Batman the Movie (1966) Review
In 66 days, the highly anticipated movie The Batman hits theaters. In preparation I want to review all of the theatrical released Batman movies. It’s week number 1 so we are talking about Batman the Movie. Let’s get started!
The Good:
This is a movie that is certainly not up to the standards of modern day comic book movies. But for what this movie is, it’s a fun and goofy time. Not every Batman story needs to be dark filled with dark colors, it’s ok to have a goofier and lighter Batman movie. And for what they were going for back in 1966. I think they did a pretty good job at that. It’s a quick moving Batman movie that is never boring to me.
It’s also a movie that is just jam packed with iconic and memorable scenes and sequences. The two iconic ones would be the opening sequence with the Shark repellent. It’s goofy, it is very much 1966 but it’s still a fun little sequence in the year 2021. And the other one is the sequence with the bomb and Batman goes “somedays you just can’t get rid of a bomb”, once again it’s goofy but it fits this time period of movies. And my brother walked in during this scene and started laughing at it.
From there, the movie does have a really good cast. Adam West and Burt Ward aren’t the best Batman and Robin but they fit the movie they were in really well. And they do give Bruce Wayne in this movie a bit more to do then some of the other Batman movies. But of course, the stand outs here are the villains played by Ceaser Romero, Lee Meriwether, Burgess Meredith, and Frank Gorshin. Who are playing The Joker, Catwoman, The Penguin, and The Riddler and they are just stealing every scene they are in. And are having a lot of fun playing these crazy villains.
Finally, the score for the movie is pretty good. Sure Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer’s scores might be better. But for what they had here, I think it was pretty good. And the Batman theme is pretty iconic.
The Bad:
And the biggest issue with the movie isn’t something that the movie did wrong, but this is very much a product of its time. It’s very obvious that this movie was made years and years ago, and doesn’t fit with modern day comic book movies. You watch this movie then go watch The Dark Knight, they are widely different movies. And this is a movie that in a lot of ways has not aged well. While the jokes, costumes, and characters are amusing they feel much like 1966 jokes, costumes and characters. And compared to 2021 comic book movie characters, they are so widely different. Once again, it’s not a fault that the movie was made. But it is something that holds the movie back.
Also, since the villains of the movie are much more vibrant and charismatic then both Batman and Robin. The villains here do overshine the heroes of the movie, and that’s an issue with a number of different Batman movies. And Batman and Robin aren’t written to be more of the flashiest characters in the movie, so that does hold them back a bit. Once again, it’s not that West or Ward did wrong, they just weren’t written the best.
Finally, the biggest issue with the movie is that it just feels like an extended episode of the tv show. It feels like they shot a 4-partner special for the tv show, but just edited the episodes together to make a feature length movie. The way it plays out, you have an action sequence every 20 minutes followed by Batman and Robin reflecting on what just happened, and it cycles through that throughout the entire movie.
Final Thoughts: This might be an iconic Batman movie, and one that a whole generation of kids grew up on. But as a kid who was born in 2004, I grew up with The Dark Knight trilogy. And by comparison, I think that those movies are better. Don’t get me wrong, there is plenty of entertainment to be had here. But I think the limitations of the time, the writing for Batman and Robin, and the storytelling do hold this movie back.
The Score: 7.3/10 (C+)
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