The cape and the cowl has fallen into the hands of several famous actors. from Michael keaton to Val Kilmer and George Clooney, everyone has donned the mask. But the one actor who immortalized the role in the 21st century was Christian Bale’s Batman. Some fans claim though that Bale’s Batman was only fit for the movies and has no place in the comic book world.
Was Bale’s Batman really that bad? Or was the character created to specifically fit a movie role and is being judged unfairly? Let’s find out.
Christian Bale’s Batman Has Zero Detective Skills
Batman is well-known as the world’s greatest detective. His powers of deduction could put the legendary Sherlock Holmes to shame. Using his mind alone, he can crack open cases that have been left cold for a long time. The comic books are testament to this fact.
Sadly Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy gives us a Batman that is none of those things. In Batman Begins, Bale’s Dark Knight is learning to prance around rooftops. In The Dark Knight, he is regularly outsmarted by a guy in shoddy clown makeup. Then in The Dark Knight Rises, he couldn’t see the real threat even though Talia was right in front of her the entire time.
Too Much Reliance On Gadgetry
Granted Ben Affleck’s Batman had no qualms admitting his superpower was his bank account. Who wouldn’t? But it was Bale’s Batman who relied too much on his gadgets, more so than any other Batman in live action. His tech focused approach to being the Dark Knight made him an icon. But comic book readers couldn’t accept his take.
Gadgets don’t maketh the Batman. Batman maketh the Gadgets. At his very core, Batman is a well-oiled fighting machine first and a geek second. The grit factor was sorely lacking in Christian Bale’s case.
Bale’s Batman Has Sub-Par Combat Skills
Bruce Wayne trained in the highest and deadliest forms of martial arts. He is skilled in more than two dozen fighting styles. He has total control over his bodily joints and functions. Batman can easily take down a bunch of bad guys as easily as it is for him to breathe.
Perhaps the greatest Batman fight scene, the warehouse scene in Zack Snyder’s BVS takes the cake. It showcased Batman as a martial arts god. Nolan tried to replicate that magic with the Battle Building scene. But it was nowhere near as good.
He’s A Better Bruce Wayne Than Batman
To make sure the public does not catch wind of his night time crime fighting antics, Batman has an alter ego. Bruce Wayne is carefree, careless, and has a debaucherous lifestyle involving women, money, and fast cars. The public thinks Bruce Wayne has so much money he does not care what happens to Gotham. He maintains the charade and his secret’s safe.
To be a good Batman, you need to be a good Bruce first. Bale put up a much better facade of being the billionaire playboy. Some fans claim he was perhaps the best Bruce Wayne and his performance as Bruce overshadowed his portrayal of the Batman.
Christian Bale’s Batman Lacks The Signature Bulky Physique
Kudos to Christopher Nolan for trying to give Batman a realistic origin story. Everything in The Dark Knight trilogy seemed grounded and came pretty close to a story that could actually happen in the real world. But in his quest for gritty realism, Nolan had to make some trade offs. Bale’s Batman is by far the least comic book accurate portrayal of the famous superhero.
Bale’s physique does not bode well to portray a man who is so bulky he is compared to a human tank. The Batman is said to be at the very peak of human physical conditions. Bale was neither of those things. Almost every other Batman actor surpasses Christian Bale in size and physique. From an actual comic book point of view, Bale’s Batman has no place in the geek world.
