There's quality and there's quality. With the huge success of The Dark Knight I thought I'd rent Return to the Batcave - The Misadventures of Adam and Burt.
This is a belated comedy spoof in which the older actors, Adam West and Burt Ward, are reunited at a car convention, where the Batmobile is mysteriously nicked. The two fellows gamely try to hunt it down via a trail of clues, taking on their Batman and Robin personas as they do. (Only their personas though, you never see them don the costumes except in the flashbacks, probably for legal reasons.) It's amiable enough but there's no snap to the comedy and the jokes are all rather laboured. The most embarrassing bit is when Julie Newmar (the original Catwoman) shows up and dances with Adam West. Actually West does have some presence, and reminded me of Jon Voight.
But holy flashback, Batman, what's this? It's intercut with scenes of how they got into the Batman TV series, played by younger, decent actors who are well cast, with some high production values and an almost poignant script. It doesn't shy away from sexual revelations either, as Adam West awakes in bed with two gorgeous Batman groupies after a night together. These 'flashbacks' recur throughout the film, and you resent going back to the present to deal with the lazy spoofery of the modern-day actors. They seem to be two different films and they don't really match.
All rather rubbish really but in a way not as bad as Connery in Never Say Never Again or Ford in Crystal Skulls in terms of expectations dashed - I had none for this.
This is a belated comedy spoof in which the older actors, Adam West and Burt Ward, are reunited at a car convention, where the Batmobile is mysteriously nicked. The two fellows gamely try to hunt it down via a trail of clues, taking on their Batman and Robin personas as they do. (Only their personas though, you never see them don the costumes except in the flashbacks, probably for legal reasons.) It's amiable enough but there's no snap to the comedy and the jokes are all rather laboured. The most embarrassing bit is when Julie Newmar (the original Catwoman) shows up and dances with Adam West. Actually West does have some presence, and reminded me of Jon Voight.
But holy flashback, Batman, what's this? It's intercut with scenes of how they got into the Batman TV series, played by younger, decent actors who are well cast, with some high production values and an almost poignant script. It doesn't shy away from sexual revelations either, as Adam West awakes in bed with two gorgeous Batman groupies after a night together. These 'flashbacks' recur throughout the film, and you resent going back to the present to deal with the lazy spoofery of the modern-day actors. They seem to be two different films and they don't really match.
All rather rubbish really but in a way not as bad as Connery in Never Say Never Again or Ford in Crystal Skulls in terms of expectations dashed - I had none for this.