Review: The cinematic history of the dark avenger Batman

review
The cinematic story of the dark avenger Batman

With the reboot “The Batman”, the film series about the popular comic hero is entering the next round. The director of the film, which will be released in German cinemas on March 3, is Matt Reeves. The trailers suggest that it will be even darker and more brutal.

“I am vengeance,” says an extremely angry Batman (Robert Pattinson), who this time deals with two villains. Paul Dano plays the Riddler as a psychopathic killer. His face was not visible beforehand. On the other hand, Colin Farrell is hardly recognizable as a penguin with a lot of mask and make-up. Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman seems drawn to the bat based on first impressions.

Ever since Tim Burton delivered the 1989 hit movie “Batman,” the Dark Avenger franchise has been one of the most important in blockbuster cinema. However, the screen story of Bruce Wayne and his alter ego began much earlier – almost 80 years ago. An overview.

US propaganda in World War II

Batman made his screen debut during World War II in a 15-episode series made for theatrically. Lewis Wilson played the first Batman in 1943. The “Batman” series seems silly today – and has an anti-Asian undertone that should serve US war propaganda. The villain is the Japanese agent Dr. daka But she was style-defining for all Batman films. The famous “Bat Cave”, the secret underground cave where Bruce Wayne stores his equipment and parks his Batmobile, appears here for the first time. In 1949 followed the sequel “Batman and Robin” with a new actor Robert Lowery.

Bang! pow! Boom! – Iconic TV series

Everyone can still sing along to the groovy title tune today. The sound effects advertised on the screen (“Crash!”, “Boing!”) are a piece of TV history. In 1966, Batman went into series production on US television. The brightly colored, humorous and very self-deprecating series with Adam West as Batman, Burt Ward as Robin and numerous over-the-top villains now enjoys cult status and was initially a hit with ratings. At the same time, the film “Batman holds the world in suspense” came to the cinema. However, the series was canceled after three seasons. It was only in 1989 that Sat.1 showed the series “Batman” on German television for the first time.

Tim Burton makes “Batman” a blockbuster

With his comic spectacle “Batman”, which was very dark for the time, director Tim Burton not only established the blockbuster status of the bat hero, but also paved the way for other comic film adaptations such as the later gigantic cinema successes of DC competitor Marvel. Michael Keaton wore a new leather bat costume that made Batman look a lot more menacing. Jack Nicholson fascinated as Joker. And Gotham City became an uncomfortable, dystopian metropolis. Danny Elfman provided the atmospheric music, superstar Prince the pop songs.

«Batman Returns»: Dark Sequel

Three years later, Tim Burton followed up with the star-studded Batman Returns. Michelle Pfeiffer caused a stir as the mysterious Catwoman in a tight leather dress, Danny DeVito played the tragic villain Penguin and Christopher Walken the nasty tycoon Max Shreck. Some fans consider the even darker sequel even better than its predecessor, it fell short of expectations at the box office. Nevertheless: Because “Batman Returns” shows the snowy Gotham City at Christmas time, it is even considered a Christmas film.

Val Kilmer in Batman Forever

At the request of the Warner Bros. studio, director Joel Schumacher gave the Batman series a new, more colorful flair intended to appeal to the MTV generation. In fact, «Batman Forever» (1995) almost looked like a music video. Keaton didn’t like the new style, so Val Kilmer took over as Batman. Jim Carrey as the wacky Riddler and Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face starred in the over-the-top, visually stunning spectacle, which flopped with most critics but not at the box office and has now achieved cult status. Also there: Chris O’Donnell as Robin and Nicole Kidman as Dr. Chase Meridian, for whom Wayne develops feelings.

Clooney fights Schwarzenegger

Nine years before George Clooney received an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for “Syriana,” he put on a less Oscar-worthy performance in “Batman & Robin” (1997). With Kilmer unavailable, Clooney became Batman and faced off against Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze and Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy. Alicia Silverstone’s Batgirl reinforced. Clooney didn’t even convince himself as Batman. The visually attractive film was too silly, flopped and ended the successful Batman series. An already announced, planned fifth film was not realized.

Nolan’s brilliant “Dark Knight” trilogy

Director Christopher Nolan and leading actor Christian Bale ushered in a new era in 2005 with Batman Begins. The dark, realistically staged trilogy culminated in the epic masterpiece «The Dark Knight», in which Batman once again has to do with the Joker. Heath Ledger, who died shortly after filming, received a posthumous 2009 Oscar for his anarchic portrayal of the iconic Batman antagonist. The ingenious trilogy came to an end in 2012 with «The Dark Knight Rises».

Ben Affleck unlucky in bat costume

Ben Affleck took on the coveted role in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) and Justice League (2017). In both films, however, Batman was no longer the sole main character. Instead, he gets acquainted with other famous heroes of the DC Universe such as Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman or The Flash. Affleck’s angry portrayal of the superhero was well done. You can’t really say the same about the films. After all, “Justice League” got a new version worth seeing last year at the insistence of the fans. But Affleck’s Batman will probably go down in film history as a missed opportunity.

Keaton and Affleck return

30 years after Michael Keaton hung up the bat costume, the 70-year-old will wear it again in the 2022 movie “The Flash”. A real sensation that caused a sensation on the internet. Alongside Keaton, Affleck will also be making a comeback as Batman in the film, which is set in multiple alternate timelines. A similar idea was just seen in “Spider-Man: No Way Home”, where the two former Spider-Man actors Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield are involved alongside Tom Holland.

dpa