BATMAN; Full-Tilt Review

"Tell me something, my friend. You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?" 

The Joker

Batman; the film that pioneered the "I'll take it in black" wardrobe craze which dominated the superhero genre for the following 20 years...

Synopsis:

Everybody's favorite caped vigilante is stalking the dark and rain-drenched streets of Gotham, either hospitalizing or terrifying witless the city's assorted thugs and purse-pinchers. But, in spite of this, Batman's little more than an urban-legend, swept under the carpet by the Gotham officials. Only kooky tabloid reporter Knox and radiant prize-chasing photographer Viki Vale seem interested in shedding any light on the case of the mysterious "Batman"... That is, until the arrival of the manic and deadly Joker!

Script: 1/2 - a somber yet oddly comical take on the 'revenge' movie.

Pace: 2/2 - doesn't let up.

Acting: 2/2 - pitch-perfect performances from everyone.

Aesthetic: 2/2 - spectacularly Gothic.

Intention: 2/2 - a true 'game changer'.

Score: 9/10

Tim Burton's Batman is the polar opposite of everything Nolan created with his own Dark Knight trilogy- a comically grim fairy tale!
The film is impressive for a number of reasons; the audacious and inspiring (not to mention expensive) casting of Jack Nicholson as the Joker, Michael Keaton's surprisingly excellent turn as Bruce Wayne (despite his slight physique and inexperience with action movies), as well as a foreboding visual flair which would go on to become Burton's raison d'être- but what's most incredible about the film is, and all too easy to overlook in a world now over-saturated with comic-book tie-ins, this was the first time a superhero had ever been realised on the silver-screen with the intention of being more than just family-friendly-fodder (say what you like about Reeve's Superman, but it's essentially just fluff)! Warner Brothers hurled some serious money at this project, and considering this, perhaps even more surprisingly they allowed a relatively inexperienced director to helm the film- Tim Burton, who up to this point had only completed two movies.

Critics at the time gave Batman a mediocre reception, but that's hardly surprising considering just how "bloody hell, what was that?" different it must have seemed to an audience neither acquainted with Burton or superhero films in general. Even today Burton's odd sensibilities divide cinema-goers, so compared to the more conventional action-flicks of 1989 (Lethal Weapon 2, License to Kill and Roadhouse to name but a few) Batman was something of an enfant terrible...

To my mind, the film is superb in every respect- having aged favorably (still a strikingly handsome production) and proving a refreshing antidote to the more po-faced and anxty Batmans of late. While the script may be a strictly nuts-and-bolts affair, it does deserve kudos for at least handling it's ludicrous premise of "a man dressed as a bat" with just enough 'realism' required for the plot to unfold dramatically in this fantastical setting.
Burton's been quoted on a number of occasions as saying his inspiration for the film came from 2 comics in particular; 'The Killing Joke' (the first comic Burton "ever loved") and 'The Dark Knight Returns', but I personally feel like Burton's work is more of a homage to the Golden Age of comics, and the original Bob Kane run- all Gothic towers, pinstriped gangsters and absurd gadgetry! 'The Killing Joke' and 'The Dark Knight Returns' would seem to have been more directly influential on Nolan's franchise, favoring a more gritty and realistic world dominated by city-wide corruption and a steel skyline.
Despite making good money, it took film studios a further decade, with the release of X-men and Spiderman, to realise that comic-books could prove to be a lucrative industry.

So, in closing; ground-breaking, striking, surreal and with  a strong line in marcarbe humor, Burton's Batman has stood the test of time and remains one of the more successful interpretations of the character to date.