When a yacht carrying "Commodore Schmidlapp" (Reginald Denny) mysteriously disappears along with his new dehydration invention, "Batman" (Adam West) and "Robin" (Burt Ward) seek to find out what has happened in order to recover them. During the course of their investigation it is discovered that there are four known super-criminals at large: "the Joker" (Cesar Romero), "the Penguin" (Burgess Meredith), "the Riddler" (Frank Gorshin) and "the Catwoman" (Lee Meriwether). Obviously, if it were any two of them together it would have implications for Gotham City. If it were three then it would imperil the United States. But having all four together could only mean that they are intent upon taking over the world! Hence the concern by the Dynamic Duo, "Commissioner Gordon" (Neil Hamilton) and "Chief O'Hara" (Stafford Repp). Having said that, this is a film that should prove entertaining for people of all ages. It has the action the kids will enjoy and some humor which adults might find amusing as well. The part where "Bruce Wayne" (Adam West) is thinking about "Kitka" (Lee Meriwether) with his eyes closed and then tells her that his thoughts are about to reach a climax is just one example. Fortunately, she manages to slow him down and then invites him to her apartment for a night of hot--cocoa. Even so, in all honesty the fake props, over-the-top acting and the absurdity of it all results in a very cheap feel. Along with that I thought that it dragged on a bit too long. In short, this is one of those rare films that is simply not to be taken seriously. It isn't necessarily bad provided you're able to make allowances. But it isn't good by any stretch of the imagination either. As such a rating of average is probably accurate.
Review of Batman: The Movie
