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Guest Review: "Batman Live!"
Aug. 29th, 2011 06:07 pmY'know, I think I wasn't alone in thinking that Batman Live--the giant stage spectacle show currently touring the UK--was going to be a fiasco, a big-budget version of the kind of Batman Stunt Show that one sees at Six Flags. I think we all agreed that it was going to be brainless and annoying. But the more actual footage I saw, the more I found myself giddy with delight, against my better judgment. This actually looked fun and not fun in a way that necessarily will annoy me as a fan of these characters! I dearly want to see it now, but barring a US tour (possible, but not yet announced from what I see), I doubt I ever will.
So thankfully, alert reader and Harvey superfan![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
1mercystreet saw it for us, and was generous enough to write a review!
A bloated, poisonously full moon hangs low in a flame-red sky shadowed by airships and the jagged black teeth of skyscrapers. Searchlights pierce the burning clouds as night finally falls, the hellish scarlet fading to a looming indigo and midnight blue.
Against the echoing howl of sirens and the static of helicopter blades, a police radio crackles into life. A hold-up is in process at the Janus Bank, the murderous Two-Face indulging his dual passion for crime and the number two. More voices overlap and build – thefts, arms deals, violence – and then a swarm of bats burst forth, flitting across onto the giant Bat-logo shaped LED screen that dominates the O2, heralding the beginning of the first ever live stage show featuring the man known to millions as the Dark Knight.
Something to be clear about – Batman Live is a family show. There's none of the gritty darkness of the Nolanverse or even the gothic fantasy of the Burton films. In tone, Batman Live is closest to the highly acclaimed "Batman: The Animated Series," and in look, its neon-drenched colour palette emulates Schumacher's "Batman Forever" (No, wait! Come back! Please!) The art of Jim Lee is perhaps the most obvious visual touchstone, however, particularly in the costume and sets.
Batman Live is neither a straight play nor a variety show though it combines dance, acrobatics and magic along with the drama – if anything it's a circus with a plot. Set pieces include a slow-motion airborne wire-fu duel between Catwoman and Batman, and an elegant aerial silk routine by the headlining show girl of the Penguin's Iceberg Lounge.
Fittingly, after a brief prologue depicting the (offstage) deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne, we're transported to the circus, where trapeze artists the Flying Graysons are refusing to bow to a protection racket run by underworld enforcer Tony Zucco. We all know what happens next. The Graysons die in front of their son, and the broken-hearted Dick Grayson become the ward of the mysterious billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne. Under the strict tutelage of the waspishly dry Alfred, he soon becomes a hero.
As a Robin origin story, the show plays slightly loose with canon, but it’s nevertheless tightly plotted, managing to twine together some of the most popular members of Batman's Rogues Gallery without their presence or role in the story ever feeling forced.
Some of the Rogues themselves are drawn in broad strokes – given the compact 100 minute running time of the show there's little chance to delve into their personalities - but none of them ever feel like they're given short shrift. Each supervillain gets his or her moment – Two-Face holds an argument between the warring sides of his personality while everyone else ducks for cover, the Riddler is dapper and jaunty, while Catwoman and Poison Ivy are devastatingly seductive; Ivy's entrance on a trapeze is a magical moment which echoes Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge.
The clear standout in terms of performances is the demented but simply delightful Harley Quinn, who bounces about the stage with swaying hips and flying pigtails, running after her boss "Mister J" with wide eyed adoration. The Joker's casual cruelty to his lovestruck apprentice is handled with just the right amount of sadism – one of the most unhealthy relationships in comics could go very, very wrong indeed on stage, but actress Poppy Tierney's charm keeps everything on just the right side of discomfort.
As mentioned earlier, Batman Live plays to the family demographic, but it's not all light and jolly. As the show builds to a climax in the infamous Arkham Asylum, the LED screen shows dead bodies straitjacketed and hanging from the ceiling, while the Scarecrow himself, a long limbed phantom on stilts, is genuinely unsettling.
Good use is made of the cavernous space of the O2 Arena – smoke, neon, high-powered laser-lights and pyrotechnics abound. The real star of the set is the 100ft tall video screen that looms over the stage. It's this that plays the main role of setting the scene, as comic book pages shuffle and flip to provide backdrops to an otherwise largely bare stage. The costumes are for the most part impressive, although the bat suit is unfortunately heavy and overly muscle-bound, bringing to mind the Michelin man on steroids rather than a man whose trained himself to the peak of physical fitness. Still, at least at least it doesn’t have nipples.
It's almost surprising that a live Batman stage show has been so long in coming. As perhaps DC's most valuable property and one of the most enduring pop culture heroes of our time, not to mention the star of two of the highs grossing films of the decade, Batman is an almost guaranteed money spinner. It's been several years in the making, but be assured that the show is worth the wait.
*dances around anxiously ala Homer Simpson*
That sounds so great. Fun, while still being relatively faithful to the comics. It's like the anti-Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark in every way!1mercystreet is working on a follow-up review that looks into how the rogues were depicted, which I'm dying to hear about since you can bet that most reviewers won't care about that aspect the way you and I do.
In the meantime, here's the most recent trailer, which features some great little character shots.
NEED TICKETS TO THE UK NOWWWWWW. ALSO TIME. ALSO MONEY. ALSO BABYSITTER.
So thankfully, alert reader and Harvey superfan
1mercystreet saw it for us, and was generous enough to write a review! A bloated, poisonously full moon hangs low in a flame-red sky shadowed by airships and the jagged black teeth of skyscrapers. Searchlights pierce the burning clouds as night finally falls, the hellish scarlet fading to a looming indigo and midnight blue.
Against the echoing howl of sirens and the static of helicopter blades, a police radio crackles into life. A hold-up is in process at the Janus Bank, the murderous Two-Face indulging his dual passion for crime and the number two. More voices overlap and build – thefts, arms deals, violence – and then a swarm of bats burst forth, flitting across onto the giant Bat-logo shaped LED screen that dominates the O2, heralding the beginning of the first ever live stage show featuring the man known to millions as the Dark Knight.
Something to be clear about – Batman Live is a family show. There's none of the gritty darkness of the Nolanverse or even the gothic fantasy of the Burton films. In tone, Batman Live is closest to the highly acclaimed "Batman: The Animated Series," and in look, its neon-drenched colour palette emulates Schumacher's "Batman Forever" (No, wait! Come back! Please!) The art of Jim Lee is perhaps the most obvious visual touchstone, however, particularly in the costume and sets.
Batman Live is neither a straight play nor a variety show though it combines dance, acrobatics and magic along with the drama – if anything it's a circus with a plot. Set pieces include a slow-motion airborne wire-fu duel between Catwoman and Batman, and an elegant aerial silk routine by the headlining show girl of the Penguin's Iceberg Lounge.
Fittingly, after a brief prologue depicting the (offstage) deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne, we're transported to the circus, where trapeze artists the Flying Graysons are refusing to bow to a protection racket run by underworld enforcer Tony Zucco. We all know what happens next. The Graysons die in front of their son, and the broken-hearted Dick Grayson become the ward of the mysterious billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne. Under the strict tutelage of the waspishly dry Alfred, he soon becomes a hero.
As a Robin origin story, the show plays slightly loose with canon, but it’s nevertheless tightly plotted, managing to twine together some of the most popular members of Batman's Rogues Gallery without their presence or role in the story ever feeling forced.
Some of the Rogues themselves are drawn in broad strokes – given the compact 100 minute running time of the show there's little chance to delve into their personalities - but none of them ever feel like they're given short shrift. Each supervillain gets his or her moment – Two-Face holds an argument between the warring sides of his personality while everyone else ducks for cover, the Riddler is dapper and jaunty, while Catwoman and Poison Ivy are devastatingly seductive; Ivy's entrance on a trapeze is a magical moment which echoes Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge.
The clear standout in terms of performances is the demented but simply delightful Harley Quinn, who bounces about the stage with swaying hips and flying pigtails, running after her boss "Mister J" with wide eyed adoration. The Joker's casual cruelty to his lovestruck apprentice is handled with just the right amount of sadism – one of the most unhealthy relationships in comics could go very, very wrong indeed on stage, but actress Poppy Tierney's charm keeps everything on just the right side of discomfort.
As mentioned earlier, Batman Live plays to the family demographic, but it's not all light and jolly. As the show builds to a climax in the infamous Arkham Asylum, the LED screen shows dead bodies straitjacketed and hanging from the ceiling, while the Scarecrow himself, a long limbed phantom on stilts, is genuinely unsettling.
Good use is made of the cavernous space of the O2 Arena – smoke, neon, high-powered laser-lights and pyrotechnics abound. The real star of the set is the 100ft tall video screen that looms over the stage. It's this that plays the main role of setting the scene, as comic book pages shuffle and flip to provide backdrops to an otherwise largely bare stage. The costumes are for the most part impressive, although the bat suit is unfortunately heavy and overly muscle-bound, bringing to mind the Michelin man on steroids rather than a man whose trained himself to the peak of physical fitness. Still, at least at least it doesn’t have nipples.
It's almost surprising that a live Batman stage show has been so long in coming. As perhaps DC's most valuable property and one of the most enduring pop culture heroes of our time, not to mention the star of two of the highs grossing films of the decade, Batman is an almost guaranteed money spinner. It's been several years in the making, but be assured that the show is worth the wait.
*dances around anxiously ala Homer Simpson*
That sounds so great. Fun, while still being relatively faithful to the comics. It's like the anti-Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark in every way!
1mercystreet is working on a follow-up review that looks into how the rogues were depicted, which I'm dying to hear about since you can bet that most reviewers won't care about that aspect the way you and I do.In the meantime, here's the most recent trailer, which features some great little character shots.
NEED TICKETS TO THE UK NOWWWWWW. ALSO TIME. ALSO MONEY. ALSO BABYSITTER.
