Batman Series - Brian Herron

Brian Herron
Batman
The Batman series has been revisited many times in cinema history from the sixties version staring Adam West to Tim Burton’s version from the late eighties to early nineties to the newest edition staring Christian Bale. To me, all of these remakes portray Batman as a completely different person. I don’t think any version is wrong, but I find it to be fascinating that Batman has been done in so many different ways throughout the history of cinema that I can’t think of another character that this has happened to.
In Batman: The Movie, Adam West portrays Batman as a person who has good morals and is more of a role model than a crime fighter. Also, it had a lot of bright colors to setup a positive mood that told its audience visually that good always triumphs over evil. This movie also provided a score that was always in the major key, also providing an uplifting mood.
Tim Burton’s version was the first film to portray Batman as a darker character, even though he was still the protagonist of the film. Burton shows the troubling childhood of Batman, which turns his character from a role model to an individual seeking revenge and an answer to why bad things happen to good people. Visually Burton creates a lot of shadows and gothic architecture in his sets to create this dark and sinister mood.
Finally, the newest Batman series, starring Christian Bale, keeps a lot of the same dark concepts that Tim Burton used for his Batman character. However, the Christian Bale Batman is portrayed as fighting for the good and betterment of society instead of personal revenge, in my opinion. The way the film was shot is in many ways similar to the way Tim Burton shot his film; portraying Batman as a person who creates fear among the criminal of Gothom City.