That’s why I became more and more frustrated when the Batman movies became more and more eye-candy than dark. I remember watching Michael Keaton as Batman. I watched it at 10AM (on its first day and first hour of showing) by myself inside a small theater in Cagayan de Oro City when I was 10 years old. I saved up money, escaped from school, and watched it alone. That is how much I loved Batman.

It was downhill from then on.

The Batman series of movies that came after that (with George Clooney and Val Kilmer) seemed to have focused on the gadgets and the antagonists more than the character and the angst of Batman which is always a hallmark of the Dark Knight/Batman magazines. Well, the antagonists were Hollywood A-listers and you couldn’t really ask for anything more than this who’s who of characters– Danny de Vito as Penguin, Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman, Tommy Lee Jones as Two Face, Jim Carrey as the Riddler, Drew Barrymore and Debi Mazar as Sugar and Spice, Arnold Schwarzenneger as Mr. Freeze, Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy, and of course Jack Nicholson as the Joker. But they seemed to have detracted from the story and the character of Batman more than added to it.

In Batman, there is always that internal struggle to remain a character of light while staying in the dark. If Batman loses that inner struggle, then he becomes just any other superhero. He becomes like Superman for example whose enemy is not himself but kryptonite. Batman’s enemies are out there, yes; but before that, Batman’s enemy is himself. Batman is Batman precisely because he is always at the brink of becoming the very evil he fights and swore to protect us against.

That is why when Christian Bale donned the black cape in what was promised as a “return to its dark origins” movie (it helped that the director was Cris Nolan whose credits include Insomnia, the Memento, the Prestige–all dark films), I got all excited and hopeful.

That movie did not disappoint. It has become my favorite Batman to date.

Judging from the trailer below though, it seems I will have a new favorite Batman movie come July 2008. I look forward to Heath Ledger’s take on The Joker character. The Joker has always been “caricatured” in the past, seeming almost laughable than dangerous. I think Heath Ledger will bring the Joker character to new heights.

See for yourself.

This post is for Bro. Nono Levosada, SJ, my partner in Cebu, who loves Batman as much as me.