The only Batman movie that I did not see was the very first one which came out in 1966. It is a forgotten film mostly because of the more recent films and also the television series and it is a film I don't know much about. I probably should have seen it years ago, and it does appear to have a good cast, so it is definitely on my watch-list.
The first two Tim Burton film of Batman are called Batman and Batman Returns and these ares my favorites. Burton brought his Gothic style to this series and included crazy villains like the Joker and the Penguin. These were not amazing or award-winning films but both have a cool style and you get quality actors including Danny Devito, Jack Nicholson, Micheal Keaton and Kim Basinger doing good work in their prime.
I really lost interest in the series after the Burton films. Joel Schumacher put together the two films called Batman Forever and Batman and Robin that I thought were just bad and you could tell Schumacher really didn't know what he was doing with the films. They were both films with promise but I think they were executed poorly and both had some bad casting.
When the series got rebooted, I just lost all interest. I finally got around to seeing the new Christopher Nolan films about two years ago. For me, "The Dark Knight" was better than "Batman Begins" by a long shot but they were both films that brought a new style that I wasn't much into and I thought they were very dull and dry in many ways. Neither are terrible films but at the same time, they are not amazing in any way and I do think Christopher Bale is not a great Batman.
When the new film hits theaters this Friday, I am really looking forward to seeing it because even though I was not a big fan of the first Nolan films, I do want to see the new characters, a new villain and also to see how they are going to end the series.
This post has been a work in progress and sadly while I was working on this, a gunman named James Holmes who allegedly claimed to be the Joker burst into a midnight showing of the movie in Aurora, Colorado on opening night and shot and killed 12 people and injured almost 60 others. Sadly, The Dark Night Rises is going to be remembered because of this terrible tragedy. In many ways, the shooting really was not about Batman but just one disturbed person but in some ways maybe it was about Batman because Holmes was saying he was a Batman character. Anyway, this does bring up questions as to whether there should be anything that should be done to improve safety in movie theaters.
As a movie fan who attends close to twenty films a year in theaters, I do recognize that there is a lack of security there. On more than one occasion I have seen many people sneak in, bring in their own food and sometimes behave badly in theaters. Sometimes, you can walk though the front door at some of the theaters and they don't even have anybody to check your ticket stub. You could just walk in any theater there. I don't know how security can be improved but now it appears that maybe something more should be done.
I also heard many people say that midnight screenings should be banned. I disagree with this but feel that maybe there should be more rules in place for these opening screenings. I do think there may be too many people milling around these midnight screenings which might create a tense and rowdy environment. Maybe midnight screenings should just be for teenagers and let this be their thing. In the Aurora shooting, one 6 year girl was killed and there was also a 3 month old there. Should kids of this age be out so late at a midnight showing and is this a safe and proper environment for these children?
I plan on seeing The Dark Knight Rises next weekend and no doubt people will still be talking about the terrible Aurora tragedy. Whether I like the movie or not, my thoughts and prayers will of course always go out to the Batman fans who were killed or injured in this horrible incident. I just wish this did not happen and especially to people who were kind of like me.
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