Christian Bale vs. Michael Keaton

Who's the better Batman?
Idea Submitted by: Kevin Cunningham

Many of you have fond memories of the original 1989 Batman movie by Tim Burton. I undoubtedly did. As a wee-lad, I became obsessed with the character, Batman. Was it the awesome updated stealthy rubber batsuit, or was it the actor personifying the symbol of fear? What seemed like peculiar casting with comedy-experienced Michael Keaton fit amazingly well after I watched it. Zoom ahead to the 21st century and we get an all new, revamped Batman played by Christian Bale... even with his slight lisp, he seemed to fit before I even saw it... and he did. So who played Batman the best?

Bat-Bios (Taken from Wikipedia):

Michael Keaton

• Burton cast him because he thought that Keaton was the only actor who could believably portray someone who has the kind of darkly obsessive personality that the character demands.


• After the Keaton casting, Warner Bros. received thousands of letters of complaint by fans commenting that the comedic Keaton was the wrong choice for Gotham City's creature of the night, given his prior work in comedies and the fact that he lacked the suave, handsome features and tall, muscular physicality often attributed to the character in the comic books.


• However, these early worries were proven wrong as Keaton earned critical acclaim for his sophisticated and landmark performance, making Batman the highest-grossing film of the year.


• He was prepared to return for 1995's Batman Forever, even going so far as to show up for costume fitting. However, when Burton was dropped by Warner Bros. (slated to co-producer), Keaton left the series after being dissatisfied with the screenplay the new director, Joel Schumacher, approved, which Keaton considered to be lighter in tone in comparison to the past two Batman movies.


• According to the A&E Biography episode on Michael Keaton, after he had refused the first time (due to analysis of the script and meetings with Schumacher), Warner Brothers then offered him $35,000,000 (one of the highest salaries offered to an actor at the time), but Keaton steadfastly refused. In marked contrast to their initial reaction, many fans complaining about the following two Batman films (including 1997's Batman & Robin) often demanded not only that Tim Burton be rehired as director but that Keaton be hired as well.

Christian Bale

• Bale had long been a contender to portray Batman, from as early as 2002. He had previously auditioned for the role of Robin in Batman Forever (1995), but lost out to Chris O'Donnell.


• Bale beat out Jake Gyllenhaal, the closest competition for the role,[23] a situation reversed when Bale lost the part of Anthony Swofford in Jarhead (2005) to Gyllenhaal.


• Still fresh from The Machinist, it became necessary for Bale to bulk up to match the powerful physique of Batman. He was given a deadline of six weeks to do this. Bale recalled it as far from a simple accomplishment: “…when it actually came to building muscle, I was useless. I couldn’t do one push up the first day. All of the muscles were gone, so I had a real tough time rebuilding all of that.”[21] With the help of a personal trainer, Bale succeeded in meeting the deadline, gaining exactly one hundred pounds (45kg) in six weeks. He then worked toward building muscle.[24]


• To attain a deeper understanding of the character, Bale read various Batman comic books. He explained his interpretation of the Dark Knight: “Batman is his hidden, demonic rage-filled side. The Batman creature [Bruce Wayne] creates is an absolutely sincere creature and one that he has to control but does so in a very haphazard way. He's capable of enacting violence — and to kill — so he's constantly having to rein himself in.”


• The cast was praised for its effective portrayals, but Bale drew the most acclaim for his dual portrayal of both Batman and Bruce Wayne. He earned the Best Hero award at the 2006 MTV Movie Awards for his performance.
  

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