Smallville Season One Review

Over the years, whenever something big happens in the world of DC comics, especially regarding Superman, people all over social media seem to talk about one adaptation of the character in particular, and until this year, I had not seen this show myself. This show was called Smallville, and it first aired back in 2001, when I was just 6 years old.

Some years ago I disliked Superman as a character, based on very little evidence however, since I didn't even give him a chance, reading none of his comics and only seeing him in animated adaptations where he came across as some overpowered being that seemed unrelatable to me.

     In 2013, I realised that I could not be more wrong. Director Zack Snyder took the character of Superman and crafted a film so beautiful that I fell in love with the character and couldn't wait to read more or watch more of the adaptations based on the character. 'Man of Steel' knew exactly how to represent this character in a relatable way despite his Comicbook story of being an alien trying to be a human, but within this film I saw a character that wasn't just trying to be human, he was trying to 'fit in' with the people around him. He was trying so hard to be human, but realised he might never be what we would call 'normal', and he eventually learns to accept that, by becoming the person he was always meant to be. 

Man Of Steel (2013) portrayed by Henry Cavill

 I finally decided to watch Smallville, and boy do I wish I watched this show years ago. As of writing this, I'm in the early episodes of season two and loving every second of it. This show gives us an incredibly humanising portrayal of Clark Kent (portrayed by Tom Welling) prior to his days of being Superman. Instead it gives us a young man growing up in his high school years, learning the difficulties of being a human, emotionally, physically, and mentally.
     Even with his superpowers, which he's still learning to control, and later on he discovers even more of them that he didn't know he had, Clark Kent is just as troubled as any other young man in those years of his life. Learning the importance of friendship, of love, trust and the consequences of truths and lies. All of this, makes this show an emotional rollercoaster for the viewer, because this show was written so beautifully, that it is truly felt by the audience. It's such a heartfelt series that gives us the action, drama, emotion and intensity that a good Superman story needs.

The show feels somewhat like the early days of shows like Buffy The Vampire Slayer, where we have a group of young students fighting supernatural beings, and somehow the rest of the world seems either none the wiser, or merely disinterested in what's going on no matter how crazy or scary it gets. In Buffy it was mostly Vampires with the addition of other ghoulish creatures, and at the end of each episode the main group of friends have defeated the enemy for this episode and carry on with school waiting for the next villain to appear, in Smallville, the premise is very similar.
     Season one focuses heavily on people affected by the meteor shower, the meteor shower that just happens to be connected to Clark, since that's when his spaceship landed, and the meteor fragments turn out to be the remains of his home planet Krypton. The radiated fragments of meteor, which fans know as Kryptonite (although that name is never mentioned yet because Clark still has no clue about his home planets name etc.) seem to have given certain victims new abilities, mostly of a cellular level, given them powers that they often use for selfish purposes, which is why Clark is always there to save the day. 

Clark and his closest friends, Pete Ross (Sam Jones III) & Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack), all share their stories about Chloe's so called 'Wall of Weird' which documents all the strange and supernatural events happening in Smallville since the meteor strike. Despite this however, Chloe and Pete seem to be completely comfortable talking about these events and beings as though it was almost normal to see them. These villains come with all sorts of abilities from absorbing a person's body heat completely, leaving them frozen to death, to starting fires with a single thought, which to Clark is nothing that he should be surprised about even before he discovers his own heat vision ability, because whilst he may not be able to explain them, he understands what it's like to have abilities, but to Chloe and Pete seem way to calm after each event.

Main Cast of Smallville

 However this does not take away from the incredible cast of this show and their portrayals of their characters. Tom Welling is a charming Clark Kent, Michael Rosenbaum is a menacing and mysterious Lex Luthor, Allison Mack is a beautiful and loveable Chloe Sullivan, and Kristin Kreuk portrays a strong and beautiful Lana Lang. Not to mention the adults of the show, especially John Schneider and Annette O'Toole as  Johnathan and Martha Kent who are the loving and protective parents of Clark, with a great on screen relationship that steals the show any time the three of them are on screen together.

Since I'm watching this show for the first time in 2019, I would be very foolish in discussing the CGI since we have come such a long way over the last 18 years since this show first started. However, some of the effects haven't aged badly at all, and in terms of their appearance to represent the abilities Clark has, I love how they're represented, especially his heat vision being made to look like actual heatwaves rather than red lasers shooting from his eyes. The effects are not awful in any sense, and if like me you have only just decided to see this show, or haven't yet made up your mind, please know that it is watchable and that the effects make the show the incredible series it is even to this day.

This show has an incredible soundtrack to go along with it, with the theme song 'Save Me' by Remy Zero being the obvious standout because I refuse to ever skip the intro for each episode! There are some absolute classics on this soundtrack though, from artists such as The Calling, R.E.M, Weezer, Gorillaz, Papa Roach and Sum 41 just to name a few!

Overall season one of Smallville gets a 9/10 from because the only thing holding it back is the lack of impact each victim holds on the rest of Clark Kents world. In some episodes people are injured but in many of the episodes there are many people both student and adults who are murdered, and yet once the episode is over we hear next to nothing about any of it happening.
     That is my only fault with this show so far. Maybe it changes in the later seasons but until then, I have to stick with this decision.

[Review] Arrow Season Two

After the death of his best friend, and the feeling of guilt after he failed to save the Glades from Malcolm Merlyn's earthquake device, Oliver Queen has left Starling City and returned to the Island of Lian Yu, where he was stranded for five years before being rescued, after his fathers yacht, The Queen's Gambit', capsized during a storm out at sea. See my season one review for more:- Arrow Season One Review

Season Two brings us more of the action that fans enjoyed in the first season, and brings us new, gripping and interesting characters such as Isobel Rochev (portrayed by Summer Glau) who towards the end of the season becomes the character known as Ravager (though that name is never spoken in the series), Barton Mathis a.k.a The Dollmaker (portrayed by Michael Eklund), Sin (portrayed by Bex Taylor-Klaus), Sebastian Blood (Kevin Alejandro) and of course, the first character to recieve a spinoff series in the 'Arrowverse', Barry Allen (portrayed by Grant Gustin), who later goes on to become the metahuman superhero known as The Flash.
     The series also brings back some fan favourite characters such as Count Vertigo (Seth Gabel), Roy Harper (Colton Haynes), and even the suppossedly deceased, Malcolm Merlyn (John Barrowman). As well as the series regulars, who we grew to love from the first season, including John Diggle, Felicity Smoak, Laurel Lance, Quentin Lance, Thea Queen, Moira Queen and of course the main man Oliver Queen.

Moira Queen in Court - Portrayed by Susanna Thompson

The first half of the season concentrates somewhat heavily on the trial of Moira Queen (Susanna Thompson) after she rconfessed on live news about her involvement in Malcolm Merlyns plan to destroy the Glades, which came to pass in the finale of the first season. The plot tries to concentrate less of Moira however, and focuses more heavily on the impact her trial has on Oliver and Thea, which is understandable as a big secret is revealed in the courtroom (and to Oliver & Thea beforehand) about Moira's past with Merlyn.
     Meanwhile in the flashback sequences for the first half, we get to see the tragedy that Oliver, Shado and Slade went through that brought Oliver to where he is today. Concentrating a lot of it's focus on the character of Slade Wilson, portrayed by Manu Bennett, who comic book fans will recognize as the alter ego for  one of DC's biggest, meanest, and most popular villains in the in the world of DC Comics, known as Deathstroke.

Manu Bennett as Deathstroke/Slade Wilson

The second half builds the real setup for the big bad of this season, and it builds it tremendously, as Slade Wilson's character is brought into the present timeline, along with the new knowledge of Oliver and Slade's past on the island of Lian Yu, the audience now feels the true tension between them whenever they share the screen together.
     Manu Bennett did a superb job bringing Slade Wilson and the villainous Deathstroke to life, along with the shows writers and costume designers, who adpated the character from page to screen. Slade is smart, terrifying, and a strong character not just in the literal sense (thanks to the Mirakuru in his blood). His presence is felt every time he is mentioned or appears on screen, and his action sequences prove his true skill in combat, making him a force to be reckoned with.
     As Slade Wilson, he causes drama and trouble for Oliver Queen, on his mission to seek revenge, by interacting with Olivers family, getting inside Olivers head and causing him to make difficult decisions. Away from Oliver, Slade causes trouble for the city as he continues to have his associate, Sebastian Blood, take on the mantle of the masked villain known as Brother Blood and gather a group of victims that will undergo a test for the the drug known as Mirakuru, which we learn more about in the flashback sequences.

The second season of Arrow brings us more references to the comics, and a tone that rivals the dark, brooding tone of the first season. It concentrates heavily on the plot of revenge, and merges the stories seen in both the past and the present, to create a present day storyline with more emotional impact than we have seen before.
     Secrets are revealed, and emotions run wild in this season, which quickly made it a fan favourite, with many still claiming to this day that season two is their favourite of the entire series. Manu Bennett was praised for his portrayal of Deathstroke, and has since then returned to the role in later seasons.

As mentioned before, this season introduces us to the character of Barry Allen in episode eight, with the lead up to his own spinoff being one of the final scenes of episode nine, as Barry returns to his home in Central City, only to be struck by lightning after an explosion with the STAR Labs particle accelerator, and being knocked into a comatosed state, with a glow of lightning running through his body to tease the fans of the upcoming series.
     Grant Gustin, who is probably previously best known for his portrayal of a Sebastian Smythe in the musical series Glee or as Campbell Price in 90210, portrayed a very innocent and young version of Barry Allen with a similar personality to that of Felicity Smoak. This made him instantly loveable by the audience and has since proven to be a perfect choice for the character after his own series kicked off with incredible success.

One factor to this series that I failed to mention in my season one review, was the score, by composer Blake Neely, which adds all of the emotion to every scene of every episode in the series. With themes such as 'Deathstroke', which is hard hitting, powerful and louder than most of the other themes in the show, it really adds impact to the character itself. Meaning that this show, would not be the same without Neely's music, because of the atmosphere it creates within the scene and within the world.

You can listen to the Arrow Season Two Soundtrack on Spotify here:- Arrow Season Two OST

This is the season that our hero 'The Hood' a.k.a Oliver Queen, finally replaces the grease paint around his eyes, with a proper mask, given to him as a gift from Barry Allen, who is a big fan. The mask gives the character more of a hero complex to the audience, especially since Oliver no longer uses his arrows to kill the criminals he faces. Due to Tommy calling him a murderer, Oliver has decided to change his ways of fighting crime and finding justice, by only injuring his foes, but throughtout the series, Oliver must fight with his choice and decide what is best option for the situation's he's put in, which proves to be harder than he hoped when faced with the enemies of this series.

Overall this season builds on the action packed scenes that we loved from the first season and the drama that moves the plot forward and hits hard on the heartstrings of the audience. The casting for the new characters is superb, and the returning cast members come back stronger with each reprisal. The titular character, and Stephen Amell within the role, prove their skill as a vigilante combatant, with incredible prowess and skill. Amell continues to prove that he is a brilliant casting choice for the character, and leaves the audience wanting more and more with each episode that airs.

This season gets a 9/10 from me, because it gave us one of the greatest villains in comicbook television at the time, and continued to build and improve it's already brilliant writing, directing and casting.

[Review] Arrow Season One

When Arrow was first advertised back in 2012, I could not believe what I had just seen. The Sky network (or CW if you're in USA) was about to release a show based on a character in the DC Universe that not many people had heard of, but one who I adored. That character was the hooded vigilante known as Green Arrow. Better yet, they were going to be using a similar origin story to 'Green Arrow: Year One' written by Andy Diggle, with art from Mark Simpson better known by his pen name Jock. The story for Arrow's adaptation of the origin story is as follows:

Oliver Queen, a billionnaire playboy from Starling City and heir to the Queen family business and fortune, is left stranded on what he believes to be a deserted island after his father's yacht, The Queen's Gambit, capsizes in a storm, killing his girlfriend's sister Sara Lance who is on board, and leaving Oliver, his father Robert and one other crew member left to float around in a rubber raft. Running low on supplies, Robert Queen then shoots the remaining crew member and then himself, leaving Oliver alone to survive.
     After five years, Oliver returns home after being rescued, but he is not the same as he was five years ago. Honed with new skills, a new mission and the determination to see it through, Oliver Queen now hides his own secrets, as he begins to fight crime in a green hood, wielding a bow and arrow. However, he is not yet known as the Green Arrow, he is known as only 'The Vigilante' or 'The Hood', and Starling City police, including his ex girlfriends father, Quentin Lance, are constantly seeking to bring the hooded vigilante to justice, claiming that he is on the wrong side of the law, because of his habit of killing people with his arrows, but Oliver hopes to change that.

Season One showed us what a great, dark and gritty comicbook show could be, with plenty of drama which makes you remember it's a CW show, but more importantly it gave us some great live action appearances of some of DC's not so mainstream characters both hero and villain such as Malcolm Merlyn a.k.a The Dark Archer portrayed by John Barrowman, Floyd Lawton a.k.a Deadshot portrayed by Michael Rowe, Edward 'Eddie' Fyers portrayed by Sebastian Dunn, and even Count Vertigo portrayed by Seth Gabel just to name a few, although some of these characters differ greatly from their comicbook counterparts, such as Count Vertigo who is not a meta-human in this show, but is in fact a drug dealer who creates a drug that causes similar effects as Vertigo's character in the comics.

This show brings us great action sequences in almost every episode with a great mix of martial arts used to create stylistic fight scenes that show us the power and prowess of Oliver Queen which adapts the character's style really well from the comics. However, a lot of viewers seem to have the opinion that Arrow was not a faithful adaptation because it was "too serious" or "too dark" whereas the Green Arrow most people know from the comics is a lighthearted and humorous character that takes pride & joy in what he does.
     What a lot of these viewers may not realise however, is that there is a long running series of Green Arrow comics written by Mike Grell that takes on a very similar tone to Arrow, which is where the show probably drew a lot of it style from. The series of comics dealt with a lot of real world issues such as oil spillages, hunting, and fraud which make the stories impactful and thought provoking. In a similar way, Arrow as a television show is very thought provoking, dealing with issues in the real world such as family drama, secrets between friends, loyalty, and regarding villains there's a lot of extortion, bribery, cover up issues that get uncovered by Oliver and his team.

Stephen Amell, known for his roles in shows such as 'Beautiful People' (2005) and Rent-A-Goalie (2006),  portrays the titular role of Oliver Queen in Arrow. His portrayal is brilliant, becoming a fan favourite over the recent years, since there has only ever been one other live action portrayal of the character in the television series Smallville (2001) where Green Arrow/Oliver Queen was portrayed by Justin Hartley.
     Stephen Amell has gained much success from this show and has proven himself to be a perfect casting choice for the character, as the show is now ready to air it's eigth and final season after over 7 years of wearing the hood, Amell has helped bring the character of Green Arrow into the mainstream and given the character a rise in popularity which has even made Green Arrow a household name.
     Whilst Amell plays a more serious version of the character, there are moments when Amell is able to perfectly portray the witty humour and fun quips that Oliver Queen is known for in the comics. Making him a successful and brilliant portrayal of the character, which not a lot of people seem to understand in my opinion.

Not only did Stephen Amell succeed in popularising his character, but some of the other cast did as well. John Diggle, portrayed by David Ramsay, became so popular that he was adapted into the New 52 run of Green Arrow comics, making his first appearance in Green Arrow #24 - Deadly Homecoming (October 2013). John Diggle is referred to as simply 'Diggle' which is a reference to Andy Diggle, who wrote the Green Arrow: Year One comic that the series draws a lot of inspiration from, especially during it's flashback sequences which add to the story and gives us a nice transition between certain scenarios in Oliver's present day whilst giving us an idea of how he became who he is today.
     Felicity Smoak, portrayed by the beautiful Emily Bett Rickards, was a character in the Firestorm comics since 1984, but became a popular ally of Oliver Queen in the New 52 Green Arrow run, with a redesign of her character to resemble her appearance in the show, with a few differences to help her stand as her own adaptation of the character. Although she was meant to be nothing more than a recurring character, Emily's portrayal of Felicity proved so popular with the viewers that she was made a series regular and a member of what will later become known as 'Original Team Arrow' or 'OTA' for short.

One issue I have with her character however, is that Oliver Queen seemed to have a pretty decent technological knowledge when he starts out, but when Felicity is introduced his skills seem to almost completely disappear making him seem dumb when it comes to computers and other tech. On the other hand, I really love her character and think she adds a moral opposite to Oliver which is sometimes a great opportunity for plot advancement and drama.

The casting and characters brought to us in this show are all incredibly talented and intriguing. From Laurel Lance, to Thea Queen and even Roy Harper, who so far isn't in the role of his alter ego Arsenal. Not to mention Oliver Queens best friend, Tommy Merlyn, portrayed by the charming and brilliantly funny Colin Donnell who counters Olivers more serious tone when in the public eye.
     Laurel Lance creates a perfect opportunity for drama in the series, after she shares a love interest with both Oliver and Tommy, despite her initial resentment for Oliver after he took her sister Sara on the Queen's Gambit for an affair whilst he was still in a relationship with Laurel. However, Laurel and Oliver have an on and off again relationship throughout, as well as a similar relationship with The Vigilante, though still unaware of his true identity. Katie Cassidy brings a strong personality to the character, which in turn, makes the character a strong female lead in the series that later goes on to become a member of team Arrow, but not until a later season.
     Willa Holland brings the character of Thea Queen to life, who is a reference to Mia Dearden from Kevin Smith's Green Arrow #2 - Quiver Part Two (May 2001), as she is nicknamed 'Speedy' (a popular alias used by Mia in the comics) by Oliver, who in this show is her brother. This reference becomes clearer in episode 12 of season one titled 'Vertigo' when it is revealed that Thea's full name is 'Thea Dearden Queen'.

Overall this show is one of my favourites of all time, for its brilliant writing, the incredible cast, memorable characters and awesome action sequences, as well as the dark and gritty tone, which seems somewhat lighter than originally intended after shows like Marvel's Daredevil stepped up the 'dark tone' a few notches. However, this show proved to us that the dark and gritty comicbook shows can become popular and are sometimes preferred over the lighter toned ones we've had in the past. Season one sets up the characters and the world of Green Arrow in a way that makes it unique to the comics, but with enough nods and references to keep fans interested.
     Malcolm Merlyn was an excellent choice of villain for the first seasons 'big bad' as John Barrowman's portrayal made him a menacing, mysterious and unpredictable character that built real tension to whatever scene he was in.

The choice of network being the CW, this show has plenty of drama which helps build the emotional scenes of the story that can really hit hard to viewers, making us feel excitement, happiness, or even upset. The writing and direction is incredible and the show later paved the way for more comicbook shows, many of which are connected to the same universe as Arrow, which is now known as the 'Arrowverse' or 'Berlantiverse' after the shows creator Greg Berlanti.

Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim and Andrew Kreisberg have created something truly special, that brought comicbook television into a new generation and spawned multiple spinoffs that live in a shared universe, and with the final season of Arrow airing on October 15th 2019, the final crossover will prove to be a huge payoff for fans of this series.

Arrow Season One gets a 8/10 from me, because whilst it was an incredible start to a show I fell in love with from the second the premiere aired on my television, it does however feel like it's more drama driven than I originally hoped for when I first saw the trailer.

[REVIEW] Batman (1989)

After the success of the Batman television series that aires in 1966 starring Adam West in the titular role, studios eventually came to the decision that it was time to bring Batman to the big screen again, and there was a need to make the film and the world of Batman dark again, after the '66 series was a very light, educational but pretty much silly version of the 'Dark Knight' and his villains. This adaptation became a household name across the world and had become the most famous adaptation of the character, with people now dubbing Adam West as the 'Bright Knight' in regards to how fun and colorful the series was.

"I loved the Killing Joke...It's my favourite. It's the first comic I've ever loved" - Tim Burton

Finally, twenty three years later in 1989, a new, darker and much more serious Batman adaptation was released in cinemas across the world, from the brilliant mind of Tim Burton. There was one issue with this choice of director however, as Tim Burton has stated that he does not read comics, and finds them detestable for their layouts and unclear formats, claiming that they are confusing to read because it is often unclear which panels and dialogue bubbles are in which order. However, one graphic novel/comic he has read, just so happens to be one of the most famous and well respected stories of all time, known as 'Batman: The Killing Joke', which really comes across in the film.

From the Joker origin story of falling into a vat of acid whilst fighting Batman, to Jokers costume and portrayal by the brilliant actor Jack Nicholson, who brings one of DC's greatest villains to life in the most menacing of ways, with his creepy signature smile and comedic approach to the most sadistic of scenarios such as murder...did I mention this film has straight up murdering in it, and not just from the Joker? More on that later though.
     Jack Nicholson is well know for being a brilliant actor, and he has become an iconic portrayal of Joker with many fans debating whether his or Heath Ledger's portrayal of the character in 2008's 'The Dark Knight' takes the top spot for "Best Joker Portrayal". His classic purple jacket and suit are taken straight from the pages of the Killing Joke comic and his strange, wonderful, psychotic and over the top performance of the character makes him one of the most faithful adaptations of the clown prince of crime, even though many question whether the Joker needs an origin story or not, this film and Nicholson's portrayal provides a great adaptation of one that we can all agree work well for the character.

Over the years, Michael Keaton has become famous for his portrayal of Batman and his alter ego Bruce Wayne, but before this film, he was best known for comedic roles such as Beetlejuice (1988), The Squeeze (1987) and Mr. Mum (1983), so even before the widespread social media complaints of today, there was much speculation and concern among fans about how an actor like Keaton could play the Dark Knight, much like there has been in recent years every time a new Batman film is in production and the actor is revealed, such as Ben Affleck in 2016 and most recently Robert Pattinson who is due to portray the role in film due for release in 2020.
     However, over the 30 years since it's release, with a sequel involving Keaton reprising the his role, many have claimed that Michael Keaton is their favourite portrayal of the character and some even say that he is the definitive portrayal of Batman to this day. The film is without a doubt a classic and has been seen by millions of people across the globe, both comic book fans and those who haven't read comics alike, because it stands as a classic film from the time for it's huge success as a film in the industry.

The casting was superb, with the beautiful Kim Basinger portraying Vicki Vale and the charming Billy Dee Williams portraying Harvey Dent, who sadly we never got chance to see turn into the villainous alter ego Two-Face that we know from the comics, but Billy Dee Williams did get the chance to voice the character of Two-Face in 2017's 'The Lego Batman Movie'.
     The effects for the time, including a mixture of practical and animated effects, still hold up, for the most part, to this day. The story is entertaining, and although it is dark, it is still watchable by almost all ages. Some may consider it a family film, especially when compared to it's sequel which took on an even darker and more gruesome appearance with the like of Danny DeVito's portrayal of Penguin, which lead to many complaints form cinemagoers with yound children and the companies that wanted to make the licensed toys such as McDonalds. I will review that in the Batman Returns review however.

My main issue with this film nowadays, is that whilst many fans of comics and Batman claim to love it, there are a few faults which proves the point that Tim Burton doesn't read comics, and wanted to create his own version, which nowadays most people complain about in these types of films.

In 2016 'Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice' was released, and one issue many people had with Ben Afflecks portrayal of Batman, that I read everywhere at the time, was that Batman kills and this was against the comic version of Batman's morals and number one rule, and so people hated on Ben Affleck and Zack Snyder for it. A lot of these same fans, claim to prefer Tim Burtons film over the modern adaptations, but I think a lot of them seem to forget, or refuse to acknowledge, that in the 1989 Batman film, Batman sends his Batmobile into Axis Chemicals, with the intention to kill the Joker, by having bombs drop from the wheels of the Batmobile, blowing up the building and killing half a dozen goons that were stood near the car at the time, not to mention however many goons remained inside the building at the time of the explosion and after all that, the Joker survived because he escaped via helicopter before the bombs were dropped. Not to mention, in the finale, he stops the Joker from escaping by grappling him to a gargoyle, probably knowing full well that it will cause the him to fall to his death, and even though I understand his concern for Vicki Vale and himself at the time, Batman shows no remorse for murdering the Joker whatsoever, which today, get complained about in modern portrayals but for the classic film it's almost celebrated.
     Is it because we know Tim Burton doesn't read comics, so he gets a free pass for not being accurate? Or is it simply because we don't want to spoil the idea that this film really is a classic among the older Batman fans of today. Those who grew up with this film, or simply saw it at a younger age in general, like many of our childhood films and television shows, do not want this film to be spoiled by these types of mistakes being pointed out, so we simply remember it as we wish and convince others to do the same.

I myself have no quarrel with this film or its portrayal of Batman, as I always love a good story with a darker Batman that's pushed across the line of his idea of Justice. It just makes me wonder what really makes fans happy these days, when they argue one point for the modern film but support that same point in the classic film.

Either way, this film is absolutely superb, giving us some of the most classical Batman quotes and tropes such as Jokers line "Where does he get those wonderful toys?", and of course the iconic "I'm Batman"  quote which was popularized from this film. It also gave us some iconic imagery such as the Batplane against the moon, which remains one of my favourite shots in the film of all time, even though I believe Batman's action for doing so was completely uneccessary.
     Not to mention the incredible score and theme by composer Danny Elfman, which was used on the Batman Animated Series and in the Lego Batman videogames. Danny Elfman is known for a lot fo the Tim Burton film scores nowadays, both live action and animated, such as The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and Beetlejuice (1988).

This film also gave us one of the most iconic Batmobiles, which are always celebrated along with the character in film, television and comics, because it takes on a character of it's own. This design was sleek and intimidating to match Keatons portrayal of Batman, and to help it blend into the world of Tim Burtons Gotham. 

The film gets a 9/10 from me because it is a film I will always want to watch and can never say no to watching.