KA-POW!!! "Batman: The Movie" a campy good bat-time!

professor.knowsitall@evpl — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 21:26:00 GMT

I must preface this review with the fact that I'm only 25 years old. I did not get to experience Adam West's Batman during its bat-heydey in the 60s. However, I do have fond memories of going to grandma & grandpa's (they had cable!) as a kid, watching reruns on their HUGE 27-inch console TV.

To commemorate its 42nd bat-anniversary, along with cashing in on the bat-success of The Dark Knight, Fox re-released Batman: The Movie on DVD, and for the first time released it in HD on Blu-ray. I recently viewed the Blu-ray version and, having never seen the film, didn't know what to bat-expect.

The story is about as crazy as they come:
The Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler, and Catwoman team up to highjack Commodore Schmidlapp's yacht containing a superdehydrator. This superdehydrator can extract all moisture from a human, reducing them to a pile of dust. The villians' plan to take over the world by dehydrating the 9 members of the United World Security Council and holding their dusty remains for ransom. It's up to Batman & Robin, with their Batmobile, Batcopter, Batboat, and all their miscellaneous bat-tools (all prefixed with the word "bat-"), to put a stop to this evil bat-menace!!!

Within the first five bat-minutes of the film, you know what you're in for. When an at-sea rescue attempt gets foiled, Batman finds himself dangling on a rope ladder from the Batcopter, being attacked by one of the Penguin's exploding sharks! Thanks to 1960s special effects, the exploding shark is a giant rubber shark attached to West's bat-leg that he beats mercilessly with his bat-fists. Holy sardine, Batman! Robin retrieves the shark repellent bat-spray from the cockpit, gets it to Batman, and with a single spray the shark falls back to the sea, exploding on bat-impact (I'm guessing PETA didn't exist in the 60s).

The movie features lots of campy, laugh-inducing bat-dialog:

Batman: [reading a riddle] What has yellow skin and writes?
Robin: A ball-point banana!
Batman: [reads the second riddle] What people are always in a hurry?
Robin: Rushing people... Russians!
Batman: So this means...
Robin: Someone Russian is going to slip on a banana and break their neck!
Batman: Precisely, Robin!

Robin: [pointing toward the sky] That crazy missile! It wrote two more riddles before it blew up!
Batman: [reading a skywritten message] "What goes up white and comes down yellow and white?"
Robin: An egg!
Batman: [reading another skywritten message] "How do you divide seventeen apples among sixteen people?"
Robin: Make apple sauce!
Batman: [thinking out loud] Apples into applesauce - A unification into one smooth mixture. An egg - nature's perfect container. The container of all our hopes for the future.
Robin: A unification and a container of hope? United World Organization!
Batman: Precisely, Robin! And there's a special meeting of the Security Council today. If what I fear is true...
Robin: Wow! Let's commandeer a taxi!
Batman: No, Robin. Not at this time of day. Luckily, we're in tip-top condition. It'll be faster if we run. Let's go!
Robin: [while running] Holy marathon! I'm getting a stitch, Batman!
Batman: Let's hope that it's a stitch in time, Robin, that saves nine - The nine members of the United World Security Council. Come on.

My only bat-complaints...

It's an hour and forty minutes long, which isn't too terribly long, but the campiness does wear a bit thin towards the bat-end. Also, the bat-ending is pretty uneventful.
WHERE IS MR. FREEZE?!?!?!? He was my favorite bat-villain in the TV series, and he could've easily been worked in, making the fearsome-foursome a fearsome-fivesome.

I still recommend this movie, just for the sheer bat-goofiness of it all. It's a fun look at Batman prior to his 80s gone-goth makeover. So check out this bat-DVD, pop some bat-popcorn, relax in your bat-recliner, and enjoy the crazy antics of Batman: The Movie!

More Information

EVPL Catalog: Find out which EVPL libraries have the movie available for checkout.
YouTube: View one of the most infamous scenes from the movie.
Internet Movie Database: Info about & reviews of the movie.
Wikipedia: Production information & history of the movie.
The Dark Knight: A review by Mediaphile@evpl.

The Dark Knight is way too dark

MediaPhile@evpl — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 22:16:00 GMT

SPOILER ALERT!

This movie is about a half-hour to one hour too long -- it could have used some judicious editing. Once the relationship between Batman and Rachel is resolved (I won't tell you how), the dramatic tension is gone. They should have just said "And then..." and ended the dang thing. We all know that we will be seeing these characters in the sequel anyway so we will have plenty of time to get to know their latest foibles.

Re all the profound ruminations by critics and the movie's characters of the battle between good and evil, hey, what movie doesn't deal with this eternal struggle? (Well, I guess we can exclude comedies). So one side is bad and the other good. So what? I doubt that anyone was made a better person or a better citizen by watching this flick. And if the point is that a true hero would choose GOOD over LOVE, it's obvious this script was written by a man. The choice ends up being wrong, anyway, since ultimately Good turns to Evil and a new villain is created.

I saw "Dark Knight" in IMAX and by far the best parts were when we were soaring or otherwise doing acrobatic tricks above the Chicago (Gotham) skyline. Awesome!

And of course there is Heath Ledger. His performance was deliciously wierd, but I couldn't stop thinking about how he is dead. Now "Brokeback Mountain," THAT was a GOOD movie!

So, heh, Rotten Tomatoes -- a 94%!?!? Well I guess it will sweep all the Oscars (Not)!

Movies Blog : reviews, batman

KA-POW!!! "Batman: The Movie" a campy good bat-time!

The Dark Knight is way too dark