LogFAQs > #910358328

Batman (1989)
Nominated by: Lopen

Batman is definitely the most well-regarded superhero film of the 20th century, so I know I'm treading on very thin ice when I make changes to this movie. There are actually a lot of aspects to this movie I really dislike. For example, I think Jack Nicholson isn't a particularly thrilling Joker - I think he COULD be, but the movie at times lacks some the killer instinct he displays in films like The Shining. But I'm not going to recast one of the most iconic movie roles in the genre. I'm going to recast the other role.

Michael Keaton is a phenomenal actor. He's a truly excellent Batman, and a very interesting Bruce Wayne. He also disappears after the second movie, and the acrobatics WB goes through to keep recasting the character only served to hurt the franchise's chances. Since every Batman film was nominated here, I'm playing an ever-so-slightly longer game and I'm picking another relative unknown like Michael Keaton, only skewing a couple years younger: Keanu Reeves.

For a long time, I've thought that Keanu Reeves is good-looking enough to be a Bruce Wayne, and dark and gruff enough to be a Batman. We'd also be kicking this Batman off as a new, fledgling hero. That works so much better with a very young character, and I think he has the chops to be distant, isolated, hard-to-read Bruce Wayne.

I know that's going to get me booed out of the building, but, gun to my head in 1989, I would pick either him or Harrison Ford. I'm sure as hell not picking Keaton, knowing what comes later.

For the rest of the film, I wouldn't change too much else. I would put a higher premium on Billy Dee Williams' role, but I'm not changing anything else. Keep it simple. Recast Batman, and let's roll forward to the next movie on the list.
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"It is too easy being monsters. Let us try to be human." ~Victor Frankenstein, Penny Dreadful