8 Reasons Why Justice League Will Make Ben Affleck The Definitive Batman
2. His Is The Best Performance
In order to fully assess Affleck's performance, we need to compare him directly with each previous iteration of the Caped Crusader; so here's a whistle-stop tour of Batman's cinema history.
Adam West played Batman in the popular '60s show, which had a light tone and playful humor. This is obviously very different to the brooding vigilante we know today, and whilst West was fun, there was no room for real acting in a show full of light-hearted quips and brightly-lit onomatopoeia.
Flash-forward to 1989, where Michael Keaton revamps the role, playing a pensive billionaire disengaged with the world around him. Despite uproar when he was cas, Keaton is the favorite Batman for many fans today. It really was plausible that this character would dress up as a bat at night and fight people. Lacking was the physical aspect of Caped Crusader: Affleck is half a foot taller than Keaton, which makes him significantly more imposing (the lack of manoeuvrability of the batsuit also undermined Keaton's menace).
Val Kilmer played Batman in 1995's Batman Forever, and while his performance does have its merits, he lacks the nuances of Keaton. Even in Kilmer's best scenes, it's hard not to imagine how much better Keaton would have been with those lines. Kilmer's flirty Bruce Wayne fits in at parties but is still more at home in the Batcave. His voice is his let down - it feels too false, which could work if it was solely used in public (as a mask), however this unnaturally deep voice is used consistently throughout the movie. In contrast, Affleck's playboy facade is believable without being over the top.
The runt of the pack is George Clooney, though of course, it's not completely his fault. Thanks to cringey puns and absurd costumes, it was impossible for Clooney to bring anything new to the role in this colossal disaster of a movie.
And now comes the final stop on our tour - the boss battle of Batman performances. Christian Bale always had a head start over the other actors, because he has an origin movie. This Bruce Wayne's motives and history are clearly and masterfully laid out by Christopher Nolan, but Bale's performance fails to provide humanity to the role. Bale's Batman is clearly vulnerable - he gets set in fire, bitten by dogs, his back is even broken, but this does not seem to affect Bruce at all.
Even when Rachael breaks up with him at the end of Batman Begins, it doesn't really register any kind of response. Where Affleck shows emptiness, Bale is simply emotionless. And of course, it also goes without saying that Bale's Batman voice is silly and undermines many of the most dramatic scenes of the trilogy.
Ben Affleck brings a physical presence to the role of Batman, whilst maintaining a convincing performance of Bruce Wayne’s depression and anger. Affleck combines the reclusive madness of Keaton, with the mystery of Kilmer, and the aggression of Bale, without the campness of West and Clooney. Furthermore, he adds brutality to the role, which showcases his anger and frustration at the world. Alfred’s deprecating style of humor offsets Affleck’s self-serious performance nicely, and the banter between them feels like the genuine closeness the two characters have from the comics.