This Tim Burton film was a milestone for superhero movies, and though certain parts have dated, it remains a great movie.
This movie's plot is very simple. After a fight with Batman, hood Jack Napier falls into vat of chemicals. These chemicals turn him into the insane and dangerous villain, The Joker. The Joker decides to take revenge out on a world and a city that never treated him with the slightest bit of respect, by killing off many of Gotham's citizens and trying to turn the public against Batman.
Though Tim Burton may seem like a natural choice to direct a stylized comic book movie like this, he was anything but an obvious choice when chosen to direct the film in 1986. By this time he had only directed one movie (though Beetlejuice (1988) would be released between when he was hired to direct Batman and when this film was released) and that movie was Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985). Already a very confident filmmaker, Burton already had some major requests to make this movie. One of them is that he did not want Robin to appear in the film or even be mentioned (one must keep in mind that there had not previously been a film or TV version of Batman that did not have Robin by his side at this point). Another is that he wanted to give Gotham city a dark and sinister look inspired by the infamous
The Dark Knight Returns comic by Frank Miller. Burton also wanted Danny Elman (of the rock band Oingo Boingo and the composer for Burton's previous film, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure) to do the music. The most controversial of his decisions though was to cast Michael Keaton (who was also in Burton's Beetlejuice) as Batman. Since at this time Keaton was mostly known for comic roles, few fans of the superhero felt that he could pull off such a role. However all of Burton's instincts proved to be perfect for this film. Keaton was wonderful in the role and his performance feels like who just watch Batman step directly out of the comic books and on to movie screens. The first time he states "I am Batman" still sends chills down the spines of movie fans. Danny Elman's music is incredible and with all the Batman films made, this and Batman Returns (1992) (for which Elfman also did the music for) have the best soundtracks. His theme for the opening credits is so iconic it would later be used for the beloved TV show, Batman: The Animated Series. The look and feel of Gotham City are often simply breathtaking. Like in all the best Batman stories, Gotham City is just as much of a character as any of the human characters. Though more stylized and less realistic, you can easily see how this paved the way for the equally memorable takes on Gotham in the Christopher Nolan and Matt Reeves films. Yet it still remains a unique and beautiful looking Gotham City that has never been fully recaptured.
As great as Michael Keaton is as Batman, Jack Nicholson is just as great as The Joker. Jack Nicholson is of course one of the great actors and he can play both subtle and over the top equally well. Here he gets to go completely over the top and he has the time of his life playing this character. The sheer joy he has in playing this role is exactly what makes this version of The Joker so incredibly memorable and disturbing. It also shows that Nicholson has a great understanding of the character. What makes The Joker so terrifying is not that he is a homicidal maniac, but that he gets such an incredible joy out of mass murdering so many people. The only thing scarier than a mass murder is a mass murder who truly enjoys what they do. Many of the humous moments with The Joker here are truly funny, but even when we laugh at his jokes deep inside, we feel uncomfortable as we are laughing. This is exactly what The Joker should be. Even though there is a major change to this comic book villain's backstory, this film comes the closest out of every live action version of the character to capturing the true spirit of this villain.
Though the romance is often one of the weakest parts of a superhero movie, however the romance works fantastic here. The reason is that it helps us explore the pitfalls of being Batman. While Batman looks very cool in many scenes here and there are many ways in which he can be an inspiration to us, it is important to explore how being Batman comes with major consequences. Here he is unable to truly have any sort of normal social life at all. Though as Bruce Wayne, he falls heavily in love with Vicky Vale (played by the beautiful Kim Basinger), he spends much of the film being completely unable to truly be there for her. He is not able to keep most of their dates and when they do see each other it becomes clear that there are many times he is trying to distance himself from the woman he loves, because to let her truly into his heart would mean to make her a part of his other life as Batman. This is incredibly well done and gives us a strong emotional connection to a character who spends much of time being mysterious and hiding in the shadows.
This film does have certain parts that have dated quite badly. The scenes with The Joker dancing to Prince's music (especially the one in the art museum) feel completely out of place with the rest of the movie and are nowhere near as fun as the movie seems to think they are. The songs also clash with the rest of the music in the movie. The special effects here often times don't hold up against the ones in future superhero movies, though to be fair that is to be expected. I am also not a fan of the flesh colored make up that The Joker uses in a few scenes.
This movie did have quite a few technical issues during the making. As cool as the Batmobile is here (probably the coolest live action Batmobile ever), it caused quite a bit of trouble. The car often become out of control while filming and one time even nearly killed a stunt woman. It also caused trouble for Keaton as the ears on his Batman costume kept getting caught on the roof of the car. The Batman suit also caused trouble for Keaton as due to the use of armors of latex bolted together, it made it very hard for him to hear anything. This was not the only problem though the cape by itself weighed 25 pounds and while in the costume, Keaton would often times get incredibly hot. This got so frustrating for Keaton that he would kick and throw things to let out some of his anger. However the hardest scene to film was when the Batmobile crashes into the Gotham Cathedral. To accomplish this scene four camera were set up along the street set (which was dosed in oil to achieve its wet appearance) and many miniatures where used. Despite all this the scene looks truly wonderful.
The movie was a major success that exceeded everyone's expectations for it. It broke box office records and its two soundtracks (one with Danny Elfman's score and one with the songs by Prince) both shot up the music charts. The film was meet with various imitators that helped lead to the major popularity of superhero movies today. Watching this movie today, it is still very easy to understand why.
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