I keep thinking: which has been the best Batman costume?
For me it would be an amalgam:
1. Keaton's cowl from Batman Returns - it was sleeker and better fitting than his first one.
(I did not care for Bale's cowl as the chin opening was too small and too round - it resembled clown lips or someone wearing black face. His Dark Knight headgear, while maybe more realistic, made his head look bulbous and his neck look skinny!)
2. Keaton's torso from Batman '89 - I didn't care for the plated look of Batman Returns (nor the ultra-plated armor looks of the Bale movies). The first anatomical torso armor looked pretty good without looking mechanical or too over the top. While Val Kilmer's costume was almost perfect, the body sculpt was way too exaggerated - looked like some kind of steroid-addicted body-builder with his skin stripped off - and then of course there were the nipples which threw it out of the running completely!
3. Keaton's chest emblem from Batman Returns - the correct emblem. Why they used one never seen before on the first costume (with little feet!) even though they used the established logo throughout the rest of the film is beyond me. I can go either way on the emblem just being black (as in Batman's comic appearances of his first couple decades) or in the yellow circle - but the black emblems just seem to get lost on film. (But most definitely not this mechanical looking chest inlay we've seen in previews of the upcoming film!)
4. Any cape from the first four films (Keaton, Kilmer, Clooney) - they all looked leathery like bat wings. The reason this is an issue is that Bale's cape looked like it was made of felt, which felt totally wrong.
Over all, I didn't really like any of the Bale costumes while I did like the movies as a more realistic take on the character. Conversely, I didn't like Batman Returns very much while liking a lot about the costume.
The movie serial Batman costumes from the 40's along with Adam West's costume from the 60's were all ridiculously bad!
Affleck's costumes were simple but good (making him more resemble older Batman from the Dark Knight Returns graphic novels). I can go either way on long ears vs. short ears, but Affleck's costumes pulled off short ears pretty well.
For me it would be an amalgam:
1. Keaton's cowl from Batman Returns - it was sleeker and better fitting than his first one.
(I did not care for Bale's cowl as the chin opening was too small and too round - it resembled clown lips or someone wearing black face. His Dark Knight headgear, while maybe more realistic, made his head look bulbous and his neck look skinny!)
2. Keaton's torso from Batman '89 - I didn't care for the plated look of Batman Returns (nor the ultra-plated armor looks of the Bale movies). The first anatomical torso armor looked pretty good without looking mechanical or too over the top. While Val Kilmer's costume was almost perfect, the body sculpt was way too exaggerated - looked like some kind of steroid-addicted body-builder with his skin stripped off - and then of course there were the nipples which threw it out of the running completely!
3. Keaton's chest emblem from Batman Returns - the correct emblem. Why they used one never seen before on the first costume (with little feet!) even though they used the established logo throughout the rest of the film is beyond me. I can go either way on the emblem just being black (as in Batman's comic appearances of his first couple decades) or in the yellow circle - but the black emblems just seem to get lost on film. (But most definitely not this mechanical looking chest inlay we've seen in previews of the upcoming film!)
4. Any cape from the first four films (Keaton, Kilmer, Clooney) - they all looked leathery like bat wings. The reason this is an issue is that Bale's cape looked like it was made of felt, which felt totally wrong.
Over all, I didn't really like any of the Bale costumes while I did like the movies as a more realistic take on the character. Conversely, I didn't like Batman Returns very much while liking a lot about the costume.
The movie serial Batman costumes from the 40's along with Adam West's costume from the 60's were all ridiculously bad!
Affleck's costumes were simple but good (making him more resemble older Batman from the Dark Knight Returns graphic novels). I can go either way on long ears vs. short ears, but Affleck's costumes pulled off short ears pretty well.