Directed by:
Tim BurtonCinematography:
Roger PrattComposer:
Danny ElfmanCast:
Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl, Pat Hingle, Billy Dee Williams, Michael Gough, Jerry Hall, Jack Palance, Tracey Walter, Lee Wallace (more)VOD (5)
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After a young boy witnesses his parents' murder on the streets of Gotham City, he grows up to become the Batman, a mysterious figure in the eyes of Gotham's citizens, who takes crime-fighting into his own hands. He first emerges out of the shadows when the Joker appears -- a horribly disfigured individual who is out for revenge on his former employer and generally likes to have a good time, but the identity of the `bat' is unknown. Perhaps millionaire Bruce Wayne and photographer Vicki Vale have a good chance of finding out? (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (8)
I have to say that this film doesn't make as much of an impression on me now as it did when I was a child. I thought it was much darker back then. This is why it's better to watch Burton's films as a child. They have a much stronger impact on you then. Nothing changes the fact that Jack Nicholson is still excellent, and this Batman adaptation has nothing to be ashamed of.
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A legend. I prefer the new Batman of the new millennium, but this is a proper classic. An excellent cast, "gothic" music by Danny Elfman, and a demonic Jack Nicholson. The set and production design are slightly theatrical, but that’s fine. This film has a overall different feeling than the polished and realistic comic book movies of today. It's a different era and a different vision of the director. Tim Burton is an eccentric and he made an eccentric film. The gloomy atmosphere is hard to surpass.
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Batman 89 came to theaters after a long dry spell since Batman 66. In the meantime, there had been a sea of events in the realm of DC Comics adaptations. In the 1970s, Superman and Wonder Woman were doing fairly well, but by the 1980s, Superman wasn't working anymore, and even Supergirl failed to succeed. Tim Burton had to first prove his mettle with Beetlejuice. But eventually, everything came together, and the cult of Batman 89 lives on, most recently in the modern Flash. Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, and Kim Basinger (playing the newly iconic character Vicki Vale, already known from Batman and Robin) reign over the dark tale set in the neo-Gothic Gotham. The story is inspired by contemporary literary works, "The Dark Knight Returns" (1986) and "The Killing Joke" (1988). Many references allude to German expressionism, to The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Metropolis. And today, of course, new comic book continuations of the Batman 89 universe are being released. A genre classic.
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The biggest problem for me was the choice of director. I can't help but find Tim Burton's style terribly dull, and his Batman lacks pace, insight, and everything else that would adorn Nolan's dynamic spectacle 15 years later. Michael Keaton was bland and demonic, Jack Nicholson's flawless performance wasn't enough either. At least Kim Basinger was nice to look at....60%
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Burton gives the impression of a man who is on his home turf, as if the visual freedom of the comics had untied his hands and allowed the film to be legitimately saturated with his peculiar vision. Batman is thus a film in the best Burton tradition, full of great shots and bold artistic solutions, which give the whole an unmistakable atmosphere on the edge between a fairy tale, a horror and creative phantasmagoria. The cynical allusions to mass character and manipulability are also excellent, as well as a great comic insert with editorial staff not wearing any makeup. However, the centerpiece of the film remains "the man with two faces" Michael Keaton (the duality really suits him) and especially Jack Nicholson's Joker, whose contagiously extravagant conception of a new deadly avantgarde is among the best villain mannerisms in the history of film. Batman feels modern for its time, as if the film was ahead of the period development and belonged more to the current wave of comic book adaptations, with all the ease, visual pickiness and resistance to vain heroism. Unfortunately, the story of the film is far too sparse, has no gradation and near the end it contains boring and purely self-serving spots, and although Burton's film vision shines, there is no tension... Batman Returns suffered from a very similar syndrome. Nevertheless, I rank the introductory adventures of the Batman on the pedestal of comic book adaptations as a film that set the direction. And I ask why Nolan et al. feel the need to retell it?
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