Six movies, three directors, four Bruce Wayne’s and nineteen years, Batman has gone through a lot in that time. It’s had huge success and utter embarrassing failure, though right now Batman is truly back and respected like he should be. This will be a look back through The Dark Knight’s interpretation in film starting with 1989’s Tim Burton directed Batman. I will study each film and address it’s strengths and weaknesses, basically this article is me trying to figure out why Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight has raked in so much money at the box office?
Batman (1989)
A childhood favourite, as a kid you couldn’t even comprehend that Batman could be better than what Tim Burton did with this film. It was the film that every Batman fan wanted, it was as closest to the source material than any other Batman interpretation ever was. This was the first true great comic book movie, an example of what was to come for the future. The most successful film of 1989, even one of the most successful movies of all time, worldwide gross was $411,348,924. Though what were the elements that made this film so huge?
Tim Burton
A director who could bring credibility to the film, someone who could create a dark, terrifying Gotham City, a director who could showcase what Batman truly is. Here he created something special and unique, he could bring his style to creating a Gotham City that was dark and depressing. His direction was superb, I cannot see how in 1989 anyone could have pulled off a Batman film other than Tim Burton.
Michael Keaton/Bruce Wayne/Batman
I’m not a huge fan of Michael Keaton in the role of Bruce Wayne but I thought he was perfect as Batman. There are many problems I have with this film now, even before I saw Chris Nolan’s films but Michael Keaton is a brilliant actor but sadly the role of Bruce Wayne wasn’t developed enough for me. We have him dealing with the realisation that The Joker killed his parents and his struggle with that which is great but what I hate the most about the Tim Burton Bruce Wayne is that the character is a recluse, he hides away in his mansion away from the spotlight which is drastically different from the comic books. The Bruce Wayne in the comics is a playboy, he’s always out in public so people don’t suspect he’s Batman, like what’s seen in Schumacher’s and Nolan’s Wayne.
Though my major complaint with the Tim Burton films is Batman himself. Throughout both this and Returns, Batman kills a lot of henchmen, it pisses me off so much now to see it because that is not Batman. The whole point is that he’s not supposed to be a vigilante, his one rule is to never kill someone. It pisses all over the character and it’s a disgrace to see, the moment he kills The Joker is the moment which undoes everything that was good about this film. If some people think that he didn’t actually kill The Joker then you’re wrong. He tied his leg to that gargoyle for the purposes of him falling to his death so basically in that scene, Batman is no better than The Joker. He took his vengeance on the person who killed his parents which completely negates the character. It’s probably one of the most unforgivable moments in the history of the Batman films, not the worst though, that goes to the nipples.
Jack Nicholson/The Joker
Common fact is that the best thing from this film is Jack Nicholson’s portrayal as The Joker. It was superbly brilliant and his performance was the main reason that many people saw the film. Everyone back then talked about his performance and you couldn’t help but love what he did in that role. Though when I was younger I was naive and as I got older I saw that performance as something that was good but it wasn’t great. I’m not saying this because of Heath’s performance in The Dark Knight, I’ve had these opinions long before but Nicholson is playing Nicholson, he is not playing The Joker. As I’ve become more knowledgeable about The Joker in comic form, I’ve seen less greatness in the work he did. Though that is mainly down to how The Joker was portrayed in the script, he’s not the brilliant sociopath that he’s portrayed in the comics. All he is here is a clown.
Nostalgia
Though with all films that I enjoyed as a child, there comes nostalgia. I very much still love Batman but sadly not as much as I used to, it’s still always fun to watch but sadly it cannot match the greatness of what Chris Nolan has done. Though comparing Burton’s film to Nolan’s is stupid, they’re completely different in what they were trying to achieve but both directors have something in common, they put their heart and soul into making a great Batman film.
Batman Returns (1992)
I have to confess now that I prefer Returns to it’s original and the main reason behind that is how dark the film is. It really is quite bleak in it’s story and atmosphere and that’s why I liked it. Though sadly it’s darker tone would result in Warner Brothers hiring Joel Schumacher to take over the reigns and we know that didn’t end well. Returns success though wasn’t as grand as it’s predecessor but it still did fantastic at the box office, it was the third highest grossing movie of 1992. Domestically it grossed $162,831,698, worldwide was $266,831,698, Batman was still popular for now.
The Penguin and Catwomen
Both Danny Devito and Michelle Pfeiffer do brilliant jobs as portraying The Penguin and Catwomen. This was the first and one of the only times that having two villains in a comic book movie actually works. It never feels overcrowded, not one is underused, both work brilliantly within the story. Though as with the first film, it seems that the villains get the centre stage and it’s more so evident in this and it seems that this will be the trend for the next two films as well. Batman takes a back seat and our focus is really on The Penguin and Catwomen, which should not be the case.
The Beginning of The End
The main criticism that I mentioned earlier was the tone of the film, in how certain characters were sadistic and that this film was being marketed towards children, with McDonalds tie-in toys. Though the film is clearly not aimed at children and the children toys are quite silly, though I used to have Robocop toys when I was a young lad and you know how violent that film was. The criticism that the film sparked would result in Schumacher taking control and creating a new world for Batman, one which would bury the Batman franchise.
Batman Forever (1995)
New director, new Batman, a new tone and even a new sidekick, Forever was a near complete start over for the franchise. The drastic changes would result in mixed opinions but it would become a huge financial success. The most drastic of all the changes was Gotham City, it’s neon illuminated, Neo-Tokyo style representation was a vast change to Burton’s Gotham. Warner Brothers wanted the franchise to undergo a major change and wanted it to appeal more to children, you can see the Warner suits thinking that if the tone was lighter that they could sell more toys. Though I’ll talk more about these guys later when I get onto the reason why the franchise suffered the fate it did.
Joel Schumacher – Is He To Blame?
Tim Burton was relegat
ed to producer as he didn’t want to direct a third Batman film and he didn’t like how the direction the franchise was taking. Joel Schumacher was then brought in as director, apparently Schumacher took the job after he got approval from Burton who was a friend of his. Many people seem to blame Schumacher for the reason why the the franchise took the direction it did but he really is not to blame. Warner Brothers are the ones to blame, they wanted to change the tone, they wanted the film to be aimed at children so they could sell toys. Schumacher actually at first wanted to do a film based on Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One but the studio was against a prequel. Schumacher really was a puppet, he had no creative control and just followed orders by the studio.
Two-Face and The Riddler
The campiness of the villains was just so extreme in this, Tommy Lee Jones and Jim Carrey chew the scenery. Jim Carrey is acceptable as at that point we were accustomed to his movie roles. Jones’ performance as Two Face was just too much, his portrayal of the character was shocking, though partly that is not Jones’ fault. The campiness of the villains was just the start of things to come, it would get a lot worse in the next film.
Val Kilmer/Bruce Wayne/Batman
Kilmer was acceptable in the role but there was nothing special about him. Sadly the role of Bruce Wayne and Batman were once again underwritten. There was a whole sublot involving Bruce forgetting why he became Batman which got deleted, it’s actually a brilliant, dark scene which I think would have improved the movie, you can see the video below.
Well the giant bat is too funny, if they changed that then it could have worked.
Robin
The one factor that pisses me off more than anything else in the Schumacher films. The character of Robin is a fucking whiny, little bitch who needs shooting. I’ve never liked the character and never will, though he’s not as annoying in this as he is in B&R. That’s basically all I’ve got to say about this really.
What I Liked
Overall this film isn’t that terrible, there are many problems with it but it’s very entertaining. The fans of the darker, 80’s Batman would have been really pissed as this was more in line with the 60’s Batman, the campiness was just about acceptable in this. The studio might have wanted a more kid friendly Batman but the fans didn’t want that, though the success of this film spawned the film to end the Bat franchise. It was time for Warner Brothers to shit on this character and then light it up in sickly neon glow.
Batman and Robin (1997)
I could spend my time going through the different aspects of why this is one of the worst comic book movie’s in history but franckly it’s all been said before. We all know how terrible Batman and Robin is, we know who is to blame and we know this film buried the francise for eight years. I think this video below can explain everything.
The film actually did alright at the box office, making a worldwide gross of $238 million. It did well in it’s opening weekend but then it’s success dwindled, probably because word got around that it was shit. Now that’s all over, I can get onto the good stuff.
Batman Begins (2005)
Warner Brothers seemed to learn from their mistake with what they did with the franchise and actually give respect towards the character of Batman. They hired Christopher Nolan to direct a new revamped Batman film. This film was going to tell the origins of Batman, a first for the movies, plus this was going to take a realistic approach to the character. In 2005 we got the Batman film that every fan deserved, we got one of the best superhero movies ever made, hell it was just a god damn great movie. When I walked out of the cinema after seeing this, I was so happy, for me it was one the best films I had seen in a long time. I had a period where my faith in films were dwindling, for me TV was better than 90% of the movies I saw. It became one of my favourite films of all time, I made a list of my top 40 films and I put Begins in the top 10, I enjoyed it that much.
A lot of other people agreed with me, it grossed $48 million in it’s opening weekend, eventually making $205,343,774 domestically and grossing $371,853,783 worldwide. It was a commercial and critical triumph, Batman was back.
Christopher Nolan
A genius and he’s British which makes a lot of sense. He has created THE Batman film, some might prefer Burton’s take but you can’t deny that this is the definite version of the character. It’s brilliantly faithful to the source material and for once it focuses on Bruce Wayne and not the villains. Nolan had a vision and he created a brilliant world, a perfect director for what was needed, he gave credibility to the film.
Realism
Nolan and writer David S. Goyer wanted the world grounded in reality. Gotham City was going to look like an ordinary place, no extravagance, just a normal looking city. We would believe that Batman could exist in our world, we would care for Bruce Wayne. Both Nolan and Goyer would take inspiration from different stories like The Man Who Falls, The Long Halloween and Year One to create the story.
Christian Bale/Bruce Wayne/Batman
Christian Bale was a perfect choice for Bruce Wayne, for me he’s the best Bruce Wayne and Batman. I believed in his Wayne and I could believe this guy being Batman. For once we cared for Wayne, we understood why he became Batman. This was about the tragedy of him losing his parents and how that grief forced him to make a choice.
The Cast
For me it’s the cast that gives this film more substance. Brilliant actors, giving us wonderful performances, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman, Tom Wilkinson, these are the finest actors around and most of them are British. The brilliant performances elevates this film beyond the typical superhero movie you get.
Reinvention of an Icon
Batman and Robin buried the franchise, it took eight years for it to return and it returned in style. Warner Brothers who were partially responsible for the franchise’s demise gave the project the respect it deserved by handing it over to people who would respect the source material. Nolan had started something special, he created a world we could believe in and a hero who we could relate to. Batman was truly reinvented but it would take the sequel to have everyone talking about The Dark Knight.
The Dark Knight (2008)
I’m not going into detail of why this film is a masterpiece, you can read my review of what I think of it. This whole piece was me trying to figure out why this film has become the success it’s been. In it’s opening weekend it grossed $155.34 million, it took the record for the best opening weekend, beating Spider-Man 3. It then took the biggest gross in a week taking in $238.6 million, beating Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest record of $196 million. Here’s a list of all the other records that the film broke:-
Theater Count – 4,366 theaters
Midnight Showings Total – $18.5 million
Midnight IMAX Total (94 Screens) – ~$640,000
Opening Day (Friday) Total – $67.8 million
Opening Day (Sunday) Total – $43 million
Opening Weekend IMAX Total (94 Screens) – $6.2 million
Tickets Sold Online in a Single Day (MovieTickets.com)
Tickets Sold Online in a Single Day (Fandango.com)
Fastest Ticket Sales (Fandango.com) – 15 Tickets Per Second
No one could really have expected this success, Batman Begins did well but how could you expect that the sequel would do this well. Right now it’s still number 1 at the US box office for the forth week in a row. Domestically it’s made over $441,000,000 and worldwide the gross is over $704,000,000 and it’s counting. The talk now is will it beat Titanic’s gross of $600,788,188? I’m not too sure about that, it would be brilliant but I think it’s going to struggle to take that record. Right now it sits at number 3 of all time domestic gross (not counting inflation), it will surely beat Star Wars at number 2, gross being $460,998,007. It will seem that it will take the number 2 spot and that is incredible, so why all this success?
With all the talk about the reasons why, the main reason that seems to crop up is Heath Ledger’s death. The question is, if Ledger never died, would this film had been so successful? I say yes, it still would have been the hit it has been. I admit some of the success has to be down to his demise, people really wanted to see his performance and were curious to see if he could be as great as all the hype that surrounded him. Though to just have his death as the main reason for the film’s success is insulting and disrespectful.
The hype for the film had been building for over a year before it’s release. The various viral marketing is a major factor to be considered in it’s success. Honestly no one can really determine the main reason. For me, the reason is that the film is just that good. To have made the money it has, people would have had to have seen it more than once, hell I’ve seen it twice. The hype before the film was immense, I had hyped myself up so much, more so than any other film ever. I never thought the film could meet my expectations but it surpassed them. It’s rare for a film to actually be worthy of the hype, it’s so great to see one worthy of it. There will be people in months and years to come to say that it’s overrated but really the film deserves all the success it’s got. It’s the best summer movie for a long time, best film of the year, best superhero movie and for me, favourite movie of the decade.
The franchise has seen some highs and lows, but why now has The Dark Knight had the success it has had? Everyone can relate to the character of Batman, he’s different to any other superhero, he doesn’t have superpowers, he’s just a normal very rich guy. Much like Iron Man has shown, I think audiences relate more to these heroes who don’t have powers. This Batman could exist, he exists in our world and that is why I think a bigger audience has been attracted to this film. What lies ahead for the future is a mystery at this point, can they really top the success of The Dark Knight with a third film? Only time will tell how this new franchise will be remembered. Let’s just hope Nolan stays around to see it end.
