70 years later, and Batman is still wowing and amazing

Rating: 10/10 (27 July 2008)

1939 - Bob Kane creates Batman. Batman makes his first appearance on a Detective Comics issue in June 1939. This is one of the earliest forms of modern dark entertainment.
1943 & 1949 - Batman makes his first film appearance in theatrical serials . This would later provide the basis for what was coming in the 60s.
1966 - The infamous campy TV show starring Adam West and Burt Ward hits the airwaves. The show generates such Batman classics as Bat Shark Repellant and Anti-Penguin Spray, the cartoon BAM's, POW's, and OOF's, Robin saying "Holy nightmare, Holy hijinx," and other Holy you-make-up-your-owns, the 60s Batmobile, the To the Batcave's or To the Batmobile's, the Bat transition, dutch angle shots, and more. It was from this show that the Riddler became a classic Batman villain.
1987 - Batman: Year Zero is published, bringing Batman back into the dark tone that he rightfully belonged in.
1989 - Tim Burton taps into the comics for a film adaptation. Despite many plot holes and inconveniences, the film won an award for outstanding visual design.
1992 - Tim Burton releases Batman Returns, which was one of the few sequels that improved over the original. It was here that Tim Burton handed the reins to Joel Schumacher, who would take the franchise to a downhill turn.
1995 - Joel Schumacher releases Batman Forever, which gave the franchise a campy twist and one of the most infamous objects in film history: nipples on the Batsuit. Despite the campiness, it was received well by moviegoers but not fans of the comics.
1997 - Joel Schumacher releases the infamous Batman and Robin, which nearly killed the franchise and pretty much killed the careers of all who were involved (except George Clooney and Uma Thurman). The film had everything from butt shots and silly Bat toys (Bat credit cards, anyone?) to ridiculous action sequences and bad dialogue (ice puns and plant puns.)
2005 - Christopher Nolan resurrects the franchise with his well-received Batman Begins. Considering our current subject, this was just a test to see what Chistopher Nolan could do with the Caped Crusader.
2008  The Dark Knight wows and amazes audiences the world over and earns its rightful place in the IMDb's Top 250 Movies.
It's official!! Batman has been wowing and amazing audiences the world over ever since his first appearance in a comic book 70 years ago. There are some people that think that the Christopher Nolan Batman films are horrible, but they should just bear one thing in mind. Batman was and always will be a dark sort of superhero in a dark sort of tone, which was how Bob Kane probably created him. The 60's TV show was just a spoof, and to tell you the truth, it worked out well. Batman's alter ego, Bruce Wayne, fights crime just for the sole reason that his parents were murdered by a criminal when he was a kid, which makes the character of Batman more interesting. Now onto the movie: The Dark Knight is the masterpiece of all comic book films. Christopher Nolan takes acting and comic book adaptations (soon to be an iconic highlight to the decade of the 00's) to the next level. Every piece of footage is put together excellently. The dialogue is just fresh and ripe. I'm autistic and an introvert and have a hard time socializing, but the actors make it look easy. Where the heck did Jonathan and Christopher Nolan learn to write? I would like to know because I want to be a movie maker, too. The acting here is just awesome. Christian Bale uses a regular voice for Bruce Wayne and a dark, bad sounding voice for Batman. To me, any actor or actress who can play many types of people (i.e. Dustin Hoffman) is a great actor or actress. Michael Caine gives a spot on performance as Alfred (I say spot on because he's British.) The movie does very well without Katie Holmes as Rachael Dawes, as here she is played by a different actress, Maggie Gyllenhaal. I still don't understand why Rachael died in the movie. Maybe it was to develop the character of Two-Face. Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, and Aaron Eckhart do great as well. Heath Ledger, however, tops them all. His performance as the Joker is the best I have ever seen on the character. This also make Jack Nicholson's Joker look like a petty crook. Although he is dead and no longer on this planet, he will definitely win an Oscar for Best Actor. I wonder where he learned how to act. There is also a shot where a lot of cars are stalled in the city streets and people crammed together like packs of Coke. How does Christopher Nolan make such a scene happen. Does he wait for the biggest car jam in history? Beats me. There is only one problem in this movie. Considering that the Joker didn't die in the movie, and that Heath Ledger is dead, it makes me wonder if the sequel to this movie will be "Battlefield Earth" awful. In the meantime, lots of hugs and kisses to Christopher Nolan and everyone who worked on Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. They deserve special love and caring because as long as the franchise remains in their hands, we'll get probably one of the greatest franchises ever. Batman, if there is anything I should say about this moment, then Welcome Home, Batman. Welcome Home.