Michael Keaton's Bruce Wayne/Batman

[Dark Knight Detective]

Ever since I first saw BATMAN in my younger days, Michael Keaton has always been my favorite live action Batman. He really immersed into his roles of Bruce Wayne & Batman. All the other Batman actors didn't portray the original "Dark Knight" vision of Batman. So, now it was all up to Michael Keaton to bring the REAL Batman to audiences. He pulled it off perfectly. Once he said "I'm Batman", you'd know that from that day forth that Michael Keaton truly is the Batman!

[GuedesGothamKnight]

Yeah, Keaton is a great Batman, but, for me, Bale is the perfect. You can see in his eyes all the deep of the characters - The playboy Bruce, the traumatized Bruce and Batman.
I agree with you that Keaton is a great Batman/Bruce, but Bale is the definitive IMO.

[Dark Knight Detective]

No offense, but Bale seems to be sort of whiny & dry as Bruce Wayne, & his Batman voice is horrible.

[Joker81]

I like Bale when he's kicking ass as Batman, hate when he starts giving speeches tho. So I like Keatons Batman better.

Bales take on Wayne is good in issence, the cocky playboy, almost hateful to other Gothamites. I dont know if I like it. But I dont see the troubled and trumatized Bruce Wayne in him. Keaton pulled this off perfectly. It was almost like Bruce Wayne didnt exist anymore when Keaton was playing him, Keatons wayne was odd and it was like Bruce was only acting being a human being. He only came alive when he put the Batsuit on - Because thats who he really was.

So if I had to give scores out of 5 for each it would be:

Batman:
Keaton - 5/5
Bale - 4/5

Bruce Wayne:
Keaton - 4/5
Bale - 3/5

Total:

Keaton - 9/10
Bale - 7/10

Kaeton wins! 

[damiean dark]

Keaton was the best imo his Wayne is understandardly a love of hate affair among fans some people want the billionaire playboy seen for decades in all media i would have wanted it too before i saw Keatons take of an absentminded man with a witty spark of brillinace that only hints at the real him. It is remarkable in that all thoughts of the aforementioned traditional Bruce.

The Bat is where Keaton will always rule he is really the benchmark imo he gave batman a modern personality with his eyes,voice and attitude which was a world away from his Wayne.  he didnt shout and scream but conveyed all you needed to know about what he was about he wore the suit with his performance rather then the suit wore him which is what i feel happend with Bale,Kilmer and Clooney.

[Batmoney]

Keaton portrayed a truly driven and psychologically damaged man in his version of BW, and his Batman was absolutely superb. Not only is he blunt and direct, but Keaton's Batman seems to do the best job of conveying that feel of satisfaction when he pummels the criminals.

In my opinion, that scene in Returns at the beginning when we get that first shot of him right before the signal shines on him is an absolutely iconic Batman image.

[GuedesGothamKnight]

Yeah, I respect your opinions guys, and I agree that Keaton was a great Bruce/Bats. My only complain is that his Bruce could be more playboy and more traumatized.

[Dark Knight Detective]

Keaton's Bruce/Batman had all of the emotion, whereas Bale takes the playboy thing too far (I mean he jumped into that pool w/ those two women, which is SO not Bruce Wayne) & really doesn't seem as focused on retaining justice in Gotham as much as Keaton's.

[Joker81]

To be honest I think Keatons Bruce Wayne is more tramatized than Bales. Keaton didnt show it in public, but in private he was always broodig. When do we see Bale ever doing that?

And I think The Batman Returns is right,  Bale took the playboy thing too far. A guy like that, always in the public eye, taunting them, the media would be busting to get something on him. I like the Keaton low profile Bruce Wayne.

[Batmoney]

I think Keaton pulls off the traumatized aspect of Bruce so well that there is almost no comparison. Bale's strong point is his facade, he does it very well. However, I think the writers are trying to force it too much at times with things like the multiple women on dates. Bale can do it just fine with the basic lines and material he is given. With that in mind, it might have purpose as I think there is an intention to portray Bale as a much younger, brasher, throws caution to the wind version of BW. Both Bale and the writers have done a superb job in that department.

I feel in my own opinion that the traditional BW comes across, facade or not, as a genuinely soft hearted fellow-very similar to the persona he was given in the animated series. Between Bale and Keaton I think Keaton is closer to that persona. Despite his somewhat anti-social and dark brooding behavior, when people are around he has that smart-ass, semi-talkative yet reserved personality.

I feel like they're trying to force people to pay attention to his facade in TDK. Like, look at him fly in late to his own party on his own helicopter with two gorgeous women-pay attention to him and how rich and glorious he is. I always felt like Gotham knew who BW was, knew his history and knew he was rich etc. That's what I thought made for all the gossip which gave his facade its upkeep. The press always labeling him as the most eligible bachelor etc. all the questions and attention came from their questions about him and the slight mystery to who and how he was, not from his ability to rub it in their faces. In a nutshell, I just think they try to hard to make Bale's BW to come off as a rich a**hole. That being said though, there is nothing wrong with how they are trying to portray Bale's BW as it does make sense for perhaps a younger, smart yet still ignorant, essentially still evolving BW. Quite frankly it just isn't quite my cup of tea with the way it is written sometimes.