To the more than casually engaged moviegoer, Ben Affleck is Batman — at least until someone else officially takes that cape to big screen at some point in the future. [1-3]
Even setting aside animated and Lego contributions, he did not invent the role, of course. It hasn’t been that many years ago that Christian Bale was credited for his transformative and effective contributions through the Christopher Nolan “Dark Knight” trilogy. Too dark! you say? [4-11]
This is about as far as one can get from reporting in 1988 when word came out that Michael Keaton had been cast to bring the character back to the big screen in the wake of Adam West typecasting. And yet it was this motion picture (comparatively restrained) Tim Burton re-imagining with Mr Keaton as star, playing against Jack Nicholson as the Joker — with three sequels and two other leads to follow — to varying degrees provided bridge from 1960s camp to modern set. [12-25]
Cleverly leveraging 2019 as both the thirty year anniversary of one Batman movie and the very first appearance of Bob Kane’s creation in Detective Comics number 27, Fathom Events is bringing all four back for two showings apiece at Emagine Theatres. [27-30]
Batman (1989) 30th Anniversary
- May 4 (Saturday), with showings starting at 1:00pm and 4:00pm
Batman Returns Event
- May 6 (Monday), with showings starting at 4:00pm and 7:00pm
Batman Forever Event
- May 12 (Sunday), with showings starting at 1:00pm and 4:00pm
Batman & Robin Event
- May 14 (Tuesday), with showings starting at 4:00pm and 7:00pm
Although implied as cohesive under the “Celebrating 80 Years of Batman” rubric, the four films above do not have the same structured underpinnings as more recent installments with Messrs Bale and Affleck. Reviews for Batman to Batman & Robin are not surprisingly just as varied, not just in terms of broad audience reception but in difference in appeal through style. [31-34]
However, four separately ticketed movies offered on distinctly different dates suggests a unique opportunity to see them all, in sequence, in less than two weeks, for an experience of a whole that is bigger than its mere parts.
Tickets for any and all of the above at Emagine Theatre can be purchased online or at the door. Before making final arrangements for any showing, check the their website to confirm that dates and times have not changed since the information above was first published here.
References
- “Ben Affleck” IMDb.
- “7 Reasons Ben Affleck Is The Best Batman Of All-Time” Conner Schwerdtfeger, Cinema Blend.
- “Ben Affleck confirms exit as Batman and retires cowl on Jimmy Kimmel Live” Adam Bankhurst (February 15, 2019) IGN.
- Examples: “‘Batman: Mask of the Phantasm’” Richard Harrington (December 27, 1993) The Washington Post and “Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders is the Best DC Animated Movie in Years” Mike Cecchini (November 1, 2016) Den of Geek.
- “The Lego Batman Movie” Susan Wloszczyna (February 9, 2017) Roger Ebert.
- “Christian Bale” IMDb.
- “Christopher Nolan” IMDb.
- “Batman Begins (2005)” IMDb.
- “The Dark Knight (2008)” IMDb.
- “The Dark Knight Rises (2012)” IMDb.
- “The Dark Knight Trilogy Review – The Superhero Standard” Jarrod Saunders (July 18, 2018) Fortress of Solitude.
- “Michael Keaton” IMDb.
- “Batman (1989)” IMDb.
- “6 Angry Reactions to the Casting of Michael Keaton as Batman” Brian Cronin (March 6, 2017) Thought Co.
- “Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) 25 Years Later” David Crow (June 23, 2014) Den of Geek.
- “30 Years After B89, Why Haven’t Fans Learned Not To Prejudge Casting?” Bill “Jet” Ramey (February 5, 2019) Batman on Film.
- “Adam West” IMDb.
- “Batman: The Movie (1966)” IMDb.
- “Tim Burton” IMDb.
- “Jack Nicholson” IMDb.
- “Batman Returns (1992)” IMDb.
- “Batman Forever (1995)” IMDb.
- “Batman & Robin (1997)” IMDb.
- “Val Kilmer” IMDb.
- “George Clooney” IMDb.
- “The camp comic genius of Batman: The Movie” Greg Evans (February 6, 2017) Little White Lies.
- “Bob Kane” IMDb.
- “Detective Comics Vol 1 27” Fandom.
- Fathom Events (home page).
- Emagine Entertainment (showtimes).
- “‘Batman’: THR’s 1989 Review” Ron Pennington (1989) The Hollywood Reporter.
- “Review/Film: Batman Returns; A Sincere Bat, a Sexy Cat and a Bad Bird” Janet Maslin (June 19, 1992) The New York Times.
- “Batman Forever” Roger Ebert (June 16, 1995) Chicago Sun-Times.
- “Batman And Robit Review” Neil Jeffries (January 1, 2013) Empire Online.
