I had no illusions of what to expect with Batman: The Movie. I knew what I was getting into. Sure, I haven't watched an episode of Batman: The Series since I was in elementary school and even though I never saw the movie, I felt I had already seen it. There are somethings in life you just NEVER forget and the TV show is one of them. Even when I was just a kid, I was smart enough to know that this was nothing but hokey fun with bad dialogue and bad acting and the movie definitely continues that tradition.

It's beyond campy to say the least and watching it now....all grown up, I do wonder exactly what was in my kool-aid to ever be a fan of the show. I did a lot of face palms while watching the movie tonight, but there were also plenty of moments that had me grinning from ear to ear. Lots of sight gags from Penguin's Submarine to Batman's numoerous modes of transportation, be it Batmobile, BatCopter, BatBike. Having both Batman and Robin running around in broad daylight was both bizarre and true to form. Having Batman running around with a cannonball bomb was icing on the cake. But the best moment obviously was when he is attacked by a shark and having it gnawing on his leg was both f*cking hilarious and priceless.

But these moments still can't disguise that the writing, especially the on-the-nose dialogue was atrocious! Not much of a story either. Well, one that can't be taken serious (and shouldn't be, given the tone). But come on....dehydration!!!! Ack! Wanting to finally see this movie tonight was really more about revisiting nostalgia and reliving a moment in time from my past, and it succeeded in that regard. But I can't recommend this to anyone. Definitely a Skip. One bonus to the DVD was in fact the bonuses itself, which I did like a lot. I just wish that they had shot the interviews 15 years earlier so they could have included Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith and Frank Gorshin to go along with Adam West and Burt Ward's interviews. Wish Lee Meriwether had contributed something in that regard as well.

FYI, watching the movie made me think a lot about what Mike Myers did with Austin Powers in the tone of that franchise. I've never heard anything specific beyond the obvious influences, but I'm guessing that Myers was influenced somewhat by what the Batman series and movie brought.

The shot with Alfred driving the Batmobile with that little mask on still kills me.

The movie was real cheesy, but if I remember correctly, wasn't ti the first time that they tied in Bruce Wayne with everything?  The villains all decide to kidnap Bruce Wayne to get Batman's attention, right?  I don't think they ever did anything like that on the TV show.

Have you been reading the Batman 60s comic that's out now, by any chance?

Have you been reading the Batman 60s comic that's out now, by any chance?

Nope. Don't know anything about it. Tell me more. Is this in Comic Book shops right now? What's the official title of the book?

This sounds like a late night viewing with several whiskeys

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