A Look Back on the Films of Batman: BATMAN (1966)

With the new Batman movie: The Dark Knight coming out soon, its time for me to look back on the past Batman movies starting from the campy years of 1966 to the modern era in 2005. As close as it is, Batman is my second favorite superhero with just being close to Spider-Man. Batman has been through many changes and transformations in the film media for the best and for the worst. So without further ado, here is my view on the last Batman movies, leading up to The Dark Knight.


BATMAN (1966)

Not really the Batman that we all come to love, but it was the time when there was free love and everything was bright and colorful. Adam West portrays a reasonable good Bruce Wayne, kind of channeling Roger Moore of James Bond and as Batman, he's more of a Superman's little cousin with no superpower. Burt Ward plays the "definitive" sidekick of Batman, Robin and when I mean definitive, I mean catch-phase quipping, second-standard and just completely young. In this film, they go up against four villains, the Joker, the Penguin, Catwoman and the Riddler, bent on a typical world domination scheme. And for this case, Batman seems to have every single gadgets to every situations that is labeled "Bat" like the Batmobile, Bat-copter, Bat-boat, Bat-laser and who could ever forget, the Bat-Shark Repellent. And how funny it is to see Batman holding over his head a bomb, size of a beach ball and running around the dock to find a place to throw it away. Reflecting on that time, a lot of movies and TV shows were very imaginative and sillier with many quirky and campy expositions with shows like Get Smart and the Avengers, though it doesn't necessary mean they have to be logical.

For this Batman movie in its time, it just all about fun. Before Batman was feared and questioned by the public and hidden away from the eye of the media, he was loved and cheered by everyone, portrayed as this handsome buff wonder man in a bat suit. One example shows Batman and Robin flying on their Bat-copter in daylight and everybody would point up and be happy its Batman. Young girls would bunch up and call out for Batman and even war veterans and generals would stop and salute them. Logic for the plot of this movie was nearly abandoned. I mean how can you turn all the world leaders in the UN into colorful dust and hold them as hostage? As a kid, I remember watching this and just enjoying it, no matter how silly it is and thinking to myself this is really Batman, the whole Bat-copter, beach-ball bomb and shark repellent. It was like how you were a 8-year-old kid playing with your kiddie friends in a sandbox version of Batman. Kids are not making a deep complex plot and characterization of Batman, they're just using their wild and young imagination with lasers and bombs. As an adult, I know from the 1966 movie of what is Batman and not, but it is a fun movie to watch for nostalgic sense.

Up on my next blog: BATMAN (1989)