Several actors have played Batman over the years in the movies. We've had Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney and lately Christian Bale. Which one is your favorite and why?
For me it's a toss up between Christian Bale and Val Kilmer. I thought both of them played the roles of playboy millionaire Bruce Wayne and superhero Batman very well. It's not easy portraying both characters. Michael Keaton and George Clooney weren't bad but I don't think they did a good job at playing both, the were able to pull off one of the characters but not both Bruce Wayne and Batman.
So now tell us who you liked and why.
[question posted by emeraldisle]
responses and comments:
See, I think that Michael Keaton was the best Batman...any actor after him paled in comparison. Val Kilmer was pretty good, too...but nothing like Michael Keaton. I thought he was the perfect batman and Bruce Wayne. George Clooney, I thought was a bad Batman. [chaygylmommy]
Yeah I didn't care for George Clooney either. He's not a great actor in my opinion. I know some love his work but I'm not one of them. I think his cousin Miquel Ferrer is a far better actor. I liked Michael Keaton bit I think what it was with him as Batman he didn't seem like he had the body build for all that batman was supposed to do. He wasn't in bad shape or anything just he didn't have the physique I would expect from a man who is going to go out and fight like he did. [emeraldisle]
George Clooney absolutely sucked as batman. Val Kilmer wasn't too hot either. Micheal Keaton was great, but paled in comparison to Christian Bale. Batman Begins was the best Batman movie, and Bale had the look for the Dark Knight. [MrCoolantSpray]
I agree about Bale. His voice even changed when he did the Dark Knight parts. He also had the youth and physique to play both parts and play them where it was believable. That to me was important, playing both roles where they seemed real. [emeraldisle]
I really liked George Clooney the best. I didn't care for Kilmer at all. And I don't think Keaton pulled it off well either. I'm not sure why I liked Clooney in the role the best (and I'm probably one of the few who like him better) but I just do. I don't like Bale personally cause I think he's a pyscho (plays the part too well) BUT I did like him as Batman. I thought he did a really good job. I think he's escentric enough to play both parts I guess. [GnosticGoddess]
Fair enough on the Clooney. I guess some did from what I understand. I don't see it but we are all allowed to be different. I agree that Bale can play the psycho well and yes he was able to play both parts which I admit is tough. I wouldn't want to try it. [emeraldisle]
My vote is for Val Kilmer. He was the best Bruce Wayne by far. His protrayal of the suave and debonair playboy suited him perfectly. And a pretty good Batman as well. Can yoy tell I am a Val Kilmer fan! [AskAlly]
I agree he was really good at the Bruce Wayne part and the Batman side he was able to pull off. He had the body for it which helped. Yeah I am one too. I've liked him in most of the things I've seen him in. [emeraldisle]
Wuh oh. I only saw two of them -- the one with Michael Keaton and the one with Val Kilmer. I liked Val Kilmer better. He's just a better actor, in my opinion. Michael Keaton has some mannerisms that he seems to take into every role. So I'm always concentrating on the mannerisms and not the role. Christian Bale is a terrific actor and I've never seen him in a role where he didn't do a dynamite job. I need to see his Batman. [cremechese]
See Equilibrium too. Bale does a bang-up job. [MrCoolantSpray]
My first choice is Adam West. But of the movie Batmans, I pick Michael Keaton and Val Kilmer.I agree that Val did play Bruce and Batman very well, but I liked Keaton's Batman more.And Adam was equally suave as Bruce and powerful as Batman. [sarahruthbeth22]
Adam West was in a class all his own when it came to Batmans. [emeraldisle]
How I love batman! I would say Michael Keaton and Val Kilmer. I think the role helped Michael Keaton a lot as you never really saw a confident and complex side to him before then. It paved the way for "desperate measures". It seems to me that he showed the human side of batman too. Val Kilmer gave the role just the right measure of playboy, mystery and superhero wrapped into one. He seemed more serious like the last batman with Christian Bale. [byfelisa]
I love the Batman movies. They were all good although I like some better then others. I agree with the comment about Val Kilmer he did have that right combination to make it all work. [emeraldisle]
My favourite Batman would be George Clooney, because I consider him as a very good actor, attractive and professional. Think that he would perform the Batman role perfectly, even if taken he masks it, his beaty could not be appreciated. What do you think about that? [tamyhmc]
Fair enough. I know many who like his ability and his batman. I'm just not one of them. [emeraldisle]
my favorite batman is val kilmer. although he is a tad smaller than the other batman actors i think that he plays the part the best. the only i dont like about christian bale is his voice whenever he turns into batman. its sort of squeaky and its really distracting for me. but other than that i like him better than michael keaton and george clooney. [akotalagato]
I found it to be graveling but I can see why some might find it annoying. [emeraldisle]
The newest one with Christian Bale was my favorite. This Batmans story had a very interesting villain too. [cikedo]
Oh I agree the villian in that one was unique. I did like how they retold the Batman beginning. It was well thought out. Bale did an excellent job in the role as well which really added to it all. [emeraldisle]
Micheal Keaton. He's done a surprisingly good job as Batman. [wovenhick]
Christian Bale is The best Batman ever. He played like he is the real batman. He can play both bruce wayne and batman very well. He had a cool face that will scare every single villain. [theKop]
George Clooney is the MOST boring batman that I ever saw. I like Micheal Keaton on how he portrayed it, but my favorite would be Christian Bale's performance. Batman begins showed how Bruce Wayne become a batman and how human he really was, how he fought for his own ghosts. How how dealt with his own tragic experience on the death of his parents, and on how he dedicated his life dor people who're in distress. I really loved batman more than ever!;) [raijin]
I agree I didn't like Clooney's performance in it. I'm not a big fan of his anyways so that might not have helped. I did like how they wrote the Batman Begins. It really made the Dark Knight believable. It was well done and showed how human he was. [emeraldisle]
I prefer Christian Bale the most. It's so much darker - the way the comics are. Micheal Keaton is 2nd favorite. Val Kilmar is good too. George Clooney's batman is a joke. That director butchered the story line. [Withoutwings]
Yeah I couldn't figure out why that glowing paint and makeup. It didn't make sense to me and they had it in a few places in that movie and the next one. It was strange. [emeraldisle]
i prefer val kilmer... somehow he has that look and seriousnes of a batman and bruce wayne! i liked michael keaton once he was in the batman costume,,, it really suited him,.... but as bruce wayne he didnt look tht perfect. george clooney was just ok [nishanity]
I agree Val Kilmer did an excellent job as both Bruce Wayne and Batman. It's not easy playing that duality and he managed to pull it off. [emeraldisle]
I liked Geoge Clooney. I thought boy he looks good in the suit. Then I think I read that he had a body double for the suit. well any way you look at it he was the best in my opinion. I have all of the Batman movies on tape, so I can watch them over and over again. [sizzle3000]
Yeah I have them all as well :) I don't care for Clooney but I know some do and that's ok. To each their own. [emeraldisle]
I liked keaton, but I love Christian Bale his lips just look perfect in that mask...yum. Anyway, Clooney sucked as did kilmer. I dont know why they have to keep changing the batmans. They didnt change Superman and they had how many movies. I hope that they dont change spiderman either. Just like when they make other sequels, like speed 2, could they not get Keanu...it made the movie suck without the origional characters that you fell in love with, that just clicked. [chippy49]
I think the reason they kept changing was due to trying to find the right one. Keaton did the first two but I think after that he wasn't the right age anymore or maybe he didn't want to do them. I liked Kilmer but the critics didn't so they switched again. I didn't like Clooney and overall the movie didn't do as well as the other two so they went with someone else. From what I've seen though Bale is scheduled to do the next movie as well. Same with the Spiderman and keeping McQuire for it. I agree. I like Speed 2 but wish keanu could have been in it. [emeraldisle]
Val kilmer,ease with which he portrayed both sides of the character [jerinm]
Val Kilmer I thought was the best. Michael Keaton was ok, but the others stunk. [Bee1955]
Ali is my favourate Batman. [zoopash]
i'm voting for Christian Bale. when I first saw him in Equilibrium and how he was very effective in doing martial arts, I got excited to see him play Batman... and i definitely wasn't disappointed. of all the actors who had portrayed the Black Knight, Christian Bale was the most convincing in projecting a menacing figure when donning the mask, while being a relaxed playboy as Bruce Wayne. To compare, George Clooney did not come off as that tough with the cape on, I don't think the audience will forget that he's George Clooney with the debonaire smile in ER or in the romance films he starred in. Batman/ Bruce did not really have his smile as his main attraction. Michael Keaton, for me, was an OK Batman but only to test if the movie would click. I would always credit him as the original Batman of the new generation. Maybe it's also the high hairline that makes me give him a thumbs down, as compared to Bale. Val Kilmer is tough and rough and menacing as Batman but i think he's too white. As Bruce Wayne, he also doesn't come off as a man with a dark secret, unlike the way Christian Bale who appears in the movie like a troubled man but composing himself well bearing in mind the respect others have for his father. Val Kilmer as Bruce is more James Bond-type, he doesn't look like he will break down having nightmares of bats every night. Bale, on the other hand, always make the viewers wait for that time that he lose it and be Batman again. [recidivist20]
I couldn't agree more. I think Bale did a great job in the role. He really made the part his own. He was unique in his protrayal of the Dark Knight. He had the physique and mannerism right for the role and I am really looking forward to seeing the sequel to it. I think he'll do a great job in that one as well. [emeraldisle]
Its a tough one. Christian Bale did a bloody good job, Michael Keaton was too much of a wuss as Bruce Wayne. Val Kilmer did it pretty cool, but he's not such a good actor. Adam West was far too much of a mincer and George Clooney Just didn't do it, he's not cut out for action. [k3n3t1x]
For my it has to be George Clooney because he looked like the way I imagine Batman, although the others were all good too especially Val Kilmer. George is just so dreamy and is rumoured to sleep with his pet pig, my kid of guy! [rainbow]
my favorite batman is michael keaton and christian bale. The others are quite okay. [xylon17]
Mine would be Michael Keaton. Sometime the 1st movie is always seem to be the best one. The effect, the people, the set up, and this is not just for batman, it seem to be like that for superman as well. [omega007]
for me i will go with george clooney the way he portraits it make sense at all. [benedict1023]
i really like Michael Keaton. for me, he's the best batman because batman has a mask and keaton could evoke emotions from audience through his eyes. his eyes are really expressive. and he could do some comic relief scenes without letting go of batman's personality. [yaneeps]
Michael Keaton!!! he is the best to portray batman although i love george clooney when he's bruce wayne he isn't just good enough wearing the batsuit he seems to always smile michael keaton though really transform when he dons the suit as for christian bale he doesn't need the suit really his character is dark already [Mathurin]
Heheh good point on Bale. He does seem to carry off that dark personality. [emeraldisle]
I really liked Michael Keaton. He captured both the calm and the manic energy of Batman/Bruce Wayne really well. I love the scene in Vicki Vale's apartment where he says to The Joker "Let's get nuts!" I thought Christian Bale was also great as a younger Bruce Wayne. I enjoyed "Batman Begins" much more than I thought I was going too. Gary Oldman was great as Comish. Gordon. I'm really looking forward to the next movie. At first I was a little worried about Heath Leger as the Joker, but I think he might be really good. [twilight021]
I know! In Batman begins, he blended so well I barely realized it was him! He is a great actor. [twilight021]
mine favorite batman is ricky pionting from australia he is a class player and on second number rahul dravid from india [toffiesepyaar]
Adam West is batman. In my opinion he is the real batman but Christian Bale makes it really hard to stick to my guns. heh [sirensanssmile]
there are such good batman and in all them sachin is best batman [toffiesepyaar]
I think Rodney Dangerfield should have played Batman. Or possibly Chevy Chase? [richardjames]
I admire Val kilmer he did the job of batman excellent [creavin007]
George Clooney would be my favorite Batman for not reson other than that he is George Clooney and no one else can come close. Admittedly, this is a biased oipinion but when it comes to George, I'm VERY biased. [irisheyes]
To me there will only ever be one Batman and although I know he was not in the movies (did I read somewhere he did a cameo role in one of the movies?) and that is Adam West who played Batman in the 1960's television series. It was so comic-book and so camp that I don't think it's ever been bettered. [Noot54]
Actually after I posted I did remember Adam West did do a movie of Batman. I don't think he did a cameo but I could be wrong. I have to admit I have a soft spot for the TV show and movie they did. It was unique. [emeraldisle]
Val Kilmer, christian Bale, George Clooney, Michael Keaton, in that order.Val has the whispery voice, the normal yet brooding appearance.Bale is a little too large, but feasible.George Clooney plays a better Bruce Wayne w/out the Batman half, lol and wtf were they thinking with Michael keaton??For the love of God!I got all the Batman movies for Christmas last year, I loves me some Bat!! [pendragon]
Michael Keaton was the best Batman ever... [bhogz13]
My favorites are Micheal Keaton and Christian Bale. I'm a fan of Tim Burton and I love the first Batman. I think the last Batman is original, so I like this too. I'm judging the movies not the actors but I think the same for the actors because the first batman is Micheal Keaton and I like him a lot in this role, I think Christian Bale is adapt too... [Astarte]
Its hard to say but I think I preferred Christian Bale, what I think made him and the film more enjoyable was the different style and storyline of the movie, the other films were all very similar it was good to see a new twist to the norm. [Garion]
It's a hard choice I agree with you there. The Begins movie was different then the other three. I think that's one of the reasons I liked it. It also showed where he got all those fabulous toys from :) [emeraldisle]
"Batman" due to the way it's filmed - Gotham City as dark and creepy. And, Michael Keaton as Batman - he's an "average Joe" looking man, not drop-dead gorgeous or muscular - but as the Bat he's totally believable to the character . But the truth i dinot like any of the movies that much My favorite was the animated TV series Batman and Robin Good Luck Have a great day [maddy37]
For the Movie version I think I'd go with Val Kilmer too. I think he did a good job in both characters. Keaton and Clooney just didn't seem to cut it... Keaton is too much of a "whimpy" kind of guy (Sorry Mike! LOL) and Clooney too much of a pretty boy. [hockeygal4ever]
Heheh well I never saw Clooney as a pretty boy but I know many who do. He just never had much apeal for me. I do agree that he wasn't right for the role though. [emeraldisle]
My best Batman would be Michael Keaton and my second choice would be George Clooney, it is a shame that Michael didn't stay with the series. [LadyMargaret]
I like Michael Keaton's Batman, although when they first made the movie I didn't think he could pull it off (all I could think of was he was the guy from Mr. Mom). Still, NO Batman can replace the original TV Batman, Adam West. [awonderfullife]
I know what you mean. I couldn't picture Michael Keaton in the role either but he did do a decent job. I just not sure he was the best one for it. Adam West's batman was in a league all it's own. It was very different from the others. [emeraldisle]
Val Kilmer is the best. I guess there are factors which played a role like: 1-Val Kilmer is talented in that sense (See the 'The Doors') 2-His face looks like Batman especially behind the mask 3-The actors played vallian in the movie were terrific i guess the best was Tommy Lee Jones in HarveyTwoFace Cloony was so disappointing and in my point of view the worst one. He got on my nerves while i watched the movie damn man he is never and never will be a guy who could perfom Batman [deadraven999]
I agree about Clooney. I thought he was a poor choice to play Batman and watching him in it I was very disappointed. If it wasn't for the rest of the cast I would not watch it at all but the rest of the cast do their best to salvage the movie. [emeraldisle]
I think Christian Bale was the best, with Val Kilmer a close second. Michael Keaton was acceptable, and George Clooney in my opinion just did not fit at all. [khristal23]
I liked Val kilmer and Christian Bale. My personal opinion they have made the best batmans I have ever seen. I didn't like Glooney or Keaton at all as batman. Kimer was more of a gentlman and more of batman type. [mjsdls]
I'd have to say Christian Bale all the way... although I didn't like the voice he used for Batman... it sounded as though he had smoked his entire life. Too scratchy... not scary enough. For me... Michael Keaton had the BEST Batman voice! [GypsysTear]
my favourite batman was christian bale in the latest batman movie "The Batman Begins " . He was simply brilliant.. [pranaydharmale]
Christian Bale for me. As an actor he didn't have that much roles in his career compared to the others that's why he didn't get branded like the others. That's what made Bale retain his sense of mysteriousness because he has yet to spread his acting career and show his potential unlike the other actors who are overexposed. [merkava]
My favorite was Michael Keaton and loved him in Batman but now it's Christian Bale. I loved Batman Begins and thought he did a great job. It was dark and dramatic but also had great humor. [brimia]
I ended up watching Batman Begins last night :) It was great. It is so different from the others. [emeraldisle]
I would say the first two Batman movies, Batman and Batman Returns are the best of all. Michale Keaton was a good actor for that. Christian Bale in Batman Begins also good, able to show the darkside of Batman...his voice in Batman mode...it's very deep. [jhartana]
Val kilmer seemed to have the best performance both as bruce wayne and the cape crusader. [bowtieguy]