Stage Review: Batman Live (2012) feels half-measured and unsure of its intentions, cries out for musical numbers.

Batman Live is constantly unsure of what it wants to be, which renders the entertaining and ambitious production somewhat underwhelming in nearly every area.  It is not quite a stage play based on the Batman mythos, although it contains dramatic moments and a token amount of 'acting'.  It isn't quite a stunt show or action spectacular, as the stunts are few and the fight choreography is merely competent.  With its plot centering around Dick Grayson's tragic transformation into Robin: The Boy Wonder, it sometimes feels like the show wants to be Batman: The Circus, but even there it is felled by half-hearted acrobatics and a lack of high-flying adventure.  And it certainly does not want to be a musical, even as you spend much of the show expecting the characters to break out into song during any number of moments.  We constantly get the set-up for a bit of song and dance, and narrative certainly can handle a bit of emotionally-charged musical theater in that Andrew Lloyd Webber vein, but the songs never come.  The show feels like the end-results of someone merely saying "Let's do a stage show for kids involving Batman!" and neglecting to figure out what kind of show they wanted to do.  It offers a token amount of everything (except songs, natch) without excelling in any particular area.

23 years of Batman trailers, all in one spot...

Purely for fun, here is pretty much every single theatrical trailer for every single modern-day live-action Batman film, from Tim Burton's Batman way back in 1989 to the one I'm seeing tonight.  Do enjoy, and feel free to add your own qualitative rankings.

Scott Mendelson

Who needs origins? 8 comic book films that just dove right in.

Much of the criticism hurled in the direction of The Amazing Spider-Man centers around the choice to spend the first half of the film retelling the same origin story that was rather explicitly told in Sam Raimi's 2002 Spider-Man. It is part of a swelling debate of sorts about whether or not proverbial 'part ones' always need to retell a well-known origin story in order to kick-start their respective franchises.  But there exists at least a handful of comic book adaptations that either completely eschew or compartmentalize the origin material.  Be they successful as art or not, they represent the idea that it is possible to start (or restart) a comic book series without retelling the same origin over and over again.  To wit...

Music of the Batman... 50 years of Batman themes!

Purely for fun, and purely because I was in the mood, I've compiled every relevant Batman musical theme since the 1960s.  One live-action TV show, three film themes, and four animated series themes. A few things of note.  First of all, that audio clip of Shirley Walker walking us through the Batman: The Animated Series theme is a treasure to behold, especially as she passed away several years ago (it's the last cut on the two-disc Batman: The Animated Series score collection, which yes I do own).  Secondly, and this is what inspired me to compile these in the first place, whatever misgivings you may have about Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, Elliot Goldenthal's music should not be discounted.  His rip-roaring, more overtly comic book-ish theme is still a joy to listen to, successfully combining the lingering darkness from the Burton films with the more traditional Caped Crusader heroics on display in Schumacher's films (the rest of the jazzy, offbeat music for Batman Forever is pretty terrific too). Thirdly, however powerful and effective the Hans Zimmer/James Newton Howard music may be for the Nolan Batman films, the themes are dreadfully challenging to hum, and I'd be lying if the Batman Begins 'action theme' didn't sound just a bit reminiscent of Jerry Goldsmith's theme to The Shadow (ironically best evidenced in this trailer for The Saint). Finally, despite the nine themes sampled below (and the fact that she's seen quite a few episodes of Batman: The Animated Series and Batman: The Brave and the Bold), my daughter considers the 1960s Batman television theme to be the only 'real' Batman theme song and gets pissed when I hum anything else.  To be fair, I'm not exactly in a rush to show her Batman Returns or The Dark Knight (although she could probably handle Batman & Robin just fine).  Please enjoy and share your thoughts below.  What's your favorite Batman music?  Is it still Elfman above all else or has another later theme supplanted it?  What music do you hear when you think of Batman?

Scott Mendelson