This weekend I was watching an older take on the universe that is known by the masses as Batman. A lot of people today hear that and think Christian Bale, Dark Knight, or the even more recent trend, Ben Affleck, which most people say with a sneer or cringe. Honestly I'm not sweating it. Every actor to throw on the cap over the years was hated by batman fans before the movie released, all of them changing their tunes ones the movie was in theaters. I'm willing to bet this time around wont be any different.
Anyway, I'm not looking to talk future for Batman, I'm talking past. For me it was WAY past simply because it was before my time, or at least my recollection. In 1992 ( I was two years old.) Tim Burton released his follow up to his 1989 hit "BATMAN." The reviews for the film were strangely cross for the film, as 50% of people said it was way darker than the first and perhaps too much, while the other half claimed the exact opposite saying it was too light and slightly aimed for children more than adults. For me, I think I saw it for the first time when I was maybe five or so, WAY too young to fully comprehend all the sex and crude humor, but old enough to see a cool suite and the guy in it kicking butt, and thinking to myself, "I could do that... One day I will be a superhero." Then a few years later I was introduced to the world of fighting crime, or at least fighting the "Bad Guys" and I found out ya don't win with a single punch to the face like Batman did in this movie, and when someone hits you, its harder than it looks to just turn back and keep fighting on.
First childhood beat down flashback aside, lets talk about the film itself. Over the weekend I watched Batman Returns for the first time in a long time, and found myself once again captured in the life of the Bat, and more so than previously watch, captured by the whole steamy romance between him and Catwoman. Read my book "The Blood of the Dragon," and see some of my reading choices in the past few years, it becomes pretty clear I'm a sucker for a good romance. This was one of my favorites and has been my whole life, movie, comic, whatever, because its one of the most complicated romances in recorded history. I'm sure comic nuts can counter that statement with a million other relationships that are complicated and cheers to um, but for me this one take the cake. Especially the way it's portrayed in Batman Returns. Batman and Catwoman have always been complicated, but in this movie the odds are stacked when the alter egos of them, Bruce and Selina meet and get together and feel something for one another, while they are also doing battle with each other on the rooftops of Gotham without their knowledge. The funny thing is even in the heat of battle the two share some seriously saucy moments that beg the question, aside from the fact they are fighting and she is trying to frame him for murder... are they into each other...?
Anyway, watching the movie I stayed the corse and followed the story where it went, all the while, secretly waiting for the next Batman/Catwoman rendezvous. The movie itself is entertaining, dark, gritty, and gives fans what they want when they need it, and much to my frustration, leave ya wanting more between the two mask draped lovers instead of bringing their romance to what a true romantic would see as a climactic end. "Ridding off into the sunset," or in their case, the moon light, but true to the Batman Universe, Batman and Catwoman are, as Bruce Wayne stated, "The same. Split right down the center." They both have major issues that they gotta work out and that ultimately keep them apart... at least until their next throw down on the rooftops. Gotta love it, and gotta love the story, and the movie. In general it is worth the watch and ya can't beat that romance.
Like all movies I like, it gets 5 outta 5.
