Favorite Batman portrayal and why

[The_Manhunter]

A lot of Batman fans seem to want him to be this dark, tortured soul forever that never escapes or finds happiness. I find that boring and simplistic.

"Bale's Batman quit being Batman!" Yeah... because it's a movie trilogy with a definitive end and not a series of comics that have gone on for 80 years and counting.

I didn't have a problem with him quitting at the end - in fact I liked that decision.

Was not a fan of him quitting after TDK though, just seemed out of character to me.

 

[DX]

I voted for Bale. The ranking goes:

Bale
Keaton
West
Affleck
Kilmer
Clooney

 

[Tg11]

I honestly do not get the Bale love I really don't like am I the only one who found Bale's incarnation of Bruce Wayne/Batman annoying in the sense of his Bat voice in the sense of how he would scream at the criminals who he would go up against? Or that he lacked the physicality that other Batmans had? Like in the sense he wasn't really challenged enough well aside from Bane was Bale's Batman in any real danger?

Not to mention Bale I will admit he played the billionaire playboy perfectly but as far as being the tortured soul/crime fighting vigilante by night he played Batman well like in Begins but then in The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises he became boring in the 2 other films

 

[The Batman]

The only time Batman actually felt like he was in danger during a film was when he fought Bane in Dark Knight Rises.

Kilmer and Clooney were in glorified cartoons with little to no stakes, and Batfleck manhandles goons and beats up Superman with relative ease. Keaton survives plane crashes, and do you honestly think he was in any real danger when he was fighting Ray Charles or the Batarang-catching poodle?

 

[Boy Scout]

While I think this is true, I wouldn't want to undersell the darkness of Bale's version. All of those positives you listed are true about him, but he was still a guy fueled by pain and entropy in a lot of ways. Not just with the tragedy of his past but of the pain in the present, a lot of it indirectly caused by him.

I don't disagree.

 

[Osiris-Rex]

You do bring up an interesting point, here. I wonder if Schumacher would have been able to make a decent Batman film if WB wasn't pushing him to make two giant toy commercials that felt more like the old Batman TV series than the dark world Burton had established. 8MM, Falling Down and Flatliners are really good, dark films and if Schumacher had gone that route, then perhaps he could have given us a Batman film for the ages.

The deal is if WB weren't going to turn Batman into a big toy commercial/ersatz Batman TV show then WB wouldn't have gotten rid of Tim Burton in the first place.

 

[Omegabat]

The only time Batman actually felt like he was in danger during a film was when he fought Bane in Dark Knight Rises.

Kilmer and Clooney were in glorified cartoons with little to no stakes, and Batfleck manhandles goons and beats up Superman with relative ease. Keaton survives plane crashes, and do you honestly think he was in any real danger when he was fighting Ray Charles or the Batarang-catching poodle?

Agreed and with Nolan directing plus it being the final film of his trilogy there was a very good chance of Batman actually dying. I dont think we'll ever get a movie like that in a long time.

 

[Kyloren2015]

Keaton is Batman so it was an easy choice .

 

[DX]

Wow. Clooney gets a vote but Kilmer doesn't. Poor Val.

 

[marvelrobbins]

its very ironic that Keaton who was hated when announced,if internet had been around 1988 it would rival any outcry today you hear against fox or sony,and some consider him best live action batman.

 

[Kane52630]

Wow. Clooney gets a vote but Kilmer doesn't. Poor Val.

 

[Lantern Venom]

its very ironic that Keaton who was hated when announced,if internet had been around 1988 it would rival any outcry today you hear against fox or sony.

Oh yes, you are correct. I remember the stories that ran in magazines and on TV showing the deluge of angry mail that WB got. I can only imagine how the tool of social media would have amplified that.