ANYONE going to see the caped crusader’s first live action adventure at The O2 arena this week expecting the gritty realism of Christopher Nolan’s current celluloid incarnation are setting themselves up for a big disappointment.
Batman Live is aimed squarely at families and is more Adam West camp than Christian Bale broody.
Stage adaptations of comic books haven’t fared well so far, with a recent musical version of Spiderman bombing on Broadway.
However, unlike the Dark Knight’s web-slinging contemporary, this £7.5m show has plenty of slick thrills and is thankfully showtune free.
With a lavish set designed by Lady Gaga’s prop designer, sumptuous over-the-top costumes, carefully choreographed action sequences and a sleek futuristic new batmobile designed by F1’s Gordon Murray, Batman Live is a jaw-dropping feast for the eyes.
Set in Gotham City (where else?), the well-trodden story begins with the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents.
Fast-forward to an adult Bruce, we find ourselves at Haly’s Circus where 15-year-old trapeze artist Dick Grayson witnesses the brutal murder of his parents.
Wayne reluctantly agrees to shelter the boy. But intent on revenge, Grayson returns to the Big Top, only to find himself in the middle of a cunning plot by Gotham’s villains, led by The Joker, to kill Batman.
Of course, it’s the bad guys who steal the show, with Batman’s wise-cracking green-haired nemesis upstaging his criminal cohorts who include a snide, rubber-clad Catwoman, a schizophrenic Two Face and a dapper suited Penguin.
Narrative and character development have been sacrificed in favour of sheer spectacle but this is very much a show in the traditional sense, with back-flipping acrobats, magic tricks and impressive aerial stunts.
Think Cirque du Soleil with hammy sparring and corny one-liners.
Although the first entrance of Batman swooping down from the rafters was greeted with oohs and ahhs from the audience, the wire work felt a little stiff and awkward at times, with the fight scenes also suffering from a slow and robotic pace.
But aided by Sex and the City writer Allan Heinberg’s snappy script and a 100ft LED screen behind the stage which flits excitingly between scenes of Gotham and extra narrative from the graphic novels, the action never flags long enough for you to get bored.
The wholesome tone wavers during the final showdown in Arkham Asylum — a scene featuring chained corpses and a menacing stilt-wearing Scarecrow — but it’s a rare chill in a show which will mesmerise, not frighten, children.
Batman may be a lighter shade of dark for some, but there’s plenty of fun to be had for even the glummest fan of everyone’s favourite masked vigilante.
Batman Live runs at The O2 in Greenwich until Sunday. To book tickets, call 0844 856 0202 or visit theo2.co.uk
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