As a way of making the most of having comic book guru Darren Mooney from the m0vie blog on The Film Cynics this weekend, I came up with a list of my favourite actors who have taken up the cape and cowl to portray everyone’s favourite frowny-faced vigilante, Batman. It’s struck me as odd that out of DC Comics’ two flagship characters, Batman is the one who’s been the most successfully exploited of late. Maybe his endless collection of gadgets and vehicles makes him a more viable character for all the merchandisers out there. Whatever the case, Batman has had a lot of talent filling his boots, and for these next five guys, I’ve tried to showcase the ones who have made the biggest impression best captured his image.
5. George Clooney
Appearance: Batman & Robin (1997) Joel Schumacher
Best tool in his utility belt: Forget the Bat-nipples, forget the entire movie surrounding him, I admire his decision to play Bruce Wayne as gay. If nothing else, it was the best way to come up with an angle on the character that nobody had ever tried. Besides, Adam West played Bruce Wayne as if he were high on mescaline.
His own worst enemy: As mentioned above, if there was a lightning rod for what was wrong with Batman & Robin it was the nipples on his costume. I’m sure Clooney didn’t design the costume himself, but did he even bother to ask what that was about?
How dark a Dark Knight: 4 Batarangs. He didn’t have as sunny a disposition as Val Kilmer’s Batman (who you’ll notice didn’t make the cut) but his Schumacher surroundings rubbed off too much for him to be little more than a clown.
4. Adam West
Appearance: Batman (1966) Leslie H. Martinson
Best tool in his utility belt: I don’t think that any Batman had a more diverse array of gadgets than West’s Batman, but perhaps his greatest strength might also be his greatest weakness: campiness. While many incarnations of Batman in popular culture have gone to great lengths to explain why Bruce Wayne wears tights and a cape to fight crime in a way that seems cool, West’s Batman went totally the other way and embraced the silliness.
His own worst enemy: Well, I said his campiness was his greatest weakness, and the best example of it: .
How dark a Dark Knight: 1 Batarang. They don’t come any shinier than this.
3. Michael Keaton
Appearance: Batman (1989) Tim Burton & Batman Returns (1992) Tim Burton
Best tool in his utility belt: I liked Michael Keaton as Batman because he really tried to make a character out of Bruce Wayne, something that Kilmer and Clooney both took a pass on. Playing outside of his usual element also worked well for portraying a character that had a sunnier exterior with darker elements lurking within.
His own worst enemy: Despite it being a curiously compelling scene, I never got where the whole “You wanna get nuts!?” scene with the Joker came from. He turned himself into a weird street brawler for some reason – was a strange approach to trying to get shot and seemed out of character for Bruce Wayne.
How dark a Dark Knight: 6 Batarangs. No matter how hard he tried, and how much Tim Burton tried to help him, he couldn’t really hit a level of brooding that would do Batman justice. Still, 6 ain’t bad.
2. Christian Bale
Appearance: Batman Begins (2005) Christopher Nolan & The Dark Knight (2008) Christopher Nolan
Best tool in his utility belt: It might not be fair that he was the best actor of the bunch to play Batman, but he was definitely the most dedicated. His performance was painstaking, and he made a believer out of anyone who doubted that comic book movies could be taken seriously.
His own worst enemy: No matter how intense his performance, or well executed the fight sequences, I could never get past .
How dark a Dark Knight: 9 Batarangs. Christian Bale definitely set a new standard, but I’m sure there’s room to go darker.
1. Kevin Conroy
Appearance: Too many to count, including TV episodes, feature films and video games (1992-present)
Best tool in his utility belt: You might not have any idea of who he is, but as “The Voice” of Batman, his voice is definitely his greatest asset. Kevin Conroy has played Batman longer than any other actor, ever. You can have any artist animate Batman, but so long as Conroy provodes the voice, it’s the Batman we know and love. Kevin’s greatest gift to the franchise is having made Batman and Bruce Wayne as two distinct personalities, partially through having a distinct voice for each of them, but also crafting a genuinely happy-go-lucky persona for Bruce.
His own worst enemy: Having never taken corporeal form as Batman – I suppose that works against him.
How dark a Dark Knight: 7 Batarangs. Kevin Conroy is the very essence of Batman, but he also portrays the incarnation of the Dark Knight consumed by kids and other animation fans, meaning he’s got to keep a PG13 disposition when it comes to handing out beatdowns and making hard decisions.
5. I hardly remember George Clooney’s performance.
4. Hmm, Adam West. I remember seeing a few episodes of the live-action TV series when I was tiny child in the 1990s. As an adult, I cringe whenever I see clips of the TV series because it reminds me of a time when TV wasn’t taken seriously and I just hate watching fight scenes in which the performers seem to hold themselves back. Oh and that campiness…
3. Michael Keaton. From the few things I remember, his two films represent a certain progress compared to the live-action TV series. First of all, the films by Tim Burton had a darker tone. Secondly, the two Batman films directed by Tim Burton, just like other action films from the time, indicate that Hollywood started to get a hang of filming fight scenes (not to be confused with gunfight or explosion sequences). As for Michael Keaton, he was okay as Batman.
2. Christian Bale. “It not be fair that he was the best actor of the bunch to play Batman, but he was definitely the most dedicated. His performance was painstaking, and he made a believer out of anyone who doubted that comic book movies could be taken seriously.” There you go, I couldn’t have said better.
1. Kevin Conroy. Even though the animated series was severely toned down, the attribution of different voices for Batman and Bruce Wayne was one of the greatest assets of the animated series (again, from what I can remember).
Amen to Conroy and Bale as 1 and 2. The rest are quite frankly forgettable.
Keaton? Forgettable? Seriously?
Going to have to concur on that one. Keaton made those movies, even when being undercut by shoddy dialogue.
Its a matter of opinion, and I am going with Keaton #1, followed by Bale #2. Clooney? are you kidding me, Kilmer before him. And I never knew the animated guy till I read this. Props for his dedication but I guess you can really say hes not only hiding behind a mask but also behind the screen. Give it to the ones who where physically there.
Keaton isn’t a bad choice for #1, but I heartily recommend looking into Kevin Conroy’s work. He is “the voice” of Batman as far as I’m concerned – and has done such a great job keeping the Batman torch lit between Schumacher’s destruction of the franchise and Nolan’s redemption of it.
Wow a lot less love for the “classic” Batmans than I expected. I suppose that makes a strong argument for how badly we needed to add Bale’s performance to the pantheon.
[...] Steve lists his top 5 Batmans (The Film Cynics) [...]
Awesome list, and your top two are spot on. Seriously… that voice. Kevin Conroy is the man.
His career longevity is impressive, considering he’s doing the same work as ever, despite his shows having been cancelled years ago. There’s a cool story about him on wikipedia about him helping out at Ground Zero and doing “the voice” for the fire crews – very cool.
Keaton, by product of my childhood will always be Batman to me (much like Timothy Dalton will always be Bond) but jeeze Steve, could you have picked a worse picture of him? He looks so uncomfortable in the suit:P
I got Batman on Blu Ray and though I haven’t listened to the commentary, I hope Burton will shed some light on that “wanna get nuts scene”. I too thought it was odd.
Still like Castor said, kudos on Bale and Conroy in the top spots.
Yeah, I chose that photo strictly for the Bob Kane factor. It’s funny looking at any Batman out of context – the only one who looks comfortable is Adam West.
Even the “I know who you are” line was out of place… To be honest though, I think I would have liked to see the movie where that would have made sense.
I looked like Michael had to goto the bathroom real bad in that pic.
I’m the same way with Dalton!
Darren is not the only comic guru out there so fear my wrath!
Val Kilmner makes the list over clooney EASILY! Adam West should be 3rd as a life time achievement pick. I’d be OK with Bale being #1 because the movies are so great but Keaton is the man hands down… and easily the best Bruce Wayne which is 1/2 the battle when playing Batman!
Sounds like it’s time for a nerdlinger throwdown, Kai! My money’s on the Irish guy!
Kilmer’s performance in Batman Forever was even more forgettable than O’Donnell’s and that’s saying something. Despite the nipples and codpiece and whatever else, Clooney somehow managed to hold on to his dignity post Batman – a quick check of Kilmer’s career trajectory post Batman doesn’t not yield the same results.
As for Keaton as Wayne, I’m with you on it being half the battle playing Bruce Wayne… except that none of the films have done a good job of establishing Wayne and Batman as distinct entities – Conroy’s the only one who’s really done that. So no matter how good a Wayne, you need to have both, and he just handle the duality the way Bale or Conroy have.
Never bet on an Irishman when comics are on the line!
“Clooney somehow managed to hold on to his dignity post Batman” It’s just my opinion but that is hilarious! Clooney is so bad in that film… unless you watch it as them trying to capture the magic of the Adam West show and then it’s just not very great.
Clooney’s post Batman career easily outshines Kilmer’s but that shouldn’t matter for this list.
Batman Begins is a great showcase of the whole Batman but, I’m sorry, I just disagree about Keaton and his Wayne for that matter!
Clooney was the only sane performance in a movie that had completely flipped its lid. Despite Batman & Robin’s complete failure to impress the critics, I have yet to see anyone (except perhaps you, and maybe Heather) hang that failure around the neck of Clooney. The story that’s told is intead about his performance choices, aside from Uma & Arnold’s disgraceful display – nobody was disappointed in Chris O’Donnell, ’cause nobody was expecting much anyway.
You know what my favourite quirky thing about Keaton’s performance in Batman? The hanging upside down thing when Vicki Vale wakes up in the middle of the night. Equally strange as the “You wanna get nuts!” scene, but at least it made some kind of sense to me.
Sorry I’m chiming in late, but THANK YOU Kai for pointing out my sentiment as soon as I went down the list. Where is Val Kilmer??? I abhor Clooney’s Batman… I mean the entire movie was awful beyond belief! I don’t care if he has a decent career after that but his Batman puts the franchise to shame.
My top pick hands down is Bale, with Keaton a close second, followed by Kilmer.
Hallelujah for this discussion which could create more controversy than a Britney Spears outing.
I’m usually in your corner, but Clooney over Kilmers? Really? I applaud the kahunas for taking a stand with Clooney. I didn’t think he was as bad as the film surrounding him actually made him, but Kilmers, while forgettable was considerably better. Kilmer gave the character dignity and made Batman Forever a respectable flick in that quadrilogy. Of course the best part of the movie was the Seal song that came from it! So it’s easy to dismiss as well. I guess I liked Carrey’s Riddler enough to be more forgiving overall.
Also, Keaton goes to spot #1 for me. I loved Bale in Batman Begins, but he lost some of the growth his character made in the first flick and was a huge secondary to Ledger’s Joker. Still a great Batman, just not as resounding as Keaton’s performance to me.
Adam West might have been a hyper active mess, but we could coin the term Bat Shit Crazy to him. Cheesy and silly he was simply infallible in the tongue in cheek humor that the show exuded. I love the guy for it.
I appreciate the props to Kevin Conroy who has had a thankless job as only “the voice”, but I still couldn’t give him the one spot.
But that’s what makes it my opinion! Awesome Top Five Steve!
The Seal song?! Surely you jest! The best song to come out of that movie, out of the quadrilogy in fact: Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me. Hands down the best track U2 has ever crafted. But I digress…
Kilmer as Batman can be summed up as such: “It’s the car, right. Chicks dig the car.” Weak!! I’ve got a chart saved up for use at a later date that demonstrates Batman Forever as the precipice from which Val’s career plumetted – and I think there was good reason for it.
As for Keaton, he almost got the number 2 spot until I realised that Batman was popular despite the choice of Michael Keaton, whereas Batman Begins was buoyed nearly single-handedly (I said nearly) by Bale’s performance. Michael Keaton defied the odds and played a great Batman, but he was at odds with the role the entire time, and won’t always be associated with the part, unlike Christian Bale who will wear that badge for the rest of his career.
Conroy is the very essence of the modern Batman, because his performance is imbued with the Batman of yesteryear. His humourless approach to the Caped Crusader, coupled with his happy-go-lucky portrayal of the billionaire playboy plays up the best aspects of both sides of the character. Had they used anyone else for that Batman: Gotham Knight DVD, it would not have been the same.
Thanks Heather! Always nice to get list props from the master.