Roger Ebert's Batman Movie Reviews

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http://www.batman-on-film.com/batman-coolness_Roger-Ebert-Batman-Movie-Reviews_4-4-13.html

Posted by: Bill "Jett" Ramey (@BATMANONFILM)
April 4, 2013

I was tremendously saddened today when I heard that the greatest film
critic of all time – Mr. Roger Ebert – had passed away at the age of
70.

Mr. Ebert’s reviews were syndicated in my small hometown paper, and I
read them religiously when I was a kid. Of course, when the internet
became the primary means to access film reviews – and pretty much
everything else – I followed Mr. Ebert on over to the world wide web.

And of course, I never missed an episode of “Siskel and Ebert!”

Part of my love for movies is due to Mr. Ebert, so I’d thought the
best honor I could give him would be to post all seven of his (live-
action) Batman movie reviews here on BOF. So, you’ll find links to
each below listed from #8 to #1 based on how he ranked ‘em.

(For the full reviews of all seven Bat-Flicks, visit ROGEREBERT.COM.
And yes, I put BATMAN RETURNS last on purpose. I think Mr. Ebert
would've wanted it that way. *wink*)



#7 BATMAN RETURNS (2 Stars)

"I give the movie a negative review, and yet I don't think it's a bad
movie; it's more of a misguided one, made with great creativity, but
denying us what we more or less deserve from a Batman story. Looking
back over both films, I think Burton has a vision here and is trying
to shape it to the material, but it just won't fit. No matter how hard
you try, superheroes and film noir don't go together; the very essence
of noir is that there are no more heroes. I had a feeling by the end
of this film that Batman was beginning to get the idea."


#6 BATMAN AND ROBIN (2 Stars)

"My prescription for the series remains unchanged: scale down. We
don't need to see $2 million on the screen every single minute. Give
the foreground to the characters, not the special effects. And ask the
hard questions about Bruce Wayne. There is a moment in the film where
we learn that the new telescope in the Gotham Observatory can look at
any place on Earth. 'Just don't point it at my bedroom,' Bruce Wayne
chuckles. What is he chuckling about?"


#5 BATMAN (2 Stars)

"Nicholson's Joker is really the most important character in the movie
- in impact and screen time - and Keaton's Batman and Bruce Wayne
characters are so monosyllabic and impenetrable that we have to remind
ourselves to cheer for them. Kim Basinger strides in as Vicky Vale, a
famous photographer assigned to the Gotham City crime wave, but
although she and Wayne carry on a courtship and Batman rescues her
from certain death more than once, there's no chemistry and little
eroticism. The strangest scene in the movie may be the one where Vicky
is brought into the Batcave by Alfred, the faithful valet, and
realizes for the first time that Bruce Wayne and Batman are the same
person. How does she react? She doesn't react. The movie forgets to
allow her to be astonished.

Remembering the movie, I find that the visuals remain strong in my
mind, but I have trouble caring about what happened in front of them.
I remember an astonishing special effects shot that travels up, up to
the penthouse of a towering, ugly skyscraper, and I remember the armor
slamming shut on the Batmobile as if it were a hightech armadillo. I
remember The Joker grinning beneath a hideous giant balloon as he
dispenses free cash in his own travesty of the Macy's parade, and I
remember a really vile scene in which he defaces art masterpieces in
the local museum before Batman crashes in through the skylight.

But did I care about the relationship between these two caricatures?
Did either one have the depth of even a comic book character? Not
really."


#4 BATMAN FOREVER (2.5 Stars)

"Val Kilmer is a completely acceptable substitute for Michael Keaton
in the title role, but in all three of the movies, Batman remains
shadowy and undefined. The movies exist for their villains, who this
time both seem to be playing the same note; the Riddler and Two-Face
alternate in overacting, until the pace grows wearying. There is no
rhythm to the movie, no ebb and flow; it's all flat-out spectacle.

Is the movie better entertainment? Well, it's great bubble gum for the
eyes. And younger children will be able to process it more easily
(some kids were led bawling from "Batman Returns," where the PG-13
rating was a joke).

I liked the look of the movie and Schumacher's general irreverence
toward the material. But the great Batman movie still remains to be
made. Here is the most complex and intriguing of classic comic
superheroes, inhabiting the most visually interesting world, but
somehow a story hasn't been found to do him justice. A story - with a
beginning, a middle and an end, and a Batman at its center who emerges
as more than a collection of costumes and postures. More than ever,
after this third movie, I found myself asking, Who was that masked
man, anyhow?"


#3 THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (3 Stars)

"This is a dark and heavy film; it tests the weight a superhero movie
can bear. That Nolan is able to combine civil anarchy, mass
destruction and a Batcycle with exercise-ball tires is remarkable.
That he does it without using 3D is admirable. That much of it was
shot in the 70mm IMAX format allows it to make that giant screen its
own. That it concludes the trilogy is inevitable; how much deeper can
Nolan dig? It lacks the near-perfection of THE DARK KNIGHT (2008), it
needs more clarity and a better villain, but it's an honorable
finale."


#2 BATMAN BEGINS (4 Stars)

"I said this is the Batman movie I've been waiting for; more
correctly, this is the movie I did not realize I was waiting for,
because I didn't realize that more emphasis on story and character and
less emphasis on high-tech action was just what was needed. The movie
works dramatically in addition to being an entertainment. There's
something to it."


#1 THE DARK KNIGHT (4 Stars)

"'Batman'' isn’t a comic book anymore. Christopher Nolan’s THE DARK
KNIGHT is a haunted film that leaps beyond its origins and becomes an
engrossing tragedy. It creates characters we come to care about.
That’s because of the performances, because of the direction, because
of the writing, and because of the superlative technical quality of
the entire production.

THE DARK KNIGHT is not a simplistic tale of good and evil. Batman is
good, yes, The Joker is evil, yes. But Batman poses a more complex
puzzle than usual: The citizens of Gotham City are in an uproar,
calling him a vigilante and blaming him for the deaths of policemen
and others. And the Joker is more than a villain. He’s a
Mephistopheles whose actions are fiendishly designed to pose moral
dilemmas for his enemies.

In his two Batman movies, Nolan has freed the character to be a canvas
for a broader scope of human emotion. For Bruce Wayne is a deeply
troubled man, let there be no doubt, and if ever in exile from his
heroic role, it would not surprise me what he finds himself capable of
doing."