Batmania has been running wild this past few months or so. Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises has been a massive hit as most expected it to be, grossing almost a sqillion dollars in Norwich alone. With all hype surrounding the DKR, its easy to forgot the movie that re-invented the caped crusader on the big screen. The film that took him from wearing grey pyjamas and pissing about with inflatable sharks to the Dark Knight you see in the big budget motion pictures in 2012 was Tim Burton’s 1989 monster that was Batman. You only need to look at the cast list. Jack Nicholson, Michael Keaton, Kim Basinger, Moxy from Auf Weidensein Pet. It would have took effort for this to be anything other than thrilling for an audience used to seeing Burt Ward’s tadger sticking through his Peter Pan knickers. Of all the characters in the film, though, it was the work of Alexander Knox which has kept me buying this movie at the full price on several different formats.
Not a Stiff
Played by former stand up comedian Robert Wuhl, Knox was part comic relief and part saviour for the scene he was in. When they needed someone to leave Commission Gordon open for the unveiling of the Bat Signal or just say that famous “King of the Wicker People” show stealing line, you could count on Knox to provide the screen presence. To the best of my knowledge Knox never actually appeared in the regular DC series (he would turn up in the graphic novel based on the film). In fact, I’ve no idea where he came from. He is a reporter for the Gotham Globe, who’s passionate about his job, even though its obvious everyone from the police who blow him off with “no comment” replies to his fellow employees find him to be a complete clown. We see him at the beginning of the film, and he seems to be having fun with this whole “is there a 6 foot bat in Gotham City” story he’s been asked to report on. The lads at the Globe take the piss a bit. Cassandra’s Dad from Only Fools and Horses was into the joke so much, he drew up a caricature of a Bat dressed as one of the Rat Pack, only for quick Alex to call him a “dick” after he didn’t register it as an insult.
Batman creator Bob Kane’s artwork on display during the “What a Dick” scene
Up until this point, its arguable that this was Wuhl’s movie. You saw bits and pieces of Jack Napier and very little of Batman. You would have been forgiven to think Kim Basinger’s Vicki Vale character was in the film as reporter Knox’s love interest and not his partner in the case to find the giant Bat. Maybe she would have been, had it not been for Alexander coming across as very desperate. He works fast, you can’t deny that. In about 30 seconds he finds out she likes Bats, asks her to marry him and gets to accompany her to the big Bruce Wayne ball at Stately Wayne Manor. Although her body language is telling him he better keep his hands to himself and don’t do anything other than crack “Bruce Vain” level jokes.
BIG BROTHER: Knox and Vicki share a joke in Wayne Manor, as Batman films the action.
This is sort of the end of the Alexander Knox heavy portion of the film. He pops up every now and again, but his dialog is limited to the odd wisecrack. He’s there when the Joker jabs the pen through the gangsters throat. He asks Vale out again, but she’s obvious sick to death of him harassing her. Especially at work. A mini-outburst about Bruce being a “stiff” is met with nothing more than Vale laughing at him, thinking he’s joking. Nothing worse than the tears of a clown, who nobody takes seriously. But, his heart is in the right place. Vicki calls Knox to tell him to cue up some history on her unwanted fuck buddy Bruce Wayne. Knox gets serious for the first time in the movie as he begins to understand why Bruce Wayne is the “stiff” he accused him of.
READ ALL ABOUT IT: Knox and Vale find out the truth about Bruce’s past
Some stuff happens involving Batman and Joker following this research at the Gotham Globe. Joker wants to murder everyone in the city by gassing them using giant balloons, which is a bit of a pickle. Knox saw the headline a mile away. “Gotham’s Greed”. That headline wouldn’t have made it to the front page if the Joker had his way. Knox and Vale were observing the action as it was taking place and spotted the Smile X gas coming from the big clown balloons. Up next was the show stopper.
Knox Your Fucking Head Off: Alex lets the Joker’s goons have it.
In the script, Alexander Knox was supposed to die at the hands of the Joker. But director Tim Burton grew to like the character so much, he decided to keep him around for a sequel (which he never appeared in) or even a rumoured spin off with Sharon Stone as his love interest. In fact he was into the character so much, he let him smack a few of the Jokers villains around late on in the movie. Baseball bat in, and a dust mask over his face, he didn’t half get stuck into the bad guys. This could have been a totally different film if Vicki Vale hadn’t ran him over with her car and knocked him clean out. Maybe Batman wouldn’t have been needed at the end. Probably wouldn’t have sold as many papers, though, so Knox wasn’t beating himself up over it.
ABOVE: Finally getting his reward for his hand in good triumphing over evil
As the film came to a close, we see him in one last seen. Vickie appreciates all her partner has done for her over the course of the last 2 hours, and plants a big kiss on his wise cracking lips. No idea what he had in mind as a follow up, had it not been for his colleague calling him over to tell him he was needed at the opening of the Bat Signal. And needed he most certainly was. Knox again setting up Commissioner Gordon for the final line in the movie.
Robert Wuhl was great in this. Opinion is divided on the internet whether he was the best performer in the film or if he was a giant waste of time. There’s no argument with me. Its hard to shine with such stars desperate for screen time. One thing that angers me is the lack of merchandise featuring the character. This flick was in the Guinness Book of World Records for a long while as the most heavily merchandised movie in cinema history, and they couldn’t put a Alexander Knox figure on the shelf? Bob the Goon even had one and he said about three things. If you are a completest, you can check out these items. Could have been so much more, though. A missed opportunity.
-Ian
The Exploding Carrot 