Batman: The Movie (1966)

“It approaches a climax...”

"Nyet, not so fast. Be more slow."

I had to watch this before embarking on Season Two, but I’d forgotten what an absolute riot of fun it was. I don’t care if they’ve recast Catwoman, or if the Joker is a bit of a spare part throughout. This is awesome.

Obviously, this being a film, we have a much bigger budget. Hence the big set pieces with the Batcopter, Batboat and even the Batcycle- all now available for use in the TV series. We have much location filming, much of it at sea. This is certainly cinematic. We can even afford the big three- the Penguin, Ridder and Joker in order of relative importance according to the script. We even get a second appearance from Catwoman, this time Lee Meriwether. And it's great to see the four felons together, wasted though Cesar Romero is. None of which takes away from the awesomeness of both Adam West and Burt Ward here.

Oh, and there’s also lots of action and spectacle for the kids. But those are not the things which make me love this film. No; those are things such as the Bat-ladder, the shark-repellent bat-spray, and the selfless porpoise which heroically gives its life so the Dynamic Duo may live. It's how nuns, prams and sucks conspire to make it so difficult to get rid of a bomb. It's the ridiculous, utterly nonsensical riddles where we're solemnly told that there's "only one possible meaning". It's Robin telling Batman that "Drink is sure a filthy thing, isn't it?" and Batman saving the lie even of (gasp) drinkers because there is yet hope for them to be "salvaged". I'll certainly have yet another drink to that.

Best superhero film ever. Oh yes it is.

Batman: The Penguin Goes Straight & Not Yet He Ain't

The Penguin Goes Straight

"Jumping jeepers- a bulletproof umbrella!"

It's taken a surprisingly long time for the Penguin to turn up for a second time but it's worth the wait. Burgess Meredith is clearly growing into the role and having enormous fun, and it's infectious. It certainly helps that this two-parter is co-written by Lorenzo Semple Jr.

Even the opening is fun- the intermission at a theatre where the theatregoers emerge for a "refreshing orange drink" only for socialite Sophia Starr to be robbed by a no good hoodlum, and promptly saved by a seemingly reformed Penguin, who even gets a "Pow". Has he indeed turned crimefighter? His teasing smugness towards the Dynamic Duo is certainly hilarious, as is their strait-laced frustration.

There's a bit of playing with the usual format- the initial chat with the Commissioner is via the "mobile Batphone", and we even see some hardline police interrogation techniques from Gordon and O'Hara. And it's great to get another undercover mission for Alfred, with Alan Napier getting a chance to show off his comic skills. And it's clever and fun to see our heroes being tricked into becoming fugitives from the law, for once.

Best of all, though, is the cliffhanger- an unwitting Commissioner and Chief (always a double act these days- whatever happened to Inspector Bash?) about to shoot a Dynamic Duo suspended from the ceiling. The narrator challenges us to think of a way out, and it certainly isn't easy.


Not Yet He Ain't

"Oh frabjous day! Callo, callay!"

Bulletproof shoe soles- that's a clever cliffhanger resolution.`And soon Batman- with a glass of milk- and Robin are plotting their comeback. And it's a clever plan involving a police chase and shootout in front of the police, seemingly ending in their deaths- and we (and Alfred!) are sort of left thinking they're dead for several minutes, not that we're fooled; we know the rules.

Commissioner Gordon's sympathies for the Batman, an unaccountable vigilante, really do reach extreme lengths, don't they? I rather think he script is encouraging us to raise an eyebrow here. The Penguin almost has a point.

But it's all, of course, a plot to let the Penguin reveal his real plans to a stolen and bugged Batmobile- the Penguin is rather dim not to suspect this, but who cares? After all, this is a story where the Penguin's plot is to arrange a wedding to a socialite only to escape with the expensive wedding presents, seeming rather pleased to still be a bachelor- are we supposed to see hints as to his sexual orientation? Whatever, the scenes of heavy rain at an indoor wedding are hilarious. Much like the gadgets in the Batmobile, with Batman in his Batcycle having fun tormenting the Penguin as he drives through his green screen landscape in the Batmobile.

This is a particularly fun two parter, and the Penguin is improving as a villain in my estimation.