Batman: The Movie (1966)

Years before the Christopher Nolan Batman films there were the Tim Burton Batman films; years before the Tim Burton Batman films there was this: 1966's gloriously campy and compulsively watchable Batman: The Movie.  Directed by Leslie H. Martin, it stars Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin the Boy Wonder in addition to a (pardon this, I am in the mood for wordplay) fearsome foursome of foes: the Joker, the Riddler, the Penguin, and Catwoman.  Sporting a incoherent plot and holy-let's-just-go-with-it-Batman attitude, it stands in stark contrast to the much darker and grittier Nolan films and serves as an example of how to properly do a campy superhero movie (take note, Joel Schumacher).

The plot of the film involves the standard superhero plot: deadly villains, theme gadgets, and a taking-the-world-hostage sort of evil scheme.  Batman and Robin answer an urgent cry to save a stolen ship (with deadly new invention aboard) and end up battling a shark (mid-air) while the ship apparently disappears.  Following vague clues, they manage to deduce that the scheme has been formulated by the Penguin, the Joker, the Riddler, and Catwoman (Burgess Meredith, Cesar Romero, Frank Gorshin, and Lee Meredith).  The villains hatch a plan to lure Batman to them by having Catwoman, under the guise of the Russian Miss Kitka, seduce a millionaire and, through kidnapping him, bait Batman.  Naturally, the millionaire chosen is none other than Bruce Wayne, Batman's alter-ego.  Being the ladies man he is, he deems the seductive "Kitka" worthy of (actual dialogue) "International Relations."  He promptly escapes their grasp and seeks to stop there dastardly scheme.  The specifics of the scheme are not important, some key points are as follows: a billion dollars, a penguin-based submarine, and a means of dehydrating world leaders.

The plot of the film, though clearly ridiculous, is ideal for the campy tone and is utterly hilarious when viewing the final product.  The scheming done by the four antagonists is so out-there and incomprehensible it would make the writers of the James Bond films starring Roger Moore blush.  All that being said, the writing of the film is so ridiculous and over-the-top that it becomes endearing.  "What is six ounces, sits in a tree, and is extremely dangerous? A sparrow with a machine gun."  By the end of the film the Riddler's ridiculous riddles, such as that one, that Batman and Robin solve with apparent ease, almost make sense, almost.  For this, the writers must be given credit, nothing except for good writing could account for such a miraculous and shocking thing.

The acting of the film is excessive, hammy, and unbelievably fun to watch.  As our caped crusaders, Adam West and Burt Ward embrace the material with a veracity that inspires not a small amount of awe, and not a small amount of pity.  The quartet of villains also go hammy and generally succeed in doing so; though they are not quite as successful as one would hope.  Of the four, only Lee Meriwether as Catwoman really stands out.  The other three villainous roles seem as if they could have been condensed into one without losing much of their effect.  Meriwether replaced Julie Newmar (who appeared as Catwoman on the television series) and she created the cat-suit that was to be filled when Michelle Pfeiffer would slip into it over thirty-five years later.

Another facet of the film that must be mentioned is the amount of bat-gadgets that are in the film.  I counted four different vehicles used by the Dynamic Duo: the Bat-Mobile, the Bat-Copter, the Bat-Cycle, and the Bat-Boat.  In addition to that, they have a Bat-Ladder (a rope ladder with a sign that says "Bat-Ladder") and Shark Repellent Bat-Spray among many, many others.

Overall the film is highly enjoyable and so campy it makes one want to start singing "Camptown Races" around a fire.  If you want to see a gritty Batman film that also creates a realistic human-drama: see Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.  If you want to see a hammy, over-the-top action film with physical comedy taken directly from the films of Charlie Chaplin: see Batman: The Movie.  As a parody of the super-hero genre, it is, to quote my favorite villainous feline, "Purr-fect."

8/10

Note: Though the official name of the film is Batman, it was marketed as Batman: The Movie.  I credited as the latter to avoid confusion with the Tim Burton film of the same name that I will eventually review.

Additional Note: This review was previously posted on another blog I wrote.