Batman
Batman (1989)
Director: Tim Burton
Cast: Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl, Pat Hingle, Billy Dee Williams, Michael Gough, Jack Palance
Writers: Bob Kane (Batman Characters), Sam Hamm (story, screenplay), Warren Skaaren (screenplay)
Synopsis:
Batman (Keaton) tries to stop the Joker (Nicholson) from poisoning the citizens of Gotham and interfering with the city's 200th anniversary celebration. The caped crusader is helped by the peppy photojournalist, Vicki Vale (Basinger) and his loyal butler Alfred (Gough). The Dark Knight soon learns a painful truth about the Joker's connection with his dark past and the film culminates in a showdown between Batman and the Clown Prince of Crime atop a cathedral bell-tower.
Batman (Keaton) tries to stop the Joker (Nicholson) from poisoning the citizens of Gotham and interfering with the city's 200th anniversary celebration. The caped crusader is helped by the peppy photojournalist, Vicki Vale (Basinger) and his loyal butler Alfred (Gough). The Dark Knight soon learns a painful truth about the Joker's connection with his dark past and the film culminates in a showdown between Batman and the Clown Prince of Crime atop a cathedral bell-tower.
First Impressions:
I was 13 years old when this movie came out and remember being so excited to see it. I quite enjoyed the film, so much so that the following Christmas my brother gave me a copy of it on VHS as a gift (the first movie I ever actually owned). Being a huge comic book fan, I was so into this movie and I wore that VHS tape out. Next to the Star Wars movies, I've probably seen this film more than any other. It's been around 10 years since I've seen it last, so it's time to see whether it still holds up.
Story:
Full disclosure, I'm a huge comic book fan and there's a lot of things that this movie does that contradict the source material. Now, I know film and comic book are two separate mediums but to me, a good comic book movie treats its source-material with reverence so I will be taking those inconsistencies into consideration.
Now, onto the particulars. This film was pretty much the first movie since Richard Donner's Superman and Superman II to take comic book heroes somewhat seriously, however, the film's story is still pretty silly. The concept of the Joker poisoning the cosmetic products in Gotham City is almost something you'd see in the old Adam West TV show. Despite the silly plot, however, there are still some good things here.
First of all, the movie skips over Batman's well-known origin story and starts with him already well into his war on crime. Instead of showing the tragic deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne, as one might expect, Burton decides to show us a similar scenario, with a couple and their young son being mugged while cutting through a dark alley after exiting the theater (why people always do this in movies is beyond me). Instead of the encounter ending in murder, the family is merely mugged, with the father lying unconscious on the pavement. It's a nice little misdirect by Burton and sets up how bad Gotham has sunk and also provides a suitable entry point for the hero as he brings the muggers to justice.
My major beef with the film is how the characters were written. At this point in history, Batman had been around for more than 50 years, so many of the characters had been well established in the comic books. It seemed as if the writers fundamentally misunderstood a lot of the major characters. Take Joker for example. I know the Joker is a tough character to write well because he's psychotic, but in this film his motivations jump from jealousy of Batman, to desire for Vicki Vale, to wanting to kill people as a new form of art. Maybe the shifting motivations were some way to show the Joker's mental instability but to me it just came off as insincere. It didn't stop there either, instead of being a suave playboy billionaire, Bruce Wayne was written as a bumbling awkward weirdo and commissioner Gordon, who in the comics is an extremely competent police officer, is kind of just a dope.
"Can somebody tell me what kind of a world we live in, where a man dressed up as a BAT gets all of my press?"
Full disclosure, I'm a huge comic book fan and there's a lot of things that this movie does that contradict the source material. Now, I know film and comic book are two separate mediums but to me, a good comic book movie treats its source-material with reverence so I will be taking those inconsistencies into consideration.
Now, onto the particulars. This film was pretty much the first movie since Richard Donner's Superman and Superman II to take comic book heroes somewhat seriously, however, the film's story is still pretty silly. The concept of the Joker poisoning the cosmetic products in Gotham City is almost something you'd see in the old Adam West TV show. Despite the silly plot, however, there are still some good things here.
First of all, the movie skips over Batman's well-known origin story and starts with him already well into his war on crime. Instead of showing the tragic deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne, as one might expect, Burton decides to show us a similar scenario, with a couple and their young son being mugged while cutting through a dark alley after exiting the theater (why people always do this in movies is beyond me). Instead of the encounter ending in murder, the family is merely mugged, with the father lying unconscious on the pavement. It's a nice little misdirect by Burton and sets up how bad Gotham has sunk and also provides a suitable entry point for the hero as he brings the muggers to justice.
My major beef with the film is how the characters were written. At this point in history, Batman had been around for more than 50 years, so many of the characters had been well established in the comic books. It seemed as if the writers fundamentally misunderstood a lot of the major characters. Take Joker for example. I know the Joker is a tough character to write well because he's psychotic, but in this film his motivations jump from jealousy of Batman, to desire for Vicki Vale, to wanting to kill people as a new form of art. Maybe the shifting motivations were some way to show the Joker's mental instability but to me it just came off as insincere. It didn't stop there either, instead of being a suave playboy billionaire, Bruce Wayne was written as a bumbling awkward weirdo and commissioner Gordon, who in the comics is an extremely competent police officer, is kind of just a dope.
Acting:
The acting is where this movie redeems itself a lot, despite the poorly-written characters. First off, Nicholson is fantastic as the Joker. I know people will always hold Heath Ledger's turn at the character as the gold-standard, but I'll be honest, I prefer Nicholson's take. Don't get me wrong, Ledger was a great actor and he did a great job in the role, but I just felt Nicholson hit all of the notes one is supposed to hit with the character. Yes, he's menacing and scary but he's also ridiculous and goofy and flies by the seat of his pants. To me, Nicholson hit all those marks and that's why he gets the slight edge over Heath.
I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up Michael Keaton's turn as Batman/Bruce Wayne. I remember there being a lot of anger regarding this casting when it was announced as Keaton was more well known for his comedic movies and it was unclear whether he could pull off such a dark role. Ironically, I thought Keaton was very good as the Dark Knight but I thought he was a bit miscast as Bruce Wayne. Mind you, some of that may be due to the aforementioned poor writing of the character but I just though Keaton was a bit too quirky to play Gotham's most eligible bachelor.
The rest of the cast is hit or miss. Basinger does pretty good as Vicki Vale and even though she gets turned into the damsel in distress at the end, she still holds her own against both Nicholson and Keaton. Michal Gough shines as Alfred and when I think about the Waynes' loyal butler the face I usually picture is Gough's. The film basically wastes the talents of Billy Dee Williams as DA Harvey Dent as he's given only a few lines and very little to do. It would have been interesting to see what he would have done as Two-Face had Burton gotten that far in the franchise. Robert Wuhl does alright as reporter Alexander Knox but is relegated pretty much to comic relief duties. Finally, Jack Palance makes an appearance as mobster Carl Grissom and he's...well, he's Jack Palance. I've not seen many movies of his during his heyday but by this point it seemed like he was just there to collect a paycheck.
I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up Michael Keaton's turn as Batman/Bruce Wayne. I remember there being a lot of anger regarding this casting when it was announced as Keaton was more well known for his comedic movies and it was unclear whether he could pull off such a dark role. Ironically, I thought Keaton was very good as the Dark Knight but I thought he was a bit miscast as Bruce Wayne. Mind you, some of that may be due to the aforementioned poor writing of the character but I just though Keaton was a bit too quirky to play Gotham's most eligible bachelor.
The rest of the cast is hit or miss. Basinger does pretty good as Vicki Vale and even though she gets turned into the damsel in distress at the end, she still holds her own against both Nicholson and Keaton. Michal Gough shines as Alfred and when I think about the Waynes' loyal butler the face I usually picture is Gough's. The film basically wastes the talents of Billy Dee Williams as DA Harvey Dent as he's given only a few lines and very little to do. It would have been interesting to see what he would have done as Two-Face had Burton gotten that far in the franchise. Robert Wuhl does alright as reporter Alexander Knox but is relegated pretty much to comic relief duties. Finally, Jack Palance makes an appearance as mobster Carl Grissom and he's...well, he's Jack Palance. I've not seen many movies of his during his heyday but by this point it seemed like he was just there to collect a paycheck.
Visual/Special
Effects:
The visual effects in this film are hit and miss. There's some pretty good model work and some pretty crappy early CGI used in some odd places. At one point early in the film, there's an overhead shot of Batman standing on a rooftop and turning around. Instead of just getting a guy into the suit (it didn't even have to be Keaton because it was a wide shot almost entirely in shadow) and filming him turning around, the filmmakers thought it would be a good place to try CGI. I have no idea why but it looks awful.
The production design in this movie is fantastic, however, as is the case with most of Burton's films. Gotham City looks like some sort of Gothic dystopia (natch) with tall buildings made of concrete and with very few windows. This is one area where the filmmakers stuck pretty close to the source material as the movie's Gotham City feels very much like the one depicted in the comics, a dark, gritty and dangerous place.
The makeup is also pretty solid and they did a great job in making Nicholson look like the Joker might actually look in real life. The costumes were also pretty good, with the Batsuit keeping pretty close to the comic except for the color scheme (not a big fan of the all black).
The production design in this movie is fantastic, however, as is the case with most of Burton's films. Gotham City looks like some sort of Gothic dystopia (natch) with tall buildings made of concrete and with very few windows. This is one area where the filmmakers stuck pretty close to the source material as the movie's Gotham City feels very much like the one depicted in the comics, a dark, gritty and dangerous place.
The makeup is also pretty solid and they did a great job in making Nicholson look like the Joker might actually look in real life. The costumes were also pretty good, with the Batsuit keeping pretty close to the comic except for the color scheme (not a big fan of the all black).
Score/Music:
The music of this film is definitely a love/hate thing for me. I think Danny Elfman's Batman theme is iconic and stands up alongside John Williams' Superman theme as some of the best pieces of music in cinema, let alone comic book movies. Elfman just manages to nail the mood of the character with the score and I think it's a homerun.
However....I can't stand the soundtrack of the film done by Prince. Now, nothing against the man, but his music just isn't my thing. I'm positive the reason why he was involved at all was because at that time, comic book movies weren't a sure thing yet and having one of the most popular musical acts of the 80s would help sell tickets...and merchandise. To me, the light popiness of Prince's music just contrasted too much with the dark themes of Elfman's score and tended to take me out of the film.
However....I can't stand the soundtrack of the film done by Prince. Now, nothing against the man, but his music just isn't my thing. I'm positive the reason why he was involved at all was because at that time, comic book movies weren't a sure thing yet and having one of the most popular musical acts of the 80s would help sell tickets...and merchandise. To me, the light popiness of Prince's music just contrasted too much with the dark themes of Elfman's score and tended to take me out of the film.
Action:
When I first saw this movie, I thought the action scenes were great but 30 years later I find them kind of...meh. Perhaps it's because I've been spoiled by some of the more big-budget comic book movies of today, but I just thought that the action was a little flat. The fight scenes were particularly egregious, I mean, Batman is supposed to be one of the world's greatest hand-to-hand combatants but the fight scenes he's involved in were kind of lame, with him throwing a few punches and the occasional kick. It might have had something to do with the suit limiting Keaton's movement but I don't know for sure. There was also a wasted opportunity for a decent car chase with the Batmobile but it was abbreviated and disappointing.
I also have to take issue with Batman's policy on killing people in this film. One of the longest running traits of the character is that he never kills (yes I know he's done it before but it's very, VERY rare). However, in this film Burton just flushes that down the toilet and has Batman murder dozens of Joker's goons. I know you have to make some changes when adapting books to movies but changing a character's defining character trait seems, well, stupid.
I also have to take issue with Batman's policy on killing people in this film. One of the longest running traits of the character is that he never kills (yes I know he's done it before but it's very, VERY rare). However, in this film Burton just flushes that down the toilet and has Batman murder dozens of Joker's goons. I know you have to make some changes when adapting books to movies but changing a character's defining character trait seems, well, stupid.
Final Verdict:
I'll be honest here, I was pretty disappointed on this viewing and this is definitely a case of my perceptions being altered by nostalgia goggles. I still find Batman enjoyable but it's definately lost much of it's sheen.
I'll be honest here, I was pretty disappointed on this viewing and this is definitely a case of my perceptions being altered by nostalgia goggles. I still find Batman enjoyable but it's definately lost much of it's sheen.
Comments
Post a Comment