Pjtaylor-96-138044
Though often heralded as a highlight of the genre, this early example of a superhero flick hasn't held up well even when compared to its similarly aged peers mainly thanks to its lax pacing. 'Batman (1989)' places much more emphasis on a relatively dull, hum-drum background 'Bruce Wayne' plot than any of its actual bombastic bat-based elements, with the only joy in the Gothic goings-on coming in when the piece pulls back on the sincerity and decides it's time to get nuts. It's when its ostentatious side turns front and centre that it can be almost ironically enjoyed, for at all other times it is actually genuinely quite boring. There is one seriously good aspect, though, and that's Jack Nicholson's 'Joker'. Here, he is treated as the focal point, even receiving the origin story over the eponymous hero beginning with a nice little bait-and-switch, so much so that he steals the show in the most literal sense and it's a crying shame every time we're wrenched away from his campy yet callous criminal acts to focus on an unfortunately uncharismatic lead. 5/10
Jared Curtis
"Batman" is a franchise with a gigantic mythos that has spanned across various mediums with hundreds upon hundreds of contributors over the years, so naturally with each iteration there are going to be new ideas and variations. Tim Burton's 1989 "Batman" film is no exception, and this is not necessarily a bad thing. A lot of this is done very right- the scene design is very classic Gotham, and very intriguing, maintaining that signature gritty and gray smoggy city image while still architecturally interesting. The costume and prop designs are very comic book, Joker and Batman really pop out and look how they would in a comic, instead of having their colors muted to be more "realistic". There are some choices made here and there that are just kind of brilliant to me- when the news anchors have to not wear makeup and hairspray, I thought it was such a nice and darkly funny touch. As far as the acting goes, the performances here range from okay to phenomenal, with Jack Nicholson being the standout. His performance here is absolutely fantastic, and the range he maintains as Joker is amazing. Kim Bassinger's performance as Vikki Vale is also very good, and she makes good use of her plentiful screen time, with Robert Wuhl, Michael Gough, and Pat Hingle deliver solid performances as Alexander Knox, Alfred Pennyworth, and Commissioner Gordon, respectively. Michael Keaton as Batman/Bruce Wayne, however, doesn't do much for me. Keaton is by no means a bad actor, but he fails to deliver a lot of the personality traits that make Wayne and Batman so interesting as individual parts of the man's personality, and the way that these roles are portrayed are both very level with very little variation between the two. Keaton barely talks throughout the whole film, which doesn't help as he's on screen almost the entire time, and when he does speak, he doesn't really say anything that's very interesting or helpful. This becomes a problem as the film mostly just cycles between focusing on Wayne/Batman, Joker and his gang, Vikki Vale, or Knox, and because Joker is the most fun to watch, I found myself just waiting for him to be on screen again. My whole impression of this film is that it's just strange. It makes a lot of variations to the Batman mythos (no spoilers here, don't worry), that aren't necessarily bad choices, but they don't add a whole lot, particularly the changes made to Bruce's origin story. I do like some the changes that they made to the Joker, although the whole "secret identity" piece for him doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I actually didn't realize until AFTER I watched it that it was intended that people except for Bruce didn't know who he was- that really makes no sense. Come to think of it, the way that Bruce Wayne's identity is handled really makes no sense to- especially from the people in his inner circle (Alfred, seriously?) The biggest thing I had with this film is that I couldn't figure out the tone it wanted to have. Nicholson's Joker is great, but he's not extremely menacing per say, as he's just a big goof with a gun. And chemicals. And a bunch of goons. We can tell he's dangerous, but he's still kind of predictable. He mugs at somebody, makes some jokes, and then kills them, rinse repeat. The film has a gloomy tone, but it's shot a lot like a mainstream film, not doing a whole lot particularly new in the cinematography department, and the tone is kind of all over the place, so the emotion that's trying to be instilled is never really achieved, but this kind of seemed on purpose? This is what really confuses me. There's a lot of quiet talking, and then all of sudden Joker just kind of pops up with a bunch of dudes playing some Prince music and dances around, and you can tell Nicholson's really putting in his all here, but it just doesn't hit the mark I think that they should have been going for. He's not scary, really, he's just fun. There's also a handful of plot inconsistencies, as well as full on plot holes, that don't necessarily bring the film down, but they are certainly there. With the addition of a few hammy lines, a runtime that feels a little bloated, as well as some under utilized supporting cast (it feels like Harvey Dent and Commissioner Gordon are just here because you're supposed to have them for a Batman story, and I really think Dent could've been dropped altogether, although I did want to see more of Gordon), the movie gets dragged to just being a strange, yet fun time. Really what this comes down to, for me, is style over substance- the design is great, and fits the intent well, but the acting is just overall good, not great, and the plot really couldn't get me to care a whole lot at all. I would recommend this film for any Batman fan, and any film fan, really, if not just to see Nicholson's performance, because as I keep saying, he is SO fun to watch. 7.2/10
