Alright, let me tell you: I loved this movie when I was a kid. My mother introduced me to it when I was young, noticing my love of the comic books. When she told me that there was a live-action version of my favorite hero, I nearly shat my pants. Could it be? Can there exist a comic book brought to life by Hollywood? Well, let’s find out:
The opening credits are exquisitely done with a camera winding through a stone labyrinth. The camera finally starts to pull out from the maze, slowly showing that the maze isn’t a grouping of random twists and turns. Rather, it is a deliberate shape. As we pull completely out, we finally see the infamous Bat Symbol. AWESOME!
The opening scene starts with an obviously out-of-town family, walking the streets of Gotham. Even this small role is well portrayed. Watching this makes you feel the panic that said family is feeling, nervous about what might happen to them. They, eventually, are robbed by Nic and Eddie, two down-and-out guys looking for a quick payday. They escape to a staple of any Burton film, a large gothic building, to count their loot.
Within minutes, Batman descends upon the rooftop, surprising the thugs. Nic shoots Batman, knocking him on his @ss, only to pop up and take out Eddie with an epic kick. Batman dangles Nic over the edge of the building when he asks Nic to tell his friends about him. When asked what he is, Batman famously replies, “I’m Batman.”
All I can say is: What a great way to open up the film. From the beginning, you can clearly see Burton’s style oozing from this movie. With the awesomely predictable Danny Elfman score, the tone is set for the remainder of this movie. We are about to embark on a dark and twisted tale. Already, I can tell that Michael Keaton was the best choice for “Batman,” but will he suffice for “Bruce Wayne.” But what about the first thugs we see in the film, Christopher Fairbank(as Nic) and George Roth(as Eddie). I think these two did a fantastic job, especially when one takes into account the short amount of screen time they have. You could really feel the dread pouring from their performances.
Well, we’re next introduced to Harvey Dent, as well as a first glimpse of Commissioner James Gordon. I’m a bit of a
traditionalist, and, at first, wish they would’ve found someone who looked similar to Dent. But, Billy Dee Williams proves that he is a great choice, possibly the best casting in this film. Jim Gordon is a bit lacking, I feel. He doesn’t really look like Gordon from the comics, and appears to be a bit younger. When Pat Hingle finally gets a line in the film, it’s easy to see: He was a bad choice to portray the legendary Commissioner. The character seems to be portrayed as a bit of a naïve cop, rather than the wise, and, seemingly, all-knowing legend. I just feel it’s a poor choice.
Now, we get to see one of the best characters in
comics, Harvey Bullock. Why are they calling Harvey Bullock “Lt. Eckhardt?” So, they obviously based this character on Harvey Bullock, but gave him a completely different name, and rank. I can’t even imagine what their logic for deciding upon this was. Lt. Eckhardt, like Bullock was, is a corrupt cop on the payroll of Crime Boss, Carl Grissom. This is conveyed in the form of him accepting a bribe from another gangster by the name of Jack Napier, an obvious underling of Grissom’s. William Hootkins is fantastic for the job of portraying… ahem… Lt. Eckhardt.
Jack Napier, portrayed by Jack Nicholson, is a pompous little sh*t, intent on overthrowing Carl Grissom, to take control of Carl Grissom. Jack Nicholson is very convincing, as he is in every film, as Jack Napier.
Depicting Carl Grissom, a notorious Crime Boss who, essentially, controls Gotham City, is the always enjoyable, Jack Palance. Carl Grissom is said to be based upon the character Sal Maroni, who is a leading mob boss in the comics. While this seems to ring true, I do see a little bit of Hamilton Hill, who appears in the comics rather briefly.
Carl Grissom, rattled by the relentless prodding of Harvey Dent, decides to send Napier to ransack Axis Chemicals to destroy any evidence of his involvement. By way of insinuation, we learn that Napier has been diddling Grissom’s woman, and the mission is a way to get rid of Napier.
When we get our chance to decide if Michael Keaton was the best choice for the famous Billionaire, in a scene depicting a party at his mansion, we are not surprised to find that he, indeed, was the best choice. He really pulls off the subtle “rich-boy” arrogance needed for the role, as well as a seemingly sympathetic side.
This entire time, Alexander Knox, a news reporter for Gotham Times, and Vicki Vale, a popular photographer, are intent on discovering the truth about this mysterious “Bat Man.” Vale procures two tickets to the
party at Wayne Manor, knowing that Dent and Gordon will be in attendance. They are dodged by both, when Gordon is called away by a police officer who informs him that Napier is at Axis Chemicals, and is being pursued by cops lead by Bullock, I mean Eckhardt. Gordon seems to be rather unhappy about Eckhardt leading the team of cops into Axis.
Eckhardt sneaks off, ostensibly, to kill Napier himself, after Gordon shows up at Axis Chemicals and makes it known that Napier is to be taken alive. Batman shows up, in an attempt to thwart Eckhardt, and his men, from killing Napier, when he accidentally knocks Napier into a vat of acid, presumably killing him..
Vale, on a date with Wayne, is eating soup in a large Dining Room. “Hilarity” ensues when they can’t hear each other from across this table, which must be larger than it appears. They decide to have dinner with Alfred where we stumble upon a conversation nearing its end. I do feel that Michael Gough has done a great job giving Alfred the, necessary, paternal love for Bruce Wayne. Also, these scenes are intended to show the more human side of the rich billionaire playboy, but falls short. What it does accomplish is portraying Vicki Vale as a drunk slut. On the first date, she puts out! And, if this isn’t bad enough, she awakes to find Bruce hanging upside down in some sort of inversion system. Holy crap, seriously?!?! They are insinuating that he sleeps upside down like a bat? This movie is failing fast.
I really hate that they gave Joker an identity prior to becoming the green haired criminal. But, that can be forgiven, because of how great the character of Jack Napier is. I love how Nicholson portrays the extreme changes in emotions that surround Joker, from extremely angry, to laughing maniacally at the sight of his disfigured face. I also really enjoy the following scene, in which Grissom is confronted by a “reborn” Napier,
calling himself "Joker." Burton does a fantastic job keeping you in suspense, concealing Napier’s face in the shadows until he reveals himself to a shocked Grissom, who he shoots and kills in a careless fashion.
Vicki Vale decides to stalk Wayne for lying to her. Wasn’t it supposed to be common knowledge what happened to Bruce Wayne when he was young? That’s fine, she’s an out-of-towner, but that doesn’t excuse that nobody else knows what happened to him, when Vale asks Knox, for instance. And when she follows Wayne, why does he drop roses at the site of his parents’ murder? Why wouldn’t he drop them at their grave? This is where Burton has decided to cast mystery on the wrong character. Joker should have been the one who was cast in shadows, where we had to figure out, in time, who he was(since Tim insisted on giving him a past).
At a press conference, where Wayne conveniently finds himself, a Rupert Thorne like man is claiming that Grissom has left HIM all of his properties. Joker appears and kills “Vinny”(the Thorne looking character) with a quill. Is Burton serious, is he really portraying a literal version of, “The pen is mightier than the sword” saying? Oh, wait, Joker just said that. This is ridiculous, even for a Batman movie. I know that this is “just a movie,” but seriously?
I really dig when Vale(at, what she thinks is. a date with Bruce) gets the gasmask while the patrons fall unconscious(or dead, it’s not made clear) around her. Joker has become infatuated with her after seeing a picture of her taken by Bob(his number 1 guy, as stated in a dead-on impression of Palance). But then the Joker enters, dancing to Prince. That seems a bit out of place. But, the pièce de résistance, I feel, is when Vicki Vale throws water in the face of Joker, after which he pretends to be melting, à la “The Wizard of Oz.” When he reveals his face, with the flesh makeup striped down his face, that was truly terrifying for me when I was a child. Just an awesome part. Batman spoils the moment when he jumps through the sugar glass, saving the damsel in distress.
How come, with all of his advance technology, can Batman’s grappling hook only lift a certain weight? When he tries to escape with Vicki, following a car chase where we see the Batmobile for the first time, onto a rooftop, the line buckles, unable to carry both of them. Yeah, that’s realistic, but he designed a car that can drive on its own, why does the line only hold a certain weight? And where in the Blue Hell did Vicki pull that camera from?
After all of the calamity, Batman takes Vicki to the Bat Cave to give her his findings about what combinations of products(which Joker has tainted with his “Smiley” toxin) will induce a toxic reaction in the human body. But, when she questions his true motive, Batman punches her to knock her out. Ok, I know, he probably didn’t, but that sure did look like it. But, I did find something interesting, Batman, in his Bat Cave(which is filled with bats), keeps a lone bat in a cage. That’s strange, even for a man who wears a rubber bat suit.
I do take issue with Wayne deciding to tell Vicki that he is Batman. But, regardless, Keaton does a great job of making you believe that he is infinitely nervous when he babbles nonsense. Wayne is interrupted when Joker pops up unexpectedly. Now, we get a magnificent performance from Mr. Keaton where he LOSES HIS SH*T, challenging him to a “crazy-off.” This ultimately ends when Joker shoots Wayne in the chest, following the statement, “Have you ever danced with the Devil in the pale moon light?” Wayne is taken aback by this, which distracts him enough to get shot easily. What a chilling thing to say before you kill someone. I would even argue that it rivals Samuel L. Jackson’s “God’s Wrath” quote in “Pulp Fiction.”
Vale’s suspicions that Bruce is, in-fact, Batman(after finally discovering his past) are solidified when Alfred lets her into the Bat Cave. ARE YOU SERIOUS? I’ll tell you this, if I were Wayne, that would’ve been Mr. Pennyworth’s last day of employment. That was just the stupidest thing that Burton, no, Bob Kane, could’ve allowed to happen in this movie. Just ridiculous!
Alright, I can let a lot of things slide, but there is one thing that I can’t forgive: Joker did NOT kill Thomas and Martha Wayne. That accomplishment is owned by Joe Chill. I know Burton is trying to make the final confrontation between Batman and Joker more meaningful, but that is something you can’t do. Not to mention that Napier looks to be 30 in the flashback, how old would he be now then? And, for that matter, how old is Bruce? I was under the impression that he was very young when he took up the mantle of Batman. I really do like Keaton in this, but he looks rather old. I don’t know, maybe that’s just me.
Joker has taken over the Bicentennial Celebration, and set the festivities to the tune of… Prince… again. Alright, already! I get it, Prince made some music for this movie. Can we please just leave it on the soundtrack? SERIOUSLY!
As promised, Joker is throwing money at the vastly increasing throng of people. When he finally decides to kill all of the citizens, he uses his balloons to release his toxin into the air, thus destroying the city’s population. Weird thing about it is, instead of DEFLATING, they seem to INFLATE! I’m not even going to attempt to argue logic on this, using the legendary “It’s Just a Movie” card.
Batman scoops up the toxic balloons in an incoherent way with his Batwing. He proceeds to send them high into the sky. It also seems that he has flown into Space for the purpose of silhouetting against the moon. This part(the Moon Silhouette scene) really served no purpose other than people getting excited to see a hint of the Bat Signal. Just a silly part that should’ve been cut.
When he plummets back to Earth, he goes directly after Joker with the Batwing’s missiles and turrets. WOW, Joker is completely unmatched. So, instead of running, he pulls out a comically long barreled revolver. Joker takes aim and shoots. The shot lands, and, amazingly, causes the Batwing to crash. This part is ridiculous, and shouldn‘t have been allowed to happen.
Batman crashes at the steps of a cathedral, seemingly dead. Vicki runs to the wreckage, only to be captured by Joker and taken to the top of said cathedral. Batman stumbles out of the cockpit of the Batwing, pursuing Joker to the top of Cathedral. When he gets there he fights magical thugs, who appear out of nowhere. After finishing the magic thugs, Vicki attempts to distract Joker by… TRYING TO BLOW HIM?!?! You can’t tell me any different, this is what is exactly insinuated.
Batman confronts Joker about killing his parents. A fight ensues leaving Batman and Vicki Vale hanging on to the edge of the building. A helicopter appears to pick up Joker. Batman shoots his Batarang around Joker’s leg, attaching a gargoyle to Joker’s leg. I’m curious: How did he manage that amazing shot while hanging from the tower one-handed? Burton doesn’t even show the line actually wrapping around the gargoyle. It’s like he knew it was ridiculous, but didn’t care. Regardless, Joker plummets, from a great distance, to his death, leaving a bag of laugh boxes permanently releasing their laughter upon the crowd below. I always felt it was a bit odd to kill off Batman’s Arch Nemesis, rather than keeping him alive for a future film.
With the exception of a few bad casting choices, and some nonsensical storytelling within the plot, it was a great film. But, it lacks in the “Interpretation” department, which can be forgiven because of the, mostly, wonderful cast. I do remember, when watching this at a young age, I was excited when news came forth about a sequel: “Batman Returns.” I really do recommend this film to anyone, whether they are fans of the comics, or fans of the movies in general.