West Vs Bale Vs Keaton Vs Kilmer Vs Clooney!

[AUSSIE-Rebooted-AMM]

OK. . .The Dark night has sparked some thoughts about the actual performance of the Actor as The Bat Himself, his voice etc.

I loved West in the 66 series . . .that is a given.

Kilmer surprised me and I enjoyed him more than I thought I would, but definately a bit more of a pretty boy than seems appropriate to play Bruce Wayne.

Clooney. . .well his voice was the same whether he was Bruce or the Bat. . .and that just didn't seem to work at all for me.

What do you think????

Also What about the Animated Series. . .which portrayals did you like/not like?

[theantiquetiger]

Of all the Batman movies over the last 15 years or so, I still like Keaton the best. He has that comical sense to him, witty, but not arrogant as Bruce.

[AUSSIE-Rebooted-AMM]

Sorry Tiger. . .Batman the movie was 1989 . . .19 years ago, and Batman returns was 1992. . .16 years ago. . . so you will have to change your time range. . . .or pick between, Kilmer, Clooney and Bale.
Can you believe they were that long ago. . . . . . .now I am feeling OLD!

[The Bat]

So far...Batman has only been done right ONCE(and now twice)...and Nolan got the right Man for the Job....Christian Bale IS Batman!!! There is no other!

[Hulk]

In this order for me...
Bale (He owns it now)
West (You say Batman and I still think of him first, and its hard to displace childhood memories)
Keaton (Surprised us all, didn't he?)
Clooney (He did an admirable job pulling off the camp given the crappy script)
Kilmer (Decent all around, but exceptional at nothing, if that makes sense)

I'd say Kevin Conroy would probably have to be somewhere around West, given his complete ownership of the voice. Its him I now hear when you say Batman. He would have made an excellent Live Action Bats in his prime, based on his looks. Shame no one ever gave him a shot at it.

[The Toyroom]

To me, Adam West is always numero uno in my Bat-book...been that way for over 3 decades () , his interpretation was definitely the major influence on my life-long obsession/passion with comic books and all things Batman. Can't erase that.

Michael Keaton was a surprising choice originally but I remember after I saw him in "The Dream Team" I thought "I think this guy could pull it off". I wish he stuck around longer than just two films....maybe we wouldn't have had to endure Kilmer or Clooney or Bat-Nipples.

Christian Bale is the modern-day heir to the cape and the cowl. His interpretation is much darker than his predecessors and if he sticks with the franchise it could be the best super-hero film translation ever IMO. But after hearing all of the great things about "The Dark Knight" (still haven't seen it yet) I'm not sure HOW they can top this one next time around. We'll have to see....

[AUSSIE-Rebooted-AMM]

Yeah I must agree about Keaton. . .a real surprise when it was announced, but he really pulled it off very well. I love when he was Bruce and the Jack was visiting at Vicky's place, and he went all psycho with that fire poker / and got himself shot. . .great scene. Really broke out of that comedic presence, that is for sure.

[The Bat]

I HATED Keaton!! Casting Him TOTALLY ruined any chance of Me enjoying that Movie!

[Earth 2 Chris]

West perfectly portrayed the Silver Age Batman, turned up a notch into self-parody. No one else could have pulled that off and worked it so sincerely as he did. He's kind of in a catergory all his own.

Of the modern Batmen...no contest. It's Bale all the way. Keaton createdt he gravely-growly whisper of a voice, so there he gets credit. But Bale was the first to take his role completely seriously, as if he were playing Hamlet, and not just a comic book character. He is a fantastic actor, and we as Batman fans are lucky to have him in the role. He is to Batman what Chris Reeve was to Superman. Perfect.

Michael Keaton did his best, and it did work, but when I watch those movies now, I still see Keaton in a Batman suit, not Batman. Too slight, and his suit was too clunky (esp. in the first one). His distracted Bruce Wayne was an interesting choice, but overall I don't think those first two movies hold up much.

I preferred Kilmer. If the campy elements of Forever had been dropped, he could have done even better. He was a better physical match for Batman.

Clooney did okay by Bruce, but his Batman was horrid. No real fault of his own, he couldn't play a dark Batman in a campy romp, but he couldn't touch West's Bat-parody.

Chris

[Dave Mc]

In this order for me...
Bale (He owns it now)
West (You say Batman and I still think of him first, and its hard to displace childhood memories)
Keaton (Surprised us all, didn't he?)
Clooney (He did an admirable job pulling off the camp given the crappy script)
Kilmer (Decent all around, but exceptional at nothing, if that makes sense)

I have to go with Hulk's list with one change... taking West Batman off the list completely. As a kid I loved that show, as an adult I can't watch it. SNL's AGD cartoons ruined for me forever. It's just not a Batman I enjoy anymore. Bale has the entire package, the look, the intensity. He could be a little bigger in size, but I'd rather have the look and intensity than the size.

Keaton had great intensity. Kilmer and Clooney can never be judged well since their scripts were soooooo terrible. Clooney had a great look while in the costume. He has the superhero jaw, while a lot of the other guys just look too babyfaced sometimes.