Director Tim Burton spoke in a video about criticisms of his Batman films and explained what many did not understand about his portrayal of the character.
Batman (1989) was the first film about the dark knight directed by Tim Burton. In 1992, a sequel Batman Returns followed under the same director, before Joel Schumacher then took the DC hero in a new direction with Batman Forever in 1995.
In a YouTube video, Tim Burton talked about the criticism directed at his two films and explained what many did not understand about the main character.
Here you can see a trailer for Batman Returns starring Michael Keaton:
It is intentional that you see so little of Batman
In the video, the director talked about the criticisms he received. Some people complained that the Joker had stolen the show from the main character in the first film.
The second film was criticized according to his statement for how little Batman is seen. Instead, characters like Catwoman and the Penguin were too much in the focus of the story and overshadowed the main character.
Here you can see the video where Tim Burton responds to the criticism. Jump to 7:20:
In response to these criticisms, Tim Burton said: ‘I always felt that these people, in my opinion, did not understand the role of the character Batman as he is…’
The director further explained the thought process he had in bringing Batman to life in the films and why it was a conscious decision to allow the superhero to act more in the background:
This guy wants to stay as hidden as possible, stay in the shadows, and reveal as little of himself as possible. All these things.
He won’t take up all screen time with big speeches and dancing around in the Batcave. I always felt that it was there in sufficient quantity and the right measure.
Tim Burton via YouTube
Why Michael Keaton turned down the role in ‘Batman Forever’ can be read here from our colleagues at Filmstarts.
Also, regarding the decision to cast Michael Keaton again as Bruce Wayne in Batman Returns, the director expressed great satisfaction in the video.
He was happy back then that the actor was willing to once again slip into the suit of the iconic DC character.
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