The story of Batman is a story full of ups and downs, surprises and disappointments, redeems and crashes. Of all superheroes, Batman is probably the one who had the most interesting and hectic career so far. Since his debut in the American comic books in 1939, the Dark Knight never stopped from catching the imagination of youngsters and not-so-young-sters, should it be with comic books, TV series, toys, collecting items and so on...
But it's probably the 1989 film by Tim Burton that remains the height of Batman's career. It's by far the most profitable work in the history of the Dark Knight and also maybe the most representative, because it's its visions of the superhero and of Gotham City that still predominate in popular culture, even after the release of the Christopher Nolan movie "Batman Begins" in 2005.
In this super-production from director Tim Burton, it's Michael Keaton who pulls on Batman's cape and the suit of Bruce Wayne. In Gotham City, everybody knows Wayne, since he is a very wealthy man with a philanthropic side and living in a sumptuous mansion with his butler Alfred (Michael Gough).
However, for the majority of the city's inhabitants, Batman is only a rumor and those who claim to have seen him appear as credible as people who pretend to have seen Bigfoot, extra-terrestrials or the Loch Ness monster.
In this first movie, Batman's adversary is none other than the Joker (Jack Nicholson). An interesting fact: it's for the moment the only Batman film to have only one villain. But we have to admit that it would have been a shame to team up the Joker with another criminal who wouldn't be able to handle a candle for him.
At the beginning of the movie, the Joker is Jack Napier, the right-hand man to gangster boss Carl Grissom, played by Jack Palance. Grissom is responsible of the corruption of many policemen throughout the city. One night, Grissom sets up a plan to kill Jack via the corrupted police, best exampled by Lt. Eckhart (William Hootkins). However, with Batman's intervention, a chain of events will lead to the birth of the Clown Prince of Crime himself.
If the movie has been such a great success, it's because it works on numerous levels. And it all begins with the actors.
If it's Jack Nicholson who is the top billed actor on the posters and in the opening title sequence, it's not for nothing. He's by far the best actor of the movie. While he's just correct as a simple gangster, his Joker transformation allows him to truly reveal his extraordinary abilities. Wearing his ceaseless grin, his purple and teal costume, his clownish make-up and his green hair, Nicholson adds even more with his manic character and his extremely macabre humor, trademark from director Burton.
Michael Keaton, who was under-estimated because of his comedic roles, is very surprising. His Bruce Wayne character is pleasantly mysterious and tortured, often making forget that he is a millionaire and owner of a large company (which is not even mentioned at all in the whole movie).
Robert Wuhl, another comedian turned dramatic actor, is also efficient in his role of a serious and shrewd journalist who tries to break the Batman mystery.
Kim Basinger plays Vicki Vale, a photojournalist who works with Wuhl, but she falls in love with Bruce Wayne. Her performance is correct, but Keaton and her visibly develop no chemistry.
If there's another character that should be added to that list, it's Gotham City itself. Designed with a master hand by Anton Furst and Peter Young, Gotham's architecture blends post-modernism and German expressionism to perfection, creating a unique mix of "Blade Runner" and "Metropolis". And the sinister look of the skyscrapers and the buildings reflects pretty well what's happening in the streets of the city. At the beginning of the movie, we see tramps searching garbage cans, prostitutes wandering in the streets and bandits attacking everymen, making alleys hazardous places.
The Batmobile and the Batwing are also mentionable.
The soundtrack and the songs are simply remarkable. Danny Elfman's music is terribly contagious and Prince's songs are not only good, they're placed at the right place at the right moment. We only have to think of the museum sequence in which the Joker and his thugs commit an obnoxious crime : vandalizing and destroying artworks.
There's also that iconic scene where the Joker throws $20 million to the people in Gotham's main street and kills them thereafter. The image of a man falling to his death with bills in his hands is especially striking.
The Joker is probably the greatest villain we have ever seen in a comic-book adaptation. And because of the magnitude of Nicholson's performance, it is doubtful that somebody could beat him someday.
"Batman" is full of classic moments and it would be almost impossible to list them all. It's difficult to say whether it's the greatest superhero film ever or not, but it's undoubtedly the one which launched the superhero movie trend, which still goes on stronger than ever today.
"Batman" is strewn with little imperfections here and there, but we hardly notice them and they have little impact on the movie's quality. Despite these insignificant mistakes, the legacy of "Batman" is almost impossible to estimate. And even if Christopher Nolan gave a different direction to the franchise with, should it be said, an excellent movie ("Batman Begins"), he has failed to replace the imagery from Burton's vision in popular culture. And that's what gives to Burton's movie even more prestige.
But it's probably the 1989 film by Tim Burton that remains the height of Batman's career. It's by far the most profitable work in the history of the Dark Knight and also maybe the most representative, because it's its visions of the superhero and of Gotham City that still predominate in popular culture, even after the release of the Christopher Nolan movie "Batman Begins" in 2005.
In this super-production from director Tim Burton, it's Michael Keaton who pulls on Batman's cape and the suit of Bruce Wayne. In Gotham City, everybody knows Wayne, since he is a very wealthy man with a philanthropic side and living in a sumptuous mansion with his butler Alfred (Michael Gough).
However, for the majority of the city's inhabitants, Batman is only a rumor and those who claim to have seen him appear as credible as people who pretend to have seen Bigfoot, extra-terrestrials or the Loch Ness monster.
In this first movie, Batman's adversary is none other than the Joker (Jack Nicholson). An interesting fact: it's for the moment the only Batman film to have only one villain. But we have to admit that it would have been a shame to team up the Joker with another criminal who wouldn't be able to handle a candle for him.
At the beginning of the movie, the Joker is Jack Napier, the right-hand man to gangster boss Carl Grissom, played by Jack Palance. Grissom is responsible of the corruption of many policemen throughout the city. One night, Grissom sets up a plan to kill Jack via the corrupted police, best exampled by Lt. Eckhart (William Hootkins). However, with Batman's intervention, a chain of events will lead to the birth of the Clown Prince of Crime himself.
If the movie has been such a great success, it's because it works on numerous levels. And it all begins with the actors.
If it's Jack Nicholson who is the top billed actor on the posters and in the opening title sequence, it's not for nothing. He's by far the best actor of the movie. While he's just correct as a simple gangster, his Joker transformation allows him to truly reveal his extraordinary abilities. Wearing his ceaseless grin, his purple and teal costume, his clownish make-up and his green hair, Nicholson adds even more with his manic character and his extremely macabre humor, trademark from director Burton.
Michael Keaton, who was under-estimated because of his comedic roles, is very surprising. His Bruce Wayne character is pleasantly mysterious and tortured, often making forget that he is a millionaire and owner of a large company (which is not even mentioned at all in the whole movie).
Robert Wuhl, another comedian turned dramatic actor, is also efficient in his role of a serious and shrewd journalist who tries to break the Batman mystery.
Kim Basinger plays Vicki Vale, a photojournalist who works with Wuhl, but she falls in love with Bruce Wayne. Her performance is correct, but Keaton and her visibly develop no chemistry.
If there's another character that should be added to that list, it's Gotham City itself. Designed with a master hand by Anton Furst and Peter Young, Gotham's architecture blends post-modernism and German expressionism to perfection, creating a unique mix of "Blade Runner" and "Metropolis". And the sinister look of the skyscrapers and the buildings reflects pretty well what's happening in the streets of the city. At the beginning of the movie, we see tramps searching garbage cans, prostitutes wandering in the streets and bandits attacking everymen, making alleys hazardous places.
The Batmobile and the Batwing are also mentionable.
The soundtrack and the songs are simply remarkable. Danny Elfman's music is terribly contagious and Prince's songs are not only good, they're placed at the right place at the right moment. We only have to think of the museum sequence in which the Joker and his thugs commit an obnoxious crime : vandalizing and destroying artworks.
There's also that iconic scene where the Joker throws $20 million to the people in Gotham's main street and kills them thereafter. The image of a man falling to his death with bills in his hands is especially striking.
The Joker is probably the greatest villain we have ever seen in a comic-book adaptation. And because of the magnitude of Nicholson's performance, it is doubtful that somebody could beat him someday.
"Batman" is full of classic moments and it would be almost impossible to list them all. It's difficult to say whether it's the greatest superhero film ever or not, but it's undoubtedly the one which launched the superhero movie trend, which still goes on stronger than ever today.
"Batman" is strewn with little imperfections here and there, but we hardly notice them and they have little impact on the movie's quality. Despite these insignificant mistakes, the legacy of "Batman" is almost impossible to estimate. And even if Christopher Nolan gave a different direction to the franchise with, should it be said, an excellent movie ("Batman Begins"), he has failed to replace the imagery from Burton's vision in popular culture. And that's what gives to Burton's movie even more prestige.
