The Batmobile

“It’s the car, right? Chicks dig the car.”  

The Batmobile has always been an important part of the appeal of Batman.  It has gone from a vehicle to get Batman to the scene of the crime to an import weapon in his fight against crime.   Here is a brief look at how it has evolved:

The Batman (1943): A little like the original comic book, Batman drives a regular car and not The Batmobile, in this case a 1939

60’s TV Show & 1966 movie: For the 60’s TV show car customizer Dean Jeffries was hired to design and build a “Batmobile”, due to time constraints the original design was dropped in favour of the 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car.

Batman (1989) & Batman Returns (1992): The long low sleek Batmobile was designed to reflect Tim Burton’s Art Deco vision.  It was designed by Anton Furst who won an Oscar for the Art Direction/Set Decoration.  The car was built on a Chevy Impala chassis.

Batman Forever (1995): New Batman, new Batmobile.  H. R. Giger was chosen to design it but sadly departed the project sighting creative differences. What we got was something that had lost its sleek lines in favour a more aggressive looking car.

Batman & Robin (1997): As the franchise lost its way so did the design of the car.  Without a roof or a passenger seat it isn’t the most practical crime fighting vehicle.  It does have one nice if pointless design touch, the GoodYear tires have Batsymbols in the treads.

Batman Begins (2005): Every Batman movie up to this point featured Batman as an established character.  As an origin story Batman Begins doesn’t just tell the origin of the character it tells the origin of the car.  A prototype military vehicle called “the Tumbler” designed by the character Lucius Fox.  More practical, manoeuvrable than the last few Batmobile’s, it looks like something that could exist in the real world just like Christopher Nolan’s Batman.

The Dark Knight (2008): The Tumbler returned for a second movie but this time with a new part trick. After being hit by rocket-propelled grenade fired by The Joker the Batmobile is damaged beyond repair. Batman ejects motorcycle like vehicle know as the Batpod formed from the front wheels of the Tumbler.

The Dark Knight Rises (2013): Trailers and images from the new film suggest that the primary villain Bane has got himself a fleet of Tumblers.  We also see Catwoman riding a Batpod.

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Batman

Lewis Wilson – The Batman (1943): Before the 60’s TV show came a serial staring Lewis Wilson as Batman. Made during World War II and seeing Batman as a U.S. government agent pitted against Japanese agent Dr. Daka.

Adam West – 60’s TV Show & 1966 movie: With a movie and 120, 25 minute episodes between 1966 and 1968 Adam West has by far the most screen time as Batman. The camp action comedy show is considered a bit of a joke now but was hugely popular at the time (and in the early 80’s when I saw the rerun) and led to West being offered the part of James Bond in the early 70’s.

Michael Keaton – Batman (1989) & Batman Returns (1992): Looking back Its hard to believe that there were more than twenty years between Adam West handing up the bat cape and Michael Keaton taking it up. What is also hard to believe is that it has been a further twenty years since Keaton gave up the role. Now sadly tainted by the two Joel Schumacher efforts and lost in the shadow of the Christopher Nolan movies, Tim Burton’s original two films are well worth another look.

Val Kilmer – Batman Forever (1995): In fairness to Val Kilmer he isn’t a bad Bruce Wayne / Batman, sadly he is hampered by being in a truly bad film.

George Clooney – Batman & Robin (1997): As bad as Batman Forever was, it is Citizen Kane in comparison to Batman & Robin. A few years ago I fell into a conversations about how many more Batman movies Christopher Nolan should make. We all agreed a trilogy was about right, I then suggested they should make a movie based on Frank Miller’s seminal graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns. I suggested Michael Keaton reprises the role of Batman, no one agreed with me and the question was then asked, what square jawed actor in their late 40’s early 50’s could play the part? When George Clooney’s name was mentioned we all thought it was a great idea for about a minute until we remembered Batman & Robin, but you never know!

Christian Bale – Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008) & The Dark Knight Rises (2012): The star of the most recent Batman series isn’t Christian Bale, its Christopher Nolan. Like Quentin Tarantino, the director has achieved superstar status over his actors, unlike Tarantino, he has done it without acting in his movies. Bale’s standing was further dented by the admiration for Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker. This is unfair, Bale really makes the movies work and like Daniel Craig in the current Bond movies, there are few actors who could do such a good job.

Tomorrow, The Batmobile. 

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Coming Soon – January 2012

With just two more movies to see this year: Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (making a total of 108 movies seen at the cinema this year) I am already looking forward to the new year. I am led to believe the early part of the year can be a bit of a barren time for American cinema goers but here in the UK the new year is often the time to see the Oscar bait movies that week get a few months later.

With two academy awards from sixteen nominations, nothing says Oscar like Meryl Streep. The Iron Lady tells the story of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. From the clips and trailers I have seen, it looks interesting, the only doubt, the directors, Phyllida Lloyd’s only other feature appears to be Mamma Mia!

I have heard nothing but good things about Shame despite the unusual and controversial subject matter, sex addiction. After the excellent Hunger (2008), the re-teaming of director Steve McQueen and actor Michael Fassbender must be a good thing. The addition of co star Carey Mulligan and I am really looking forward to this one.

Clearly Ralph Fiennes’ doesn’t believe in making life easy for himself, making his directorial debut with an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Coriolanus. The updated setting is reminiscent of Richard Loncraine’s Richard III (1995), looks interesting.

I understand J,Edgar has had mixed reviews on the other side of the Atlantic but with Clint Eastwood in the directors chair and Leonardo DiCaprio in the starring role it has to be worth seeing.

There is already Oscar talk about George Clooney in The Descendants, directed by Alexander Payne (Election 1999 & Sideways 2004). I don’t know much about it but Clooney on good form remains a watchable movie star reminiscent of the stars from the golden age of cinema, I’m in!

Bizarrely, the two films I am most looking forward to aren’t going to feature at the Oscars, they are more what is (condescendingly) referred to as “genre movies”. As one of the few people who liked The Girlfriend Experience I am always interested in Steven Soderbergh’s more experimental ideas. Like with The Girlfriend Experience Soderbergh has gone for an unexpected lead actress for the action movie Haywire, former Mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano. He has surrounded her with an impressive supporting cast including: Michael Fassbender, Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas and Bill Paxton. As I said it won’t win Oscars but it looks like its going to be fun.

There are two real guilty pleasure franchises around at the moment, we have to wait until later in the year for the next Resident Evil movie, but Underworld Awakening is out in January. Nearly a decade after the first Underworld movie Kate Beckinsale is back in her most iconic role (and costume). From the trailer it looks as dumb as the previous movies, but I really don’t care, I can’t wait!

Other movies coming out in January include: War Horse. Thanks to a really cheesy trailer, I can honestly say I have never been less excited by a new Steven Spielberg movie. I know nothing about The Darkest Hour other than what I have seen in the trailer but with director Chris Gorak who impressed with his debut Right at Your Door (2006) and Timur Bekmambetov credited as a produce I will give it a go. Another movie I now nothing about other than the trailer is Man on Ledge. The trailer makes it look a lot like Spike Lee’s Inside Man (2006), that isn’t a bad thing.

Check back on the 1st of February to find out what I actually saw and what I thought of them.

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