Batman

I must apologize for my infrequent posting. It's not that I'm not watching movies for the blog, trust me I do plenty of that, it's become more of an issue of actually remembering to sit down and write. Well now that I feel like I've kind of explained my issues, I'll move onto the movie for today. I'm not sure why it is but within the past week I've happened to catch two different channels showing the first two Batman movies by Tim Burton. ABC Family showed the first three films as the ending celebration of their 13 nights of Halloween and AMC is showing the first two tonight for their list of 10 Unbelievable Transformations with Jack Nicholson's role as the Joker starting the list off. Now I will freely admit that I am quite the geek when it comes to superheros and the recent film adaptations they have created. I've seen pretty much everything that's come out, most of them in theaters and will always watch them on TV when I find them. Of the franchises out there Batman has always intrigued me the most.

I've always found Batman to be the most interesting superhero created and reimagined. Unlike so many heroes that comic books have created Batman is the one of the only heroes that has no powers. He relies entirely on his intelligence and the gadgets he creates. He is also one of the darker heroes which I find truly fascinating to watch. While all heroes deal with the question of where the line gets drawn between being the vigilante and the things they are fighting against, I've found Batman to be the one hero who is constantly battling this question. He goes out every night fighting in the name of justice and revenge but where does that line get drawn. Another aspect of the Batman series is the amount of times the character has be reimagined. In the past 20 years we have done from Michael Keaton's Batman, a witty hero who grasped a basic understanding of his emotional issues, to Christian Bale's, a hero so blinded by his rage and vengeance that he can't see the pain he puts those around him in. From Jack Nicholson's vision of a psychotic Joker to Heath Ledger's version with the latest Batman remake. With all of the versions in the collection you can always get a new view and appreciation for the character. And while I love what the director is doing with the newest reincarnation of the Batman story my favorite movie will remain Batman Returns. It not only has psychotic penguins but it has my favorite villain Catwoman. Maybe it's just because I'm a girl but Catwoman has always been the character I've admired and loved to be when we were playing as children. And now that I've seen it at a later age I've come to appreciate the obvious play with the sexual tension and emotional issues that Catwoman and Batman share. In the end I love the way the film plays with the psychology of the characters and how complex they truly are.