How Michael Keaton Reinvented Batman for the Big Screen
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- čas přidán 27. 06. 2023
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#batman #batmanreturns #brucewayne #michaelkeaton #michaelkeatonbatman #batmanmovies #batmanmovie - Zábava
Burton's neo-noir Gothic aesthetic for Gotham City has also had a huge influence on how Gotham City is depicted in media.
A lot of younger fans don't realize just how much of Batman came out of this movie, and how insane the reactions were to Keaton being cast.
I remember a panel from "Crisis on Infinite Earths" -- which came out just 4 years before this movie -- where Arkham Asylum is depicted as...a hospital! Just a regular-looking hospital. It's hard to even imagine now.
"Burton's neo-noir Gothic aesthetic for Gotham City has also had a huge influence on how Gotham City is depicted in media."
Yeah, Especially the Batmobile's design.
@@christophercarey3232 Yonder Batmobile looked sleek & high tech while having the look of a Nash Rambler.
@@kevinkeeney9418 Arkham was supposed to be something like a suburb of Hell. It was a dumping ground for irrevocably, irredeemably LOST SOULS. It would've inspired Dante while writing the Inferno.
Burton said in an interview that he cast Keaton because of the eyes. The eyes had to come through the suit and cowl, and Keaton's eyes had that touch of madness.
17:14 "It turns out some days you can get rid of a bomb." I hope you're proud of what you've done. You monster.
So, my dad never liked Michael Keaton as Batman, in his words, "Because he's too small. Batman needs to be a big guy, like Adam West."
This is how I first learned, as a child, that even intelligent people that I respect can be petty dipshits sometimes.
The exchange that sold it for me:
It's Japanese.
How do you know?
Because I bought it in Japan.
Just something about how he threaded the tones among humor, ego, and a surprising shyness.
17:20 Ha! “Some days you just can’t get rid of a bomb!” was my favorite line from the 1966 Batman film. Thanks for the reference! 👏🏻
I've always wondered if Wayne Enterprises even exists in the Burton/Keaton version. There's no reference to it in either film, and at one point Max Shreck refers to Wayne as a “trust fund goodie goodie."
I imagine Keaton's Bruce Wayne is completely anti-social (given that Knox didn't even recognize him, despite being a native Gotham journalist). No public face, no captain of industry-- just an awkward loner living with his butler in an old mansion on the outskirts of the city. What better cover for Batman?
I think the Wayne family in that continuity is just _very_ old money, to the point that Bruce doesn't even _need_ Wayne Enterprises to maintain the family fortune and finance the Batman's war.
In other words, Tim Burton.
It worked for Kent Allard.
Burton/Keaton films all felt like sequels. Even B89 felt like a sequel. A lot of things were assumed in the film - the wealth, the how he becomes Batman, where everything comes from. Exposition was never a strong point for Burton...
@@AaronLitz Bruce is *almost* the Anti - Stark ( as in Tony ).
Kevin Conroy is the best Batman. However without Michael Keaton to lay the groundwork, we would not have any of the great Batman performances we have seen since.
Kevin Conroy is the best Batman, Michael Keaton is the best live action Batman.
May Conroy rest in peace... the *best* Batman. No one can beat the team of Conroy and Hamill.
My thoughts exactly!!
Adam West was the bat best. The sign says so!
Gotta agree with ya there. Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill are Batman and joker. Then Keaton and Jack, and then bail and ledger. But still 89 Batman paved the way for the animated series.
Aside from the big climax parts, Michael Keaton’s Batman is Batman by way of Bugs Bunny. That wry smile, the bomb switch, it’s like he’s moments away from saying “Ain’t I a stinker?”
Also, side note, this is the second time Chris Walken has been cast as an evil industrialist named Max. There’s typecasting, but that’s just weird.
On the subject of Batman by way of cartoons, you could have employed the infamous Doofenshmirtz paraphrase:
"If I had a nickel for every time Christopher Walken played an evil industrialist named Max, I'd have two nickels...which isn''t a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice." 😉😁
Keaton's genius was in taking a very flatly-written character (pair of characters?), and breathing life into him/them, when both the screenplay and the director were very obviously more interested in the villains than in the hero. Not just avoiding being blown off the screen by a wildly scenery-chewing Jack Nicholson, but actually going toe-to-toe, and succeeding while being encased in 50 pounds of rubber, is no mean feat. I'm still an Adam West man, though. But then, I Am very old...
Oh, Adam West will always be THE Batman... come on, Bat Shark Repellant? Nothing beats that camp. When it comes to "serious" Batman... yeah, Keaton knocked that shit out of the park.
Did you know your last name's an adverb?
Keaton's greatest strength as an actor is his almost manic-charisma. He's friendly, terrifying and overflowing with energy all at once.
I truly believe that Keaton should portray an elderly Bruce Wayne in a Batman Beyond movie.
He's about the right age.
And like the video pointed out, he makes a fantastic Bruce Wayne and Bruce Wayne is not the Batman in Batman Beyond.
Seeing his entrance into the flash made me cringe, I didn’t like what they did with keatons Batman. Muschietti who directed the flash should never touch keatons Batman ever again.
The man is a terrible writer for Batman, Keaton knocked it outta the park tho in that movie but it was nothing like his entrance in Batman beyond the series.
Michael Keaton was my favorite Bruce Wayne, hands-down. As someone on the spectrum, he was far and away the most relatable to me since he was awkward and kind of weird as opposed to the other Bruce Waynes.
Agreed , his weirdness was also uniquely cool as fuck too somehow
I think that ridiculously long gun was the main hero of the movie.
I didn't grow up in America so I didn't hear the skepticism of casting Michael Keaton. As a childhood fan of the character I loved that movie. It was dark but creative. There are wonderful aspects of German Expressionism that raise it above other action films. It doesn't try to logically apply comic book fiction into a real world.
Michael Keaton's portrayal was also a formative influence on my understanding of who Batman is. I rewatched both last year after seeing Pattinson's Batman. Especially filtered through all of the even darker, grittier Batmans (or Batmen?) that followed, his first outing is more cartoonish than I remembered it being, but I think that's part of why it works so well. It's very balanced-the cartoonishness still has a dark and noir-ish vibe akin to its contemporaries Dick Tracy, Roger Rabbit, and the first Ninja Turtles movie. So it's very much a product of its era, but I think all of these movies hold up in terms of performance, story, humor, design, and overall mood and style. Michael Keaton is still a top-tier Batman, and the same goes for Tim Burton as director.
I just like Michael Keaton. Birdman is in my top ten favorite movies and im pretty sure if anyone else starred in The Founder, i would have hated that movie.
The Founder was not the movie I expected, and I would agree it's because of Keaton. And I still remember seeing Johnny Dangerously with my older sister who took me to it when I was like 8 or 9. I thought that movie was hilarious.
@@BuckeyeStormsProductions _Johnny Dangerously_ is just really fun, and is so full of quotable lines that my friends and I always end up quoting it at least once per game session in our weekly _D&D_ campaign, with only _Ghostbusters_ being quoted more often.
_"Did you know your last name is an adverb?"_
_("Go get'er, Ray!"_ gets quoted at least once a game, along with the other "Ray" quotes like _"What did you do, Ray?!"_ as well as stuff like _"Listen, do you smell something?!")_
it might also be said that in 1989 there werent super hero movies and tv shows coming out every couple of months like it is now. it can probably be said that the whole marvel and dc universe movies and shows started with keaton's batman.
I'd say it started with Reeve's Superman.
So, the thing is, a silver serving tray *could* stop a bullet, if it was small enough and hollow-point. Given the size of Joker's pistol in that scene, it would still hurt like a bastard, but probably the bullet wouldn't go in you and you'd survive.
_Batman_ was the first movie I went to see multiple times in the theatre. As a ten year old it blew me away, and I couldn't get enough of it. Keaton absolutely defined the character for a generation and beyond. Speaking of beyond, I would still _love_ to see a _Batman Beyond_ movie with Keaton as old man Bruce Wayne. The older he gets, the more perfect he becomes for the role.
The original Batman also should be taken as a comedy. I don't know why no one talks about the funny scene near the end where Batman found the Joker as Joker was going up the stairs of the church, and was trying to get up to him before Joker does anything bad. Joker doesn't know Batman is behind him. On the first floor of the church, Batman accidentally knocks down a pew, and the entire church pew setup falls like dominos, seemingly forever, alerting Joker that he's coming. Batman is so good when he fucks up.
Let's also give credit to Michael Keaton on forever influencing the design of the 'Bat' cowl with his eyebrows.
There is an adage that comedic actors do drama better than dramatic actors do comedy. They understand timing. Keaton proves that.
As an aside Johnny Dangerously is one of my favorite movies. So happy Keaton has had a resurgence
I LOVE Johnny Dangerously! Such a great movie.
I really liked him as Batman. I agree that his portrayal of Batman set the standard for the modern takes on the character. He could have been totally run over by Jack Nicholson, and he wasn’t. That alone sets his performance above many others!
"Could you just whip up a sonnet, something...a dirty limerick?"
"One has just sprung to mind."
Alfred's comedy is so underrated.
This casting was a brilliant move by Burton. He wanted someone to play Bruce Wayne first, and it set the standard.
Batman 89 was the first grown-up movie my dad took my to see. I can still see line outside the theater where we waited. Such an awesome experience, and a treasured memory. I probably watched our VHS copy 1000 times the next few summers.
Well, until Jurassic Park came out. But that's another story.
My favorite scene always cracks me up in Batman returns, when the penguin throws the ice princess out of a window of a high-rise Selena reminds him that he said he was just going to scare her, he responds: "She looked scared to me!!"😂
That bomb call back to the original Adam West Burt Ward movie was great.
The original version of Batman in 1939 did kill his bad guys and carried a gun. Detective Comics #27 he threw a man off a roof and later knocked his boss into a vat of acid. The change to make Batman someone who doesn’t kill was important because it would inspire people that vengeance doesn’t mean you have to be like those that wronged you.
"Some days you CAN get rid of a bomb."
Well played, sir.
"Some days, ya CAN get rid of a bomb" 😂😂😂 👏🏻👏🏻
Beautiful.... just... Beautiful.
I think Tim Burton always understood the close kinship between comedy and horror, and while they were not overtly either thing, Burton's Batman movies actually rode that line in tone. It turned out to be a pretty good choice for the character and his world. Keaton plays Batman/Wayne very straight, but as this tightly wound guy constantly riding the edge of mental breakdown, and I think his comedy background fed into that.
I preferred Batman Returns too--I was more of a Tim Burton fan than a Batman fan at the time, and I liked that Burton was being very, very Burton here to a degree he had not been in the first one.
I totally agree even though Tim Burton Batman films had a slighty campy tone they had dark edge to them. The Christopher Nolan films even though they were really good films, they took themselves far to serious. If I was given a choice I would pick Tim Burton films anyday.
I knew Michael Keaton would be perfect for Batman when I saw him in the movie "Dream Team".
"I'm an escaped mental patient with a history of violence."
I completely agree that Michael Keaton transformed Batman for the better and I love the Adam West show reruns. The 1989 movie made me obsessed with Batman. I had the T-shirt, drew the logo all over my notebooks at school. We are the same age and until this day Batman is in my heart always.
12:08: To be fair, the puny pistol the Joker has in that scene looks like it could be stopped by an especially thick sheet of paper.
No Gothamite would be surprised to learn Keaton’s Bruce Wayne dresses like a rubber bat at night. They’d only be surprised to learn he fights crime in it.
While for most super hero portrayals I can usually point to one specific actor as MY "insert name", Superman and Batman are major exceptions and Batman especially so. MY Batman is Adam West, but also Keaton, but aslo the voice actor from the Super Friends cartoon from the 1st season onward until West took over the role. MY Batman is also Kevin Conroy though. So I'm lucky to have so many to choose from, but not so much since Keaton is the onky living one. Ironic since I grudgingly saw the film opening night, thoroughly sure it'd be too dark and Keaton too ill-equipted to play the part.
"It turns out some days you CAN get rid of a bomb." Brilliant.
Oh my god my mother sewed the exact same Batman costume for me when I was a kid. That stupid cowl you could barely see out of that wasn't form fitting at all. I treasured that thing.
Reeves and Patterson essentially did a more grounded version of what Burton and Keaten did. Which is good, because I prefer Gotham to be gothic over it looking like downtown Pittsburg, with all do respect to Pittsburg.
I was old enough to remember the howls of outrage when it came to Tim Burton's casting choice for Batman. Not only did people think Michael Keaton too comedic, but they thought he was straight up too goofy and frail looking to play The Batman. However the hype was real and when Batman came out everyone came out to see it. I was captivated at the very start with the whole look and Danny Elfman's score, but what sold it for me was that very first scene on the roof with the muggers. When Keaton inhabited that suit he flat out moved differently. There was a quiet economical menace to his every movement, and the eyes staring out at you from that mask were completely bat-shit crazy. 9/10th of his acting as the batman was pure body language, and I was stunned at how awesome he was.
Hey, don’t forget, Batman set a guy on fire with the Batmobile in Returns.
Great vid as always
I will 100% agree that Keaton is the best live action Batman.
I love the bomb reference to the 1966 Batman movie. Brilliant!
While personally, "Batman Forever" is my favourite of the Burton-Shumacher films, Michael Keaton is an excellent example of ability over appearance and I like the touch of Bruce requiring glasses for short distances, it is nice little disability.
I do think that Michael Keaton is an iconic Batman.
My friends and I still regularly quote _Johnny Dangerously._
_"It shoots through schools!"_
I tried quoting Johnny Dangerously to my mother once. Once!
@@davemlbc _HA!_
I was 10 when the Michael Keaton version came out. I watched it probably three or four times a week (Because it was 1989 and what else was I going to do). But seriously It's still my absolute favorite Batman and Joker.
I remember the poster just having the Batman Insignia, not the word Batman.
I admit, as a long time Bats fan, I could not imagine Keaton as Batman ... and then he did the most astonishingly brilliant version, up against a Joker that tried to steal the show, but didn't quite ... the only thing that beat the lines in this version, was when Wayne and Selena Kyle are dancing in the second one and realize who they're dancing with and the decision not to fight ... Damn. Maybe not the most brilliant set of movies (there are large swatches of the second one I could live without) But Keaton was ... just about perfect for me ... the dichotomy of Wayne and Bats is just ... yeah. And I had Bats comics that were 12 cents when I purchased them.
"It turns out some days you *can* get rid of a bomb."
Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES, I love it, I love it, I love it 😁
This was excellent
For the algorithm!
You make great content.
I appreciate the focused take on Keaton as Batman. I think there is a lot to say about the characterization of the villains and of Bruce Wayne in the Burton movies, and I don't have a lot of positive things to say about them, but you are right in highlighting Keaton's performance as Batman. Without Burton, we probably wouldn't have Batman: the Animated Series, so I have to grudgingly give him props for his tone and the art direction of those Burton Batman films. But again, Keaton was really good, and he set a standard.
I love Michael as Batman! He was awesome and handsome!
I wasn’t aware of any of the discourse, being a kid and all, but that first trailer that debuted months before was all the convincing I needed. I was obsessed with the movie for years, but the obsession waned as each iteration just didn’t match up to the vibe of the original. And then Christopher Nolan kinda ended it for me with the character and ever since, I roll my eyes thinking that Batman is now some legacy defining acting portrayal.
The best Batman movie is honestly Birdman, which I don’t care what people say, Keaton being in the role was intentional. Coming to grips with the character in a meta sense and ultimately embracing that legacy changed how we look at Keaton. A guy that couldn’t get a job for nearly two decades is now an Oscar winning actor and a beloved comic icon. Interesting character arc for sure
Keaton completely re-invigorated the live action Batman... I respect Bale's performance but no one can really touch Keaton, especially since he gave birth to Conroy and Hamill in the cartoon. Bless them all.
The thing ill never forget is how Batman 89 retconned The Joker to be the killer of Bruce Wayne's parents.
"I made you... You made me first."
EDIT: Ayyyyy you hit on that! :D
It was so logical and iconic, I believed that bit until way later into my adult life. Happens when you're 9 when watching the movie.
In the end, the joker actually danced with a devil in the pale moon light when Batman grappled his leg to a gargoyle
Funny thing, after the 2022 The Batman seeing the 1989 Batman has a lot from the 1960s Batman in it. There are even a few gags lifted from the 1960s show.
Honestly, even at the time, I said he was better as Bruce than as Batman, but still, I love his portrayal more than most.
Keaton is still the only actor to play a Batman who gives off a supernatural aura(which is always a subliminal element to the comics despite being human). It’s something that is absent from all subsequent portrayals though IMO the last 3 actors to play the character have all been great but it would be nice to bring that element back. I’d actually like to see an entire movie that treats him more like the shark in Jaws(Batman Begins did that in the first in costume scene and it would be cool to see that expanded on)
Thanks
🖤🦇 Batman 🦇🖤 My Batman 🖤🦇🖤
ITA Keaton is an underrated genius at Being who he is called to play and therefore making you Believe what you see is not only possible, it probably happened just like that, somewhere.... In the same way he played Batman, his Dogsberry in 1993 Much Ado About Nothing was played so perfectly straight it is wonderous as the comedic part it is without forcing, only drawing laughter from you. The sympathy you experience for Bruce Wayne, socially awkward nerd, is so delicately drafted that it's there before you realize why. Great VidEssay
first time i saw Keaton was in fact in Mr Mom ... and i loved his turn as Beetleguise (it was officially spelled with a 'g' instead of a 'j' for those who didnt know)
There were only two people I felt made a good Batman. Michael Keaton and Christian Bale. Just as I felt only two people captured The joker Mark Hamill in the animated series, and Heath Ledger in the Dark Knight. I also felt Burton made Gotham a very dark place like the early comics where they called Batman the Dark Knight. these are all very good things.
Some days you CAN get rid of a bomb. 😂 Well played.
I do look forward to hearing your take on The Flash movie.
Michael Keaton is the best Batman ever!!! Absolutely I agree! Michael brought the darkness that Bruce Wayne would have had to have been and the awkwardness for a man who lost his parents, grew up alone, and stayed in the dark and had bats around him all the time. He's a little off! The fact that they portray Bruce Wayne in other films as a Playboy well adjusted rich guy is ridiculous and it makes no sense whatsoever! Christian Bale was okay as Batman he's probably number two for me but another honorable mention of a great Batman is in the Lego movies! I thought that depiction of Batman was also spot on because if he wasn't dark and weird he would definitely be dark and arrogant and crazy! So great video. I love Michael Keaton!!!❤
Although it was meant to be a return to basics for Batman at the time, I do attribute a lot of Batman's grim and stoic nature as the standard in most Batman media since to Keaton's portrayal.
If there's something I'd specifically attribute to Keaton himself though, it's establishing a canyon's wide difference between Bruce Wayne and Batman. Keaton plays Bruce as a bit of a strange man. Not offputtingly so, he's charming, but there's an aloofness to him that firmly establishes that even if not knowing he's Batman, he's quite separated from "normal" human existence and it reflects in his personality no matter how much hes' worked on dialing up the charm. Keaton in particular plays him with this quiet meekness that also depicts him as this gentle, cordial, but still slightly socially awkward elite that contrasts so much with the quiet, brutal and stone cold ruthlessness his Batman at least emits that it makes the difference between when he's wearing the suit and not so much more striking.
Everyone plays him a bit different, Bale really ups the Bruce Wayne as an act routine, while Pattinson depicts a younger and less stable Bruce who hasn't figured out the balance of the two identities...or even having two identities yet, and obviously the late great Kevin Conroy best depicted the idea of Batman being the "real" personality, though with a bit more subtlety than the Bale depiction. What they all have in common though and what I think they got from Keaton's Batman is that they always, despite their best efforts (or lack therof in Pattinson's young Wayne.), Bruce Wayne is an outcast. He can never fully hide that.
I *really* liked Michael Keaton as Batman. He pulled off both sides of this character-Batman & Bruce Wayne-well.
My appreciation of these early Batman films is strongly tied not only to their aesthetic (which is more interesting to me than the generic cityscapes and practical yet boring Batcaves we've received since) but to their depiction of Batman's arc as a character.
Bruce's attempts to save both Selina and Richard from a dark, self-destructive path may come off a bit hypocritical, but that's the point: he is resigned to sit silently in his Citizen Kane room and wait for the Batsignal to light up the darkness that engulfs him, but he hopes for others to avoid that fate--and perhaps if he can save these vengeful souls from becoming murderous vigilantes, maybe he can escape that path along with them. He fails with Selina, but he manages to get through to Dick, and in doing so, he emerges from being an awkward recluse to something of a family man as he raises his sidekicks in the life of herodom. It's a transformation that mirrors his development in the early years of the comics, going from a vampiric take on the Shadow to the head of the Bat Family.
Unfortunately, Keaton's departure from the role somewhat muffles this character arc. Kilmer isn't awful or anything, but it's hard to buy him as the same character we knew from the first two movies, even he very much is that character on paper. And Clooney--well, Clooney showed us the bolder, more confident public figure that Bruce allowed himself to become, but maybe that public persona should have been confined to his hours outside of the anatomically-correct rubber suit. (As for why Batman decided to take his chest armor in a more overtly erotic direction, we can only speculate that it was the influence of Catwoman, who introduced the notion that antiheroes in animal garb should be kinky.)
I figured the rules in Returns were "no killing any character the writer bothered to name"
Don't forget the song by Prince.
The first movie has the one of the best moments in film. Brief though it is, it is a moment where visuals and score are one.
I'm referring to the point in the film where Batman and Vicy are in the batmobil, racing back to the bat cave. "Decent into mystery" is the name of the piece, written by Danny Elfman. Strangely, the volume always gets louder at this point, must be something up with my DVD! 🤷♀️
I listen to the score, and I can picture this scene in my mind. Strangely, not only does it always get louder during this piece, but if I happen to be listening to it whilst driving, my right foot always seems to be just that little bit heavier. Must be something up with my copy of the score, as well as my shoes. Which is proof that shoes really do have a soul....! (Sorry!).
Anyway; that moment is totally awesome, and embodies the mood and tone of the film perfectly - Just a shame it's only 1 minute and 32 seconds long!
Keaton ....Burton... Batman Beyond.. NOW
There was always a mystique around the first Batman movie for me. It seemed like a big deal to my, also, 9 year old self. I didn't get to see it in the theater myself, but my parents brought me home a baseball cap with the bat logo on it. (Side note: when I first saw the hat, I though it was some weird mouth on it as opposed to the bat symbol)
I had been reading Batman comics pretty much since I was born, so 13 year old me was ecstatic when this movie came out. I went to the theater with my family, having already read the novelization because I didn't care about spoilers back then (boy, was I stupid), and wearing my Batman T-shirt, I loved every second of that film. Now I see its flaws, but even being a movie that doesn't really hold up, Keaton's performance does. I do rank him just under Bale as my favorite live action Batman, but he is still incredible to watch in those movies.
Coming from the 60s Television Batman series I was always more interested in the villains (I adore the Burgess Meredith Penguing and of course Thanks for everything, Julie Newmar). Maybe I'll rewatch and actually have a look at Batman...
Damn it, ok Steve I'm going to watch Batman 89 again!
In my opinion Batman Returns is the best Christmas movie. It seems like Batman's no killing rule doesn't apply to clown (or maybe "evil" clowns) and I'm ok with that.
Having not been born when Batman 89 was released, and way too young to have seen Batman Returns in theaters, the Flash was the first time I got to see Michael Keaton's Batman on the big screen. Though the movie was far from perfect (thanks in part to all the DCU reboot business), Keaton was easily the best thing about it. Funny that just like how he defied all those naysayers back in 1989 that he wasn't the right choice to play Batman, he pretty much defied anyone who thought he was too old to play Batman again in the Flash (not that I'm surprised). Sure would be nice if they do make a Batman Beyond movie with him someday soon, even though WB already denied they would a few months back. I already thought that it would be a nice follow up project for him and Tim Burton after they film the Beetlejuice sequel, just like Batman 89 was for them after the first Beetlejuice.
13:21 - A deliberate reference to HMS Pinafore's "A British Tar", or happy accident?
Keaton did not miss a beat in the new flash movie he was one of the best parts in it when I get this movie on DVD I'm going to add to together all of his scenes and it's going to be great
i dressed up as jack nicholsons joker for halloween in '89 -- i was 11 years old and though i loved the adam west batman growing up i too enjoyed the new darker take on batman that keaton gave us and was glad he was able to pave the way ... though obviously the standout for me was nicholson as the joker and at about that time in my life i was starting to get into darker universes in media and looking for more compelling villains and less campy heroes Batman '89 provided that in spades
I'm not the first person to say it but it's important enough to me to say it too: No Conroy without Keaton.
And specifically here, I'm talking about *Bruce* not Batman. Although the overall sensibility of TAS is owed to Burton's take on the modern Bats, I think the most important single contribution that TAS made to the overall mythos is the depiction of "Bruce in the Cave". You know who I mean - that voice that's low, but not as low as it is in the mask. The turtleneck. The serious demeanor but absolutely with a fair degree of humor lurking around. The occasional decrease in intensity level that you never see in Public Bruce's intense foppishness or Bats' intense intensity. This is a Bruce who can ...even if only for moments at a time...relax.
And Keaton created that. Timm and Conroy perfected it, but it wouldn't have been an idea without Keaton's more measured approach to Bruce. His Bruce wasn't Bruce in the cave - as Steve notes, he's just...Bruce. Awkward, inexplicably intense, Bruce. It just so happens that this Bruce is at his least awkward in the cave, alone with Alfred (cf. the immediate way he tenses up when Vicki surprises him in said cave - it's not just "dammit you know my secret," it's also "dammit you're in my sanctum sanctorum").
No Conroy without Keaton.
Don't forget he set the dude on fire with the batmobile lol . Just cause he kills doesn't mean he have to kill everyone . He also killed Catwoman when he knocked her off the building
"Sometimes you can get rid of a bomb"... someone should have told that to The Flash (2023) executives.
I think a bullet hitting a silver serving tray would make a noticeable noise different from that of hitting a torso.
I remember being very nervous about Keaton being Batman. I am much older than you, Steve, and I was worried that it would be a return to Adam West. My fears were allayed when Keaton growled ‘I’m Batman’.
+1 internets for a solid Batman '66 reference.
I was skeptical but Keaton was an excellent Batman😃
Shoutout to Johnny Dangerously!!!
Okay... I literally grew up on Adam West's Batman. I watched it eating dinner every... what? Wednesdays and Thursdays? Even then I didn't care for the cartoon-ie-ness of the show, I was a tweenie, even though the term wasn't around then. I was also watching the Man From U.N.C.L.E. and Star Trek. Then, in the early 1980s I wrote a Batman fanfic, it is posted on AO3. Yes, in the Adam West Batman 'universe.' I'll say that when I write fanfic, even when I inject my people into their universe, the heroes have to have a major hand in saving the day. I can't say I thought Keaton was the best Batman ever, I kinda liked that new guy a bit more. I think he looks more like my image of Bruce Wayne, heck, even Adam West was a very good Bruce Wayne - he needed a girdle in the costume... and I always said he had the wrong chin for my vision of Batman.
Honestly, I don't think we've ever gotten a truly "bad" live action Batman. Maybe some of the blink-and-you-miss-it versions from one of the TV adaptations like Birds of Prey weren't good, but the all of the movie Batman actors have done a great job.
When you said his 2 iconic lines, I heard you saying it in keatons voice.
I guess that tells you enough how influential he really was.
Also, I like that there was no music here or any fancy editing, just you talking.
You said Beetlejuice 3 times, it's fortunate you were able to make it to today's livestream! Also, yeah, Keaton is my Batman.
Actually, he said it more than three. So, no 'Juice.
Jeez, Steve. The second movie is called "Bat2man".
For me, Billy Dee Williams will always be Gotham's mayor.
Two words: Batman Beyond. Michael Keaton told me once that he believed that Joker did not kill Bruce's parents, that Bruce's memory was unreliable. Any substantial threat that could believably stand-in for the mugger would take that role in his mind. Joker went along it because his own memory was unreliable and it does sound like something he'd do, also it gave greater intimacy to their dynamic which you know Joker is all for. Val Kilmer discussed this with Mr. Keaton and had insisted that Batman Forever reference this several times or he'd walk from the project. Bruce is mentally ill. Being Batman is his way of controlling his illness, weaponizing his own madness and evil for a better cause. He can't trust his own mind or emotional stability, thus his code. And Alfred. Speaking of, Batman Beyond had one big absence: an Alfred. Someone trustworthy that thinks the Batman thing is crazy, but remains loyal to the Waynes and to Terry, maybe someone whose family was saved by both Bruce (financially, hiring an ex-con single father/mother) and Batman (health-wise).
Hopefully they get a pale, dark haired pretty boy with gray eyes for Terry. I am...99.5% straight but even as a kid I had a bit of a crush on Terry: the bad boy who forced himself to be better out of love for his family, that mix of looks and personality. He was the only male character that confused me that way. That he was secretly Batman and a partial heir to a Billionaire (or was it Trillionaire by that point?) was the cherry on top. Straight up loved Ten, though. Really wanted Terry and Ten together, yet was puzzled by my jealousy of both characters. That said, I believed Max was better for Terry's life. Girlfriend or best friend, Terry NEEDED Max in his life. Probably why Dana wasn't ever jealous of her, I think she accepted they were a package deal and likely always had been. If Max had wanted Terry, there wasn't shit Dana could've done about it. Lucky for her, Max was devoted to Terry and the McGinnis family: the sister/daughter that chose them.