Review of Batman (1989) by Ben B — 19 Jun 2016

Batman stars Michael Keaton as the guy we all know and love. Jack Nicholson takes a turn as the Joker, a villainous crime lord with aims to control Gotham City. When people talk superhero movies, this one always comes to mind for its legacy in the genre. There's a lot to love about it: Burton and Nicholson are fantastic, Danny Elfman's film score is timeless (even being used for the Animated Series inspired by the movie), and Burton's production design is breathtaking. Burton succeeds in turning Gotham City into a living, breathing character with its gritty dark alleys and scummy civilians. However, it feels like Burton spent so much time on the production design that he forgot to make an entertaining movie. I was fighting to stay focused on this 2-hour flick, which is never a problem for me and superhero movies. There just wasn't anything to chew on here; Batman and Joker were incredibly one-dimensional (to the fault of the screenwriters, not the actors), and the supporting cast did nothing to add to the movie. Kim Basinger played the damsel in distress to an effective eye-roll, and the original mob boss, played by Jack Palance, was laughably overplayed.

I looked into the background of this movie, and the reason the script was so sloppy and boring is because of the relationship between Burton and the screenwriters/producers. This movie took nearly 10 years to finally make and was green-lit thanks to the success of gritty Batman comics The Killing Joke and The Dark Knight Returns (go read both!), and the studio wanted Burton's dark, edgy approach for their property. Burton wanted certain things the studio didn't want, and vice-versa. In the end, the producers made changes without Burton's approval, which hurt the final product. What made matters more difficult was Jack Nicholson's demands. Nicholson was at the top of his game, so it took a LOT of money and little things like having final say in his shooting schedule so that he could go to Lakers games to sign him on to the project. Burton himself has gone on record to say that shooting this movie was one of the worst experiences of his career, and it shows. The movie is watchable and a sight to behold, and it definitely laid the groundwork for superhero movies to come, but the movie itself isn't enough to get excited about.