Batman Live! @ the 02 Arena
Tuesday, August 30, 2011 at 9:08PM 
Batman Live
Review by Adam Ray
Before I begin I think I must take this time to silence the scepticism I have heard from several people in regards to this production: IT IS NOT A MUSICAL!!! We’re not having the same treatment that Spiderman has had on our beloved Caped Crusader, hell would freeze before that happened.
Good, I feel better now.
As soon as you enter whichever venue you find yourself in, you’re greeted by the stage excellently dressed as the Gotham skyline, with buildings both on stage and in the Bat shaped Titantron in the background, zeppelins above and trains below and the constant sound of sirens from the cities’ infinite flow of crime. Many may question whether the on stage buildings are to scale (which they’re not), but don’t worry, they’re removed almost seamlessly. The previously mentioned Bat shaped Titantron has many uses through the performance, acting as a backdrop to show anything from the inside of Wayne Manor to the highest heights of the rooftops. It also shows the changes of scenery such as descending metres below into the Batcave or the Batmobile weaving through the city towards crime.
The look is hard to determine; it seems that they’ve taken to combining elements of the Tim Burton movies, the Christopher Nolan movies and the Arkham Asylum videogame, giving character designs and overall feel of the production to make a knowledgeable audience feel at ease.
The story is simple, marvellously so. It starts with the death of Martha and Thomas Wayne in crime alley, which I think is important to show for any reinvention of the Bat; we all know what Joe Chill did but it’s amazing how many different ways it can be shown. Similarly it also shows the Tragedy of the flying Graysons and how Bruce Wayne takes young Dick Grayson in and tries to find who’s responsible for his parents murder. In terms of the villainy all the big names are included and they at first plan to try to take out Batman in a combined effort under the Riddlers’ advisement.
In simple terms it’s Batman Forever with lots more supervillains to make it slightly more dramatic.
Despite being labelled Batman live, Batman makes a very late appearance, but does make excellent entrances such as swooping from the rigging and gliding in from the ears of the digital Bat backdrop, we all did our best to ignore the strings. We all know as fans that if we enter Wayne Manor then we acquaint ourselves with Bruce’s trustworthy butler Alfred Pennyworth, glad to hear him speak in queens English as he was always portrayed as a humble English gent, I can’t ignore that he said that he trained Bruce which isn’t completely true, Alfred was there as a small piece of Bruce’s path to mental and physical perfection also including nearly a decade travelling the world mastering all skills needed to fight the endless war on crime.
The Joker was the main villain of the piece, (obviously) wearing the classic purple suit, having a similar extended smile to Heath Ledger and also with a similar husk in is voice to Mark Hamill, but was too clown and not dark like we’d come to have seen and like in recent times, he was also accompanied by Harley Quinn who’s voice was near identical to the 90’s cartoon series where she originated.
Catwoman is also seen frequently as being the first recognisable comic character to grace the stage, there’s also the growing suspicion of the long held potential romance between the cat and the bat which Catwoman and Harley discuss while in Arkham (which is incorrect because Catwoman was never in Arkham for the simple reason that she’s not mad).
Despite my ease to pick holes in the story I cannot take anything away from the production itself. It is spectacular; everything is amplified and made large, grand and beautiful. The first appearance of the Joker sees him springing from a Jack-in-the-box, there is a point where a large replica of the Jokers’ face comes forward and his henchmen are fronds of hair and teeth, who then exit the face and do battle with Batman in an exquisitely choreographed fight sequence where not a man or a movement were out of place. The productions perfection culminates in one thing, one vehicle: The Batmobile. Its appearance is that of the open wheels of a Formula 1 race car with an unmistakeable fin at the back, Bruce Wayne says that it has no wheels and works by slightly hovering above the ground allowing for completely free manoeuvring.
In all honesty this production will divide fans. Those who come to see the avenging demon type of Batman may miss out due to his slight openness as seen in the beginning of his career as a crime fighter. Others will be disappointed that there is almost no intricacy in the plot to see the detective side of Batman. Any fan who knows that Batmans’ past is so vast that he can be interpreted in lots of ways and can look past minor errors for good entertainment will enjoy this production as much as I did.
Reader Comments (1)
Well it was great, so the crime buster batman who can also enforce law really showed up. LOL, anyway, it's really cool to make something like that.
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Kass | National Labor Relation Act