keaton had best bat voice and watch his mannerisms and eyes when he's in the suit, he owned the role, its the subtle things no one else brought to the table. Clooney was obviously the same person in and out of suit, no effort made whatsoever
i grew up watching Keaton as Batman so i thought i rated him so highly in the role because of sentiment but i was watching Batman Returns of tv the other day and damn, he nailed the role and you're spot on - it's his mannerisms and the subtle things that really adds it.
he's got the perfect face and expression for the character, small mouth and big eyes so in the bat suit all you see is a big pair of cold eyes staring at you with an emotionless facial expression.
its the heavy eyelids, makes him look emotionless and deadly calm!
Bale i thought made too many silly faces! but he was great too in other ways, Keaton though IS Batman!
^ Bale just ain't got the face for it like Keaton had, not to mention the voices and way they talked! Keaton all day, best ever Batman.