey and Jones?
Clooney or Arnold?
Bale or the immortal Ledger?
Maybe Clooney and Arnold was a even-sided fight, but my point remains valid that Batman and Bruce Wayne have not been pressed to their fullest genuine potential.
If I was forced to vote, I would vote Kilmer with Keaton as a close second. I just wish Kilmer had had a better director. I do agree that Clooney did the best Bruce Wayne, but his Batman was proportionately as dull.
I also fully believe that Val Kilmer played the best cowboy in the history of western films in Tombstone.
Keaton or Nickelson?
Kilmer or Carrey and Jones?
Clooney or Arnold?
Bale or the immortal Ledger?
Maybe Clooney and Arnold was a even-sided fight, but my point remains valid that Batman and Bruce Wayne have not been pressed to their fullest genuine potential.
If I was forced to vote, I would vote Kilmer with Keaton as a close second. I just wish Kilmer had had a better director. I do agree that Clooney did the best Bruce Wayne, but his Batman was proportionately as dull.
I also fully believe that Val Kilmer played the best cowboy in the history of western films in Tombstone.
Good Luck, Have Batman. And btw for the future No Right Answer, I feel that adding polls to your comments for your videos would be really cool since, you know, your videos are debates.
Craazhy said:
Your sarcasm aside for your actual picks (icwutudidthar), I think you might have forgotten a couple villains here or there since Keaton and Bale had two movies each under their belt.
For Keaton vs. Nicholson? Keaton, surprisingly. Nicholson's Joker is indeed awesome, but Keaton's Batman matched and in some ways surpassed his insanity. Heck, that insanity even managed to creep into Bruce Wayne at times ("You wanna get nuts? C'MON! Let's get nuts!") Keaton played a very adjusted and subtle Bruce with only hints of a dark past, different from the brooding playboy cover of Bale's--while Keaton's compared to Conroy's is similar but a bit more believable/mysterious and better merged.
For Keaton vs. Pfeiffer vs. De Vito, Keaton and Pfeiffer actually managed to match each other. Having an equally insane/damaged Catwoman was a good idea, even if Batman Returns suffered from a lot of flaws (was still an entertaining movie, though). I'll even overlook the idea that cats can bring people back to life and grant them nine lives.
For Kilmer vs. Carrey vs. Jones? Believe it or not, Kilmer came across to me better, despite Jones playing Two-Face and being a more iconic actor, despite Carrey's over-the-top antics. Riddler I can understand, but Two-Face was too much a caricature and B:TAS had already planted my impression of how Two-Face was supposed to behave.
For Clooney vs. Aaaahhnold! vs. Thurman? Believe it or not, Arnold stole the show. Clooney plays a good Clooney, but not a very compelling Batman, especially not when he's engaged in a dick measuring contest with Chris O' Donnell. He also has to live down the stigma of the Bat Credit Card and the nipple/ass suits. Arnold's role did all the work for him. Mr. Freeze immediately pulls at the heartstrings of anyone who has seen B:TAS first. Not even his stiff acting or ice puns could take away from that. Something I still marvel at every day.
I have not seen all of Batman Begins, but I'm gonna say it was Bale who came out on top there. Since Begins was all about how Batman becomes Batman, the focus on him almost without a doubt makes him the star of his own story. They also picked two perfect villains for this. Al Ghoul is a compelling villain in any version but is designed to be Bruce's image of the darker path or the low road, a compromise of some principle or another at its most basic level. And Scarecrow is meant to be the fear that seeps through Batman's armor and attacks Bruce Wayne directly, a fear he HAS to overcome to be who he is, to be Batman. Scarecrow is already set up to yield the spotlight to the bat.
Ledger AND Eckheart (once he's disfigured) outperform Bale in Dark Knight. But that's how it should be in my opinion, because this is the point where Batman starts being defined BY the villains he comes across, not the other way around. Forever dancing in the spiral of madness that is his obsession, his compulsion.
That being said? Keaton is the best Batman. Conroy's Batman is better, but only with the cowl on. People forget that Bruce Wayne is always Batman (ALWAYS), that there is a marriage between the two identities and each has to serve their role. Keaton's and Conroy's portrayals of both sides of the mask do it well, but Keaton portrays the UNION of both sides of the mask better. Conroy's, however, uses the Wayne side of the mask for Batman purposes a lot more often. Adam West is an awesome Batman just because he's Adam fucking West, in the same way that George Clooney is a terrible Batman because he chose to be George fucking Clooney. Of course, this is also likely because he chose to be George fucking Clooney in Batman and Robin, as opposed to Ocean's Eleven or The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Val Kilmer's Batman is just too bland to remember. Bale's, while bland, tried to take a more internal look into the cogs and gears of Bruce Wayne's mind, but since Dark Knight couldn't trust the audience to make inferences and instead chooses exposition for this, we end up reading the Batman Cliff's Notes instead of watching and seeing Batman.
I allways thought George Clooney was generally considered to be the Worst Batman?
I like Michael Keaton to be honest.
I like Michael Keaton to be honest.
Unquestioningly the best Batman ever to grace the small screen (Im not sure if he had a feature film) was Kevin Conroy in Batman: The animated series of the 90's and later on Justice League and Justice League unlimited. He always did a perfect Bruce Wayne and Batman, if you didnt know any better you'd think they where different people.
The only other actor that came close to that perfect dichotomy of Suave Bruce and Badass Batman is Micheal Keaton. Close but yet so far...
Seriously, how many grew up with Conroy? Show of hands.....Thats what I thought 8)
The only other actor that came close to that perfect dichotomy of Suave Bruce and Badass Batman is Micheal Keaton. Close but yet so far...
Seriously, how many grew up with Conroy? Show of hands.....Thats what I thought 8)
ermm i don't know if this for humor or you guys really mean it, but was Michael Keaton did a better role on the tim burton batman?