BW Media Spotlight

Too bad we don’t follow that lesson anymore, but that’s a whole other topic.

Full disclosure: I am not a Tim Burton fan. I have nothing against his work…in general, anyway. It’s just the types of stories he tells tend to not interest me or follow my tastes. There are three exceptions I can think of off-hand. Beetlejuice and Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure are both fun rides and I can’t help but get into them. Beetlejuice later got an animated spin-off while Big Adventure had a few influences on Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, despite most of it being based on his stage show that became famous after airing on HBO. Oddly neither of these started out as kids properties per say. Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure and the stage show were mostly family friendly with a few…interesting bits the parents had to explain later. (The stage show has Pee-Wee using hypnosis to get a girl to take her dress off, and the closing credits show her walking out of the theater in nothing but her slip.) As for Beetlejuice…

You kind of see why there were concerns when Burton used him as Batman. Surprising every detractor, the first Batman movie was quite good and Keaton was good as Bruce and Batman, even with a suit that didn’t allow the head to turn because padded leather was not a good replacement for spandex in the long run. It’s the third movie I mentioned liking, though I do have my nitpicks. One of them is the idea that it was Burton who undid the 60s show’s view of Batman. First off…no he didn’t. I still hear reporters and anchors break out the BIFF! POW! BLAM! stuff when discussing superhero stories. Also, it was the Bronze Age of comics and the writers and editor Dennis O’Neil that brought Batman back to his roots and took on a darker tone, even when Batman fought a guy who could teach a normal ape to be a surgeon and flew on a charter flight in full Batgear. That’s why I love the Bronze Age or whatever this new Copper Age division is: knowing not to take itself too seriously without the goofier nature of the Silver Age. Must as the 60s Batman was a product of its time (while also acting as a parody), the 80s Batman movie and the Animated Series that came out shortly after Batman Returns were products of their time and reflected the comics they were based on…for the most part.

Sorry, but Batman Returns is not on that list. I really don’t like that movie and despite what Joel Schumacher did to Batman and Robin I’m actually happy Burton’s third movie didn’t happen, even if it cost us Michael Keaton. Personally, I think Val Kilmer is underrated and George Clooney was a terrible replacement, but there are reasons Burton didn’t return. Burton, however, doesn’t seem to believe that’s a good thing. I have two interviews, one a preview to a full interview from 2022 and the other a full review from September of this year and while my title for this commentary may be viewed as a bit harsh, it does make me think that Burton believes only his take on Batman was good. I disagree, and I’ll tell you why. Because that’s what a commentary is.

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