By Geno McGahee
Since I’ve now watched the 1966 BATMAN about a million times, I thought that I should review it. It is my 2-year-old daughter’s favorite movie and she insists that we watch it twice a day. It certainly cannot be compared to the DARK KNIGHT series, but if you take it for what it is, it’s enjoyable.
Batman (Adam West) and Robin (Burt Ward) have their hands full as they tackle a united group of bad guys. The Joker (Cesar Romero), The Riddler (Frank Gorshin), The Penguin (Burgess Meredith) and The Catwoman (Lee Meriwether) have vowed to take over the world and have planned the demise of Batman as well. Their ideas fail miserably with their killer explosive sharks, but the Catwoman has a good idea. She uses her sexuality as Kitka, a Russian reporter, to seduce Bruce Wayne. By having Wayne under her control, they can lure Batman in…not knowing that they are one in the same. I find it funny that Catwoman purrs all of the time and does cat-like motions throughout. This was the tone of the show and movie. Every character was incredibly odd and it was made to be kid-friendly. All of the bad guys are colorful and over the top.
The bad guys dehydrate the world leaders and keep them in jars. Batman and Robin must save them and there are a lot of bad fight scenes with terrible stunt doubles. The Riddler looks like he has plastic hair, but it’s part of the point, I guess. This film isn’t supposed to be quality stuff. It’s supposed to be fun and it is. It’s lame and hokey, but I have to admit that the element of fun is present here and if you don’t take this too seriously and aren’t too critical, you will enjoy this.
BATMAN is a lot of fun with the over the top villains and ridiculous scenarios that happen throughout. It’s a live action cartoon. I recommend it.
Rating: 6/10