What a year it’s been so far for Michael Keaton, eh? The co-star of American Assassin, out this week in cinemas, continues experiencing something of a career resurgence which hit fever pitch in this summer’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, where he was arguably a highlight as everyman villain The Vulture.
Let’s take a look at the career of Keaton, one of the most consistent leading men and character actors in Hollywood, because it hasn’t always been this smooth sailing over the last three decades Keaton has been around, not since his signature starring role.
BATMAN (1989)
Coming a year after his starring role as Betelgeuse in Tim Burton’s 1988 cult hit Beetlejuice, Keaton followed Burton into the first major superhero picture committed to celluloid that wasn’t played for camp laughs or on a cheap, shoestring budget since Richard Donner’s seminal Superman a decade earlier.
Batman was the real deal; a neo-Gothic tour de-force adaptation of Bob Kane’s legendary comic with Keaton as casual billionaire Bruce Wayne and the Caped Crusader himself. Sure, Keaton may be overshadowed by Jack Nicholson’s Joker (who also got top billing) but the role, followed up in 1992’s sequel Batman Returns, cemented him as a star of the incoming 1990’s.
MULTIPLICITY (1995)
There’s a strong argument Keaton didn’t really capitalise on the success of both Batman pictures, before he left the series when Burton didn’t return for 1995’s Batman Forever. He played as part of Kenneth Branagh’s ensemble in 1993’s Shakespeare-adaptation Much Ado About Nothing and this penchant for light comedy and romance seemed to follow him more than a return to the action stylistics of Batman; 1994’s The Paper by Ron Howard or Multiplicty in 1995, from Harold Ramis, alongside Andie MacDowell. Keaton was playing it safe, leaning back on his laconic, edgy charm, much like Matthew McConaughey did before his McConnaisance.
JACKIE BROWN (1997)
Keaton’s turning point came, like so many actors, through Quentin Tarantino. His third (and still possibly best) film Jackie Brown landed Keaton the plum role of Federal Agent Ray Nicolette, joining an ensemble of character actors who ate up Tarantino’s usual flair for dialogue, only improved given he was adapting Elmore Leonard (Keaton, uncredited, would even reprise Nicolette for Steven Soderbergh a year later in his adaptation of Leonard’s Out of Sight).
Once again, however, Keaton didn’t seem to capitalise on a darker, gritter potential career route; subsequent years were fallow, with roles in the poor Christmas kids film Jack Frost and odd, ‘Robert Duvall manages a Scottish football team’ project, A Shot at Glory. From starring opposite Robert de Niro to Ally McCoist in three years.
HERBIE: FULLY LOADED (2005)
The 2000’s didn’t really do much for Keaton, who got a bit lost in the Hollywood machine. Voice work on King of the Hill or the odd appearance on shows like Frasier were coupled with non-entity projects barely anyone saw; 2003’s Quicksand with Michael Caine, 2004’s First Daughter alongside Katie Holmes, 2005’s creepy but unremarkable chiller White Noise, culminating in 2005’s Herbie: Fully Loaded opposite Lindsay Lohan. Oh how the mighty Bat had fallen.
Keaton did try his hand at other things, such as 2007’s espionage mini-series The Company alongside Alfred Molina & Chris “I could have been your Robin” O’Donnell, and he even directed as well as starred in 2008’s The Merry Gentlemen, but again the A-list seemed to have eluded him.
BIRDMAN (OR THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE) (2014)
Things did start to pick up for the ex-Bat in the 2010’s with a few savvier career choices. Getting involved on the voice side with Pixar wasn’t a bad start, with 2006’s Cars and then as Ken in Toy Story 3. He appeared alongside Will Ferrell & Mark Wahlberg in 2010’s genuinely funny comedy The Other Guys, before essaying a few bad guy roles in 2014’s Need for Speed adaptation of the EA video game opposite Aaron Paul, and the Jose Padhilla remake of Robocop (which wasn’t half as bad as everyone made it out to be). At the end of that year came the film that propelled him back to true recognition.
Birdman (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) was a typical Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu film – considered pretentious nonsense but some and near genius by others, Keaton nonetheless delivers a searingly good performance as a failed actor, satirising his own clouded history as being mainly known as Batman. Though he won the Golden Globe, the Best Actor Oscar eluded him, despite a nomination. Keaton was now feted amongst Hollywood, and more doors began opening again.
SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (2017)
Keaton landed himself another major recognition performance in Tom McCarthy’s 2015 (and quite brilliant) Oscar darling Spotlight, part of a talented ensemble, leading to 2016’s The Founder in which he played the key advertising salesman crucial to the founding of McDonald’s restaurants across America and then the world. Perhaps noticing how well Keaton can channel that quirky, fast-talking energy within his natural performances into playing villains, Marvel approached him to portray the Vulture in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming—a well-received film in which Keaton’s performance was recognised as amongst the most impressive in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. There is every chance he could return to menace Peter Parker again in future.
So what lies next for Keaton, now his middle-aged career resurgence seems firmly assured? He will re-team with Tim Burton after all these years, playing the bad guy in Burton’s live-action remake of Dumbo, and if the team behind American Assassin have their way and launch a franchise around Dylan O’Brien’s espionage agent, he could well be playing in more than just Marvel’s franchise sandbox. One thing is for certain – Keaton is without doubt Bat from the dead and here to stay.
What did you think of American Assassin? And what are your favourite Michael Keaton performances? Let us know!