Commissioner, is there a six foot bat flying around Gotham?

Ok, I looooved the original Batman movie. The one with the rubber shark jumping out of the water and biting Batman and Robin while they're hanging on to a helicopter's rope ladder. It's a good thing Batman incidentally had his handy shark repellant with him that day. "Where does he get such wonderful toys?"

And I loved, loved, loved the late 80's Tim Burton take on the Bat's, The Joker. "You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight? I ask that of all my victims."

But upon revisiting the classic a year ago, even though I will always be endeared to Nicholson's portrayal of the Green-Haired One, Keaton was stoic. Too stoic (Read: Booooring!). He was great when Burton released him to over-act in Beetlejuice. In fact, that's Burton's forte: The eccentric overactor standing in for the eccentric over-acting teenage angst pile that is Tim Burton. Which is why Heston got that cameo in the Planet of the Apes: Marky Mark Strikes Back. Which is why Depp's so great for him (eccentricity takes precedence over over-acting) and Robin Williams and Al Pacino (overacting at all costs) work best when hemmed in by thoughtful directors - the likes of Chris Nolan (Insomnia. A movie starring both of them that I liked. A-flippin'-mazin'!).

See how it all comes full circle? I was aching to go see it tonight, but my roommate's aren't home and I don't have my notes for the other post I wanted to do, so... you're stuck with this.

I love this semi-review by Peter T. Chattaway. Him just mulling over some movies is more insightful than most 'reviews' and certainly anything on the boob tube. (Take that, Richard Roeper!) And, of course Ebert also had some great things to say about it, noting that it's the Batman movie that he didn't know he was waiting to see. In fact, most reviewers I read (Jeffrey Overstreet, Chattaway, Ebert and Steven D. Greydanus) more or less hated Burton's first version and raved about this one. Me? I don't know...

Vickie Vale.
Vickie Vale.