Christan Bale done playing Batman

[Fausto]

http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=685886

[Mr. DS]

I'm rejoicing, he was awful as the caped crusader.

[akiratubo]

Thank goodness.  I don't think I've ever seen an actor fail so hard at a role before.  It really says something that, in a movie so utterly dreadful as Batman Begins, he still stood out as the worst thing about it.  His turns as Batman were barely up to the standard of "middle aged dentist doing community theater on a lark".  Awful, just awful.

[indianasmith]

Wow.  Again, I am in the minority.  He was far and away the best since Keaton, maybe better.  I'll miss him in the franchise.

Oh well, maybe they'll go back to Val Kilmer, right?

[Doggett]

Bale is awful.

Hes a bland Batman with a bland (stylisticly) director.

He's Batman, his main superpower is he's BATMAN! That means he has to be awesome with an awesome batsui that loos incredible. And he doesnt. He has a silly voice and some body armour (especiall in TDK) that does look terribly super.

His Bruce Wayne has as much charm as a carrot.

Keaton both looked and sounded like Btaman. And he had the start of a mullet in the first one!

[InformationGeek]

Well duh.  The series is coming to a close, so he is obviously done.

I think he has been good in this series as Bruce Wayne.  To me, he nails this playboy and millionare image that I've seen before in the comics, while I never bought Keaton as it.  As Batman, he's okay, but he does something that I've never seen any of the other Batmans in the past, live action or voice acted.  He actually is able to hide his voice so you can't tell he is Bruce Wayne.  I've watched Michael Keaton and Kevin Conroy in their roles and frankly, I can still tell it's Bruce Wayne under the mask because all they do to me is slightly change his tone.  You may laugh at that voice Bale does, but there is no way you can tell it is Bruce Wayne beneath the costume.

Wow.  Again, I am in the minority.  He was far and away the best since Keaton, maybe better.  I'll miss him in the franchise.

Oh well, maybe they'll go back to Val Kilmer, right?

You kidding?  They'll back to George Clooney!

[AndyC]

Well duh.  The series is coming to a close, so he is obviously done.

I think he has been good in this series as Bruce Wayne.  To me, he nails this playboy and millionare image that I've seen before in the comics, while I never bought Keaton as it.  As Batman, he's okay, but he does something that I've never seen any of the other Batmans in the past, live action or voice acted.  He actually is able to hide his voice so you can't tell he is Bruce Wayne.  I've watched Michael Keaton and Kevin Conroy in their roles and frankly, I can still tell it's Bruce Wayne under the mask because all they do to me is slightly change his tone.  You may laugh at that voice Bale does, but there is no way you can tell it is Bruce Wayne beneath the costume.

Wow.  Again, I am in the minority.  He was far and away the best since Keaton, maybe better.  I'll miss him in the franchise.

Oh well, maybe they'll go back to Val Kilmer, right?

You kidding?  They'll back to George Clooney!

Series never come to a close if they make money. I'm of the opinion that Bale was a terrible Batman, but in a funny, riffable way ("WHERE ARE THEY?!"). However, I can't really disagree with Indy that he's the best Batman since Keaton either. Mind you, that isn't saying much. Keaton was excellent, Kilmer was bad, and the less said about Clooney the better.

[tracy]

Good riddance....I never liked him as Batman.

[dean]

I don't mind Bale as batman but don't think the writers have given him a whole lot to work with so I don't blame him so much for that.  [His lines are always so bland, and that's not just performance.  His Bruce Wayne moments are particularly boring except for odd moments.]

BUT it may pave the way for this:

http://girls-gone-geek.com/2010/07/31/jon-hamm-mad-batman/

Jon Hamm for Batman!

[Chainsawmidget]

The worst person to ever play Batman is not going to play Batman anymore?  This is great news! 

Yeah, that's right.  I said the worst.  Worse than George Clooney, Val Kilmer, or Bruce Thomas (You don't even know who that is, do you?  He was Batman on the Birds of Prey TV series and the Onstar commericals.)

I thought Kilmer was pretty much cardboard in his portrail of Batman, but at least he wasn't actively laughable. 

Of course, I have to admit, some of the blame for Bale's lackluster role has to go to the script as well.  Batman is practically being drug around by the arm by everybody telling him what he needs to do and how he needs to do it. 

[Mofo Rising]

You're all wrong.

Bale was a fantastic Batman, and the Christopher Nolan movies are incredible.

It makes sense that Bale will stop playing Batman, because it is the end of the trilogy Nolan made.

If you're honestly going to claim that those movie are the worst Batman movies, I will emphatically state right now that your taste in movies is suspect, and I will think less of all your subsequent movie opinions.

Holy hell, Batman fans, you couldn't be more wrong. Don't try to defend yourself, you're wrong. End of story.

[dean]

You're all wrong.

Bale was a fantastic Batman, and the Christopher Nolan movies are incredible.

It makes sense that Bale will stop playing Batman, because it is the end of the trilogy Nolan made.

If you're honestly going to claim that those movie are the worst Batman movies, I will emphatically state right now that your taste in movies is suspect, and I will think less of all your subsequent movie opinions.

Holy hell, Batman fans, you couldn't be more wrong. Don't try to defend yourself, you're wrong. End of story.

Don't get me wrong, the Nolan Batman films are way far and above the best in my opinion.  But that doesn't make Christian Bale the best batman [or the worst mind you].  Now that I think of it, the weakest part of all the Batman films Nolan has done is Batman himself.  Bale was reasonable in Batman Begins since the character had more purpose, but in Dark Knight he had nothing to really keep me interested. I suspect it's because he was totally schooled by Heath Ledger in how to be enigmatic. As Batman he is not bad, but take away his mask and he's a pretty boring character and a bit of a stereotype brooding fella.  I'd like to see a bit more meat on the character for the next movie since he's pretty unsympathetic at the moment.

[Mr. DS]

You're all wrong.

Bale was a fantastic Batman, and the Christopher Nolan movies are incredible.

It makes sense that Bale will stop playing Batman, because it is the end of the trilogy Nolan made.

If you're honestly going to claim that those movie are the worst Batman movies, I will emphatically state right now that your taste in movies is suspect, and I will think less of all your subsequent movie opinions.

Holy hell, Batman fans, you couldn't be more wrong. Don't try to defend yourself, you're wrong. End of story.

I think you may be suffering from what I'm now calling the "Phantom Menace Syndrome".  You're trying to convince yourself something awful is something great.  I'll be right here for you buddy if you need a support system.  I've been there man....I've been there.   

[Psycho Circus]

He's competent but not fantastic. I'd have Bale anyday over Kilmer and Clooney. I think because of the type of film fans we are here, it's easy to hate on things when they become really popular and critically lauded. For me the best Batman films have been the first Tim Burton flick in '89 and TDK.

[akiratubo]

You're all wrong.

Bale was a fantastic Batman, and the Christopher Nolan movies are incredible.

It makes sense that Bale will stop playing Batman, because it is the end of the trilogy Nolan made.

If you're honestly going to claim that those movie are the worst Batman movies, I will emphatically state right now that your taste in movies is suspect, and I will think less of all your subsequent movie opinions.

Holy hell, Batman fans, you couldn't be more wrong. Don't try to defend yourself, you're wrong. End of story.

Neither of them are amazing movies.

I feel that Batman Begins is objectively bad.  The lighting was too dark (it wasn't setting a mood, it was just DARK), the editing was slipshod, the camera was never pointed quite at what you needed to see, and the plot was ... not really there.  Whether it got left on the cutting room floor because the movie was too long or if the script really was that haphazardly written, I don't know.  I don't really want to bash on the actors (except for Bale who was REALLY bad) because the script gave them nothing to work with, and it seemed as thought Nolan decided to use rehearsal takes for some of the dialogue scenes.  When I was in the theater watching it, I honestly could not believe how bad the movie was.  Battlefield Earth has nothing on this turkey.

TDK was a lot better but still only kind of ok, imnsho.  The lighting, camera work, and editing were light-years better.  Unfortunately, the plot was still an idiot plot, and was far too busy, but at least there was one.  Characterization was better ... except for Batman, who seemed to have been inserted almost as an afterthought into his own movie.  Aaron Eckhart was marvelous as Dent and Two-Face but he had very little to do.  Heath Ledger did an ok job as the Joker but was let down by the makeup design, which made him look like a vagrant who found some Halloween makeup in the trash.  Bale seemed to realize Batman was little more than a supporting character and just phoned it in, making his already horrid performance even worse.  Ultimately, it was just a minimally decent popcorn movie that took itself too seriously.