Batman (1966)

Directed by Leslie H. Martinson. Starring Adam West, Burt Ward, Lee Meriwether, Burgess Meredith, Cesar Romero, Frank Gorshin, Alan Napier, Neil Hamilton, Stafford Repp, Madge Blake.

First feature-length Batman movie is basically a super-sized episode of the 1960s TV show, rushed into production for release during the summer between seasons one and two, and featuring the same nonsensical plotting, flimsy production values, and campy tone. Batman (West) and Robin (Ward) square off against the United Underworld, an evil alliance among the Joker (Romero), Penguin (Meredith), Riddler (Gorshin), and Catwoman (Meredith); make room for boat holograms, weaponized dehydrators, and bat-shark repellent! Innocuous, more likely to inspire a facepalm than a headache, and not without some low-grade entertainment value (it is kinda funny to see Batman run around for a few minutes holding the kind of bomb you’d see in a cartoon), but there’s a limit to how much of this sort of thing can be tolerated before boredom and frustration set in—stick to the more manageable twenty-something-minute television episodes. Padding and filler are consistently evident (did the denouement really have to drag out so much?), and Lorenzo Semple Jr.’s script overuses the alterego gimmick—Bruce is seduced by an unmasked Catwoman pretending to be a Russian journalist named Kitka, and she has to swap personas and costumes in a flash when he’s kidnapped and Batman won’t show up for some reason. Fans of the show are likely to rate this much higher. Also known as Batman: The Movie.

41/100