Batman '89 The Michael Keaton Appreciation Thread

[Blitzkrieg Bop]

Keaton's idea for the third movie.

While Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan have taken over the popular image of Batman on the big screen thanks to "The Dark Knight" series of films, it's easy to forget that Michael Keaton was one of the best to ever put on the codpiece. While Tim Burton's distinctly more cartoony films still hold up well, he only ever got to make two, after which the franchise saw a downward trend culminating in the egregious 1997 entry "Batman & Robin," before Nolan and co. restored the character to his current glory. But things might have gone differently...

Keaton recently sat down to chat with Marc Maron on his WTF podcast, and he revealed he had pitched an origin story for his proposed third collaboration with Burton. "The guy who's doing them now, Chris Nolan, he's so talented, it's crazy. [Christian Bale] is so talented. It's so good." he enthused. "But I say that like I've seen them, and I actually haven't. I didn't even see much of the second one that I did."
"You look at where he went, which is exactly what I wanted to do when I was having meetings about the third one," he continued. "I said you want to see how this guy started. We've got a chance here to fix whatever we kind of maybe went off. This could be brilliant." But alas, his vision wasn't supported.
By this point, Burton had left the franchise, and Joel Schumacher was now on board, and as the actor simply says: "[He] didn't want to do it, so I didn't want to do it." And it was probably for the best as Keaton wisely saw that things weren't going to turn out well. "I could see that was going south," he stated.


And indeed, we got "Batman Forever" with Val Kilmer in the lead, and we all know how that turned out. And while we can dream of what a Keaton-led, Batman origin story would've looked like, at least we got two movies with the actor. Listen to his full interview with Marc Maron at the link above.

 

[Elevator Man]

Nice video about the "bat-turn".
[YT]sP9fFSc2Rx0[/YT]

 

[The Joker]

Keaton's idea for the third movie.

So he wanted to go the way Nolan did, by making Batman the focal of the story.

 

[Ponyboy]

Nice video about the "bat-turn".
[YT]sP9fFSc2Rx0[/YT]

haha, I liked the "bat-turn"... it made for some really dramatic shots on film. t:

 

[The Shape]

Bale even had a few Bat-turn moments in Batman Begins. He had a little more neck mobility than Keaton, but not much at all.

 

[Young Superman]

I know it will never happen, but I'd love to see Michael Keaton voice Batman in one of the DCU animated movies.

 

[Ponyboy]

So he wanted to go the way Nolan did, by making Batman the focal of the story.

Mad respect for Keaton in terms of him not just treating the series like a cash-cow.

 

[spidermanJLA!~]

I know it will never happen, but I'd love to see Michael Keaton voice Batman in one of the DCU animated movies.

I think that Michael Keaton's Batman is too quiet for an animated film. If he could be louder and more "animated" I think he could pull it off.

 

[Ponyboy]

I think that Michael Keaton's Batman is too quiet for an animated film.

And yet, Weller (who has a stronger voice than Keaton)... I found his vocal performance quite dull for DK Returns. *shrugs*

 

[DaRkVeNgeanCe]

Happy Birthday today Michael! You will always be Batman to me!!!

 

[Marx]

Happy Birthday!

 

[Elevator Man]

I just realized today was his birthday. Happy Birthday Mr. Keaton. And looks like the first trailer of the Robocop reboot, which features Keaton, is up today. Perfect timing.

 

[TheDarkKnight08]

So I got in the mood to art for a bit, and came up with this. Ballpoint pen, with a little digital work. Love that 89 cowl!

(sorry, it's a bit big)

Spoiler

 

[Marx]

Keaton is still looking good too.

 

[DCW]

I've gained a new appreciation for Keaton's Batman over the last couple of months. Really love what Bale did in the Nolan trilogy, but if I had to choose one it would be Keaton.

 

[DCW]

[YT]KEPQ3imirBM[/YT]



...subtle. t:

 

[Elevator Man]

It’s tempting to assume that the character Michael Keaton plays in Birdman is a thinly fictionalized version of himself. He plays Riggan Thomson, a veteran actor who became a superstar when he donned a cape and cowl to become the winged creature of the film’s title. He fought bad guys and saved the world…until he grew tired of being a cog in the Hollywood blockbuster machine and walked away from it all. Sound familiar? Keaton, of course, helped create the modern-day superhero genre 25 years ago when he starred as the original Dark Knight in Tim Burton’s Batman (and then its sequel, Batman Returns). He too hung up the rubber suit when he no longer felt creatively fulfilled. Surely, then, Keaton related to Riggan like no other character from his entire 40-year career, right?

Wrong. “The truth is that I was playing a person, just a person,” he tells EW in this week’s cover story. “And I was both as connected to Riggan and as disconnected from him as you can possibly be. And I have to tell the truth about that.”

Here’s another truth about Birdman: It was a beast to make. The movie unfolds almost entirely in the claustrophobic confines of New York’s St. James Theater, where Keaton’s character, desperate to rebuild his reputation, is literally staging a comeback by directing and starring in his own adaptation of Raymond Carver’s “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.” The high-stress behind-the-proscenium action unfolds over several weeks, but thanks to the ingenuity of director Alejandro G. Iñárritu (Babel) and cinematographer Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki (Gravity), Birdman appears to be shot in one continuous take. This meant that Keaton and his costars (Edward Norton, Naomi Watts, Emma Stone, and Zach Galifianakis among them) spent most of the month-long shoot doing complex unbroken shots that lasted as long as 10 minutes—an eternity in moviemaking. “You’d go home, and have dinner, and then you’d start to think about the next day’s work,” says Keaton. “And that’s when the panic would set in. These were all really good, accomplished actors. And everybody showed up every morning frightened. The crew too. I think we were all thinking, I don’t want to be the guy who lets everybody down.”

In our exclusive interview with Keaton, the actor, 63, also talks about the current state of the Caped Crusader and his ilk: “Chris Nolan is great, but I’ve never seen any of the Batman movies all the way through. I know they’re good. I just have zero interest in those kinds of movies. I mean, people are asking me, ‘Is Ben Affleck going to be any good?’ And my attitude is, First of all, why would you ask me? Second, he’s probably going to be very good, and third, frankly, it’s all set up now so that you’re weirdly kind of safe. Once you get in those suits, they really know what to do with you. It was hard then; it ain’t that hard now.”

http://popwatch.ew.com/2014/10/08/this-weeks-cover-michael-keaton-is-not-birdman/

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

Keeping my fingers crossed for that Oscar.

 

[Cain]

Keeping my fingers crossed for that Oscar.

I guess it's long overdue only because so many people actually care about that crap. So it would mean more work for Keaton and more relevance with today's generation which an actor of his talent deserves.

In that sense I hope this happens so that he could get more freedom to finally do the projects he's really passionate about. However I also do love that he just left the Hollywood limelight and all that because he refused to play the insane political game that leads to winning oscars and ****.

He chose his integrity over playing the dirty and seedy Hollywood game many of his butt kissing and insecure peers find themselves playing and I always respected the hell out of that.

 

[Goshdarn Batman]

Chris Nolan is great, but I’ve never seen any of the Batman movies all the way through. I know they’re good. I just have zero interest in those kinds of movies.

lies, lies! Some day, you will be Batman again! *rocks back and forth*

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

I don't get why people are suddenly becoming so itchy about that comment. He has always stated that he has admires the work of others but he has no actual interest in Batman or Batman movies now.

It's what actors do. They give a peformance and they move on. He even turned down the chance to play The Joker in The Dark Knight Returns. He's done the whole Batman thing, he's proud of it, and he moved on.

 

[Goshdarn Batman]

I'm just kidding, the man is done with Batman, and I'm perfectly fine with it

(I just have to accept that the world can be a horrible place sometimes) Cough!

 

[The Shape]

I don't get why people are suddenly becoming so itchy about that comment. He has always stated that he has admires the work of others but he has no actual interest in Batman or Batman movies now.

It's what actors do. They give a peformance and they move on. He even turned down the chance to play The Joker in The Dark Knight Returns. He's done the whole Batman thing, he's proud of it, and he moved on.

He's definitely not too proud of Batman Returns...

 

[BatLobster]

Honestly, I think it is just a tad weird. It's totally his choice and nobody can tell him what movies he should and shouldn't watch, but you'd like to think that if you were in his shoes and got to participate in this amazing legacy of the character, you'd be at least somewhat curious to see how it evolved in the next generation.

That said, Keaton has always been a bit of a quirky guy and that's why we love him. I ain't judging, but part of me wishes he would at least have more of an open mind about it. It's kind of peculiar to say "They're great" and "I've never watched them" in the same sentence.

Still, nothin' but love for the Keaton. Would be a trip if he won the Oscar.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

You think this was a negative response?

Just imagine what Christian Bale would say over 22 years later about the ''new Batman'' and the state of Batman movies.