Was Michael Keaton tough enough to play Batman?

[Silver Nemesis]

A lot has been written about Christian Bale's impressive physical preparation for the Batman films. So here's my attempt to compile a similar overview of Keaton's training. Feel free to exchange opinions and trivia about Keaton's action movie roles, martial arts training and general suitability for the part of Batman. This has always been a major point of contention regarding his Batman and it seems like everyone has an opinion on the matter.



Regarding the height issue, conflicting reports state he's either 5'9 or 5'10. Whichever it is, he's about average height for a Caucasian male and roughly four inches shorter than Batman's height in the comics (though he's the same height as the Dick Grayson Batman from the current comics).



To be fair though, only one Batman actor has actually been as tall as the comic version and that was Adam West. According to the IMDB, Christian Bale is only 2 inches taller than Keaton. Kilmer is about the same height as Bale, and Clooney is only half an inch taller than Keaton. Technically none of them are big enough to portray Batman. So accepting that none of them are physically right for the role, the question really becomes – was Michael Keaton any less appropriate than the other actors?


PRE-BATMAN

Dann Gire defended Keaton's casting in Cinefantastique, citing the actor's turn in Touch and Go (1986) as evidence of his onscreen formidability:

"He's not tough enough." You obviously didn't see TOUCH AND GO, a 1986 feature in which Keaton played a Chicago hockey player. Those guys aren't cream puffs. In an early scene, Keaton checks a group of would-be muggers in the parking lot with a couple of powerful kicks and some basic man-handling. Late in the story, Keaton chases down a rapist on the beach and beats the stuffing out of him. Trust me, this guy is tough enough to be Batman.

http://www.batmanmovieonline.com/articles.php?showarticle=21
   
In Touch and Go Keaton's character is a professional athlete, and the role called for him to do a fair amount of skating, running and fighting. There's a scene early in the film where he's shown working out in a gym and his physique is apparently that of a healthy average man in good shape.



He made some other comedies in the 80s that required varying degrees of physical action, including The Squeeze (1987), Beetlejuice (1988) and The Dream Team (1989). But his first really demanding physical role would be Batman 89.


BATMAN

Most sources report Keaton trained for two months in preparation for the first Batman film, building himself up to handle the heavy and constrictive costume and learning kickboxing from his stunt double, British martial artist Dave Lea. We only get a brief glimpse of his physique in the movie itself during the scene where he's training with the gravity boots. He has his back to the camera and the darkness makes it hard to discern much detail. Some have speculated it could be his stunt double. But Dave Lea had shoulder-length hair at the time of filming, so it seems more likely it's Keaton himself.



We know from our own interview with Lea that most of the fighting/action scenes were performed by stuntmen. Having said that, Keaton can clearly be seen performing some of the fighting in the movie himself. He famously injured his leg shooting the rooftop fight at the start of the film, pulling a muscle when he side-kicked one of the muggers through a doorway.



There's also the issue of the deleted Batman vs. Bob fight. Lea said he didn't know anything about this in the interview, and the behind the scenes footage clearly shows Keaton performing the fight himself. So it's safe to assume he did this one on his own. It's also clearly Keaton beating up Jack Nicholson in the final showdown.

All in all, I'd say he was in fairly average shape when he made the first film. Not bad shape, but not especially good either. In his defence though, he didn't have much preparation time. His casting was announced in July 1988 and filming commenced at the beginning October that same year. By contrast, Christian Bale had an estimated six months to prepare for Batman Begins.


BATMAN RETURNS

The last film he made before shooting Batman Returns was the action thriller One Good Cop (1991), so he was already in pretty good shape from that. But he also had more time to prepare for Batman Returns than he had for the first film. And since the production was based in Los Angeles, closer to where he lived, he was able to more effectively coordinate his training before filming commenced.



He once again trained with Dave Lea, his kickboxing instructor and stunt double from the first time around. Commenting on Keaton's kickboxing skills in Michael Singer's Batman Returns: The Official Movie Book (page 21), Lea said:

Michael was an incredibly fast learner on the first Batman, and by now there isn't much more I can teach him.

He didn't show off his physique in the movie. He did however host an episode of Saturday Night Live in 1992 just after Batman Returns came out. And in one of the sketches he displayed some brawn while beating up a character played by Chris Farley. He wasn't steroidal or anything, but he appeared to be in slim athletic shape, with better muscle definition than he had in the 89 movie. This is probably the closest we'll get to knowing what his physique was like under the suit in the second film.



It's also documented in many of the 'making of' books/articles that while Dave Lea returned as his stunt double, Keaton still performed a lot of the action/fight sequences in Batman Returns himself.

Dave Lea:

Oh yeah, we got him doing a few fights like when he drives up in the Batmobile and Michelle Pfeiffer is being held up by a clown. Tim [Burton] wanted me to get him doing something on camera, so yeah we got him involved more. Definitely.

http://www.batmanmovieonline.com/features.php?display=73


Dave Lea quoted in Michael Singer's Batman Returns: The Official Movie Book (page 45):

Michael never got fed up or frustrated with his training because it was always something new and enjoyable. The rooftop fight was the first major battle between Batman and Catwoman, so we really had to make it dramatic and strong. For me, to see Michael and Michelle working so hard was really astounding.

Second unit director and stunt co-ordinator Max Kleven quoted in Michael Singer's Batman Returns: The Official Movie Book (page 45):

Michael and Michelle are both doing their own stuff on that rooftop and its pretty unusual for two stars to do so much physical work.

POST-BATMAN

Following Batman Returns Keaton didn't make another action movie until Desperate Measures (1998). And then he really pulled out all the stops to get in shape.



While he recently appeared in the action comedy The Other Guys (2010), as well as playing a contract killer in his directorial debut The Merry Gentleman (2008), neither of those roles where really physically challenging. The last time he took a leading role in an action-oriented picture was the 2003 euro-thriller Quicksand. It'll be interesting to see if Keaton ever makes another action movie, and if so what kind of shape he'll be in when he films it.

[Paul (ral)]

I read this earlier and was going to reply then but ral jr. had different ideas...

...another great post. 1 thing...the guy hanging upside down may have been Sean McCabe.

Also, I'm not sure how much training MK did with Dave Lea on 89 as Dave joined production later than most.

Bravo sir!

[phantom stranger]

Regarding the height issue, conflicting reports state he's either 5'9 or 5'10. Whichever it is, he's about average height for a Caucasian male and roughly four inches shorter than Batman's height in the comics (though he's the same height as the Dick Grayson Batman from the current comics).

Some guys just can't stay out of trouble...

[Silver Nemesis]

Some guys just can't stay out of trouble...

"I lost many assumptions about the simple nature of right and wrong. And when I traveled, I learned the fear before a crime and the thrill of success. But I never became one of them."




I think you could be right about McCabe in the gravity boots scene, Ral.

It's hard to find any concrete info on Keaton's preparation for the first film. There's a lot of info available about his and Pfeiffer's training for Batman Returns, but not for the 89 movie. I suppose it's possible he could have had another kickboxing instructor in America before he left for London. But if he had I would've expected it to be mentioned in one of the promotional articles. It's the sort of titbit the producers would have released to allay the concerns of the fans. But the only evidence I can find of him ever training at a martial arts dojo was around 1991/2 when he was studying at Urquidez's gym in North Hollywood. And the only mention of him undergoing martial arts training for the 89 film concerns Lea teaching him on the set. I'd be interested if anyone has more info on the subject.

[DocLathropBrown]

If those line-up pics don't prove he's 5'10" or 5'11", nothing does. I could see one film perhaps not making the size chart correctly preportioned, but several? Unless it was some conspiracy to make people think he was taller than he was.

So, only four inches? Who gives a damn? Four inches isn't going to increase your ability to kick ass by much. And if a guy's beating your ass, it doesn't matter how tall he is; you're going to be intimidated.

[The Dark Knight]

So, only four inches? Who gives a damn? Four inches isn't going to increase your ability to kick ass by much. And if a guy's beating your ass, it doesn't matter how tall he is; you're going to be intimidated.

Exactly. It's about the image. It's a grown man dressed up as a bat. Insane, right?

If you're getting thrashed by that, you're not thinking about their height. You run.

[GothamAlleys]

I cant help but to wonder, where is the comic book Batman's height stated?

[Silver Nemesis]

I cant help but to wonder, where is the comic book Batman's height stated?

The official DC Encyclopaedia gives Batman's height as being 6'2. He's supposed to weigh 210lbs and has black hair and blue eyes. This is the official description given by DC Comics. Some online sources peg his height at 6'3 and his weight at 230lbs, but I'm not sure where those figures originated.

The adult Dick Grayson – who in the current comics is protecting Gotham as Batman while Bruce Wayne oversees his Batman Inc scheme – is 5'10, weighing 175lbs, with blue eyes and black hair. Aside from a throwaway remark from Gordon about Batman looking slightly shorter than he used to, no one really complained about the 5'10 Grayson taking over as the Dark Knight.

[GothamAlleys]

Oh ok, thanks.

Btw, just watched Pacific Heights (1990) with Michael as a disturbed and creepy psycho who becomes a tenant of an apartment belonging to a nice young couple. Great, great performance and very interesting movie. Michael can be really creepy. There was one scene where the woman gets down to the darkened garage to fix the electricity and she suddenly sees a silhouette of Michale's character sitting in the dark watching her. She shines a flashlight on his face an the look of his face was just madness

[Azrael]

Exactly. It's about the image. It's a grown man dressed up as a bat. Insane, right?

If you're getting thrashed by that, you're not thinking about their height. You run.

I don't think people that had to confront Bruce Lee stopped for once to think about his height and build, they had more serious matters to think about.