[irishjayhawk]

Originally Posted by Nightwish

I'm not really sure, just not like that. I understand what he's trying to do, to disguise his voice to keep those who know him from recognizing the voice of Bruce Wayne, as well as providing a little extra menace to the Batman persona. That's all well and good, and perfectly fitting, if it's pulled off well. Bale doesn't pull it off well at all. Instead of sounding subtlely menacing, he sounds like he's smoking himself into an early grave. A subtle twisting of the voice would do better than sounding like an all-out fake. Michael Keaton and Val Kilmer both did that fairly well, whereas George Clooney and Christian Bale did not.


That's a good point. But it doesn't invalidate the criticism. For the most part, the Bruce Wayne parts are about the only chance for the actor to really step into the role and show us what he's got. In the Batman getup, all he's really got is his voice to sell himself in the role, the costume does most of the work. In the fight scenes, it's usually not the actor in the costume, but a stunt guy, so if the fight scenes are good or bad, it's neither a credit nor a demerit to the actor playing Bruce Wayne. While I said that Keaton and Kilmer were the best with the Batman voice, I think Keaton and Clooney were the best in the Bruce Wayne role, while Kilmer and Bale were much less interesting as Bruce Wayne.

Overall, I'd agree with you except for the Bolded part. I don't see Keaton as much of a Bruce Wayne. I'd swap him and Bale. But to each their own.