1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die- Batman

#832- Batman (1989)
Starring: Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger
Directed by: Tim Burton


Plot Summary: The high level of criminal activity in Gotham City has its citizens in fear of walking the streets. Help comes to Gotham City in the form of a masked vigilante known as Batman. Batman, who is actually billionaire Bruce Wayne, helps clean up the streets of Gotham, despite the police trying to put a stop to the vigilante. Batman's greatest challenge will come in the form of mobster Jack Napier, who was dropped into a vat of chemicals permanently bleaching his skin and turning his hair green. Through surgery, Napier has a permanent smile on his face and wants to be known as the Joker.


I love superhero movies. And let's be honest, the good ones are few and far between. It's rare to find movies based on comic books that the critics will actually say is a good movie. So imagine the joy I found in seeing that we actually have a few superhero movies on this list. And Batman is definitely one of my favorites. Before Marvel made big budget adaptations of their heroes, DC was the company who had already put out movies on Batman AND Superman. And even though Superman came first, I feel Batman was the film to speak to a modern audience by being darker, grittier and being targeted more for the adult audiences, instead of children. While I think it's now often forgotten over a more recent Batman franchise (which we will get to soon enough), there's a lot to enjoy from this one, as I feel it laid the groundwork on how to bring a comic book character to the big screen.

Michael Keaton had a very difficult task in playing both Bruce Wayne AND Batman, but it was also difficult because not many believed he could do it. Seeing him as more of a comedic actor, many people protested the idea of Keaton playing Batman (insert Ben Affleck Batman joke here). But when the film came out, people were pleasantly surprised. Keaton is actually my favorite actor to play Batman because he truly captured a humble nature to Bruce Wayne, while still being able to carry a reputation of a billionaire playboy. And when he's Batman, he becomes another character entirely. His brooding gruff voice is just the right amount of disguising ones voice in order to portray a dark character like Batman. Michael Keaton deserves a lot of credit for shocking his critics and putting on an amazing performance as one of the greatest, if not THE greatest superhero of all-time.

At the time of the film's release, the key marketing aspect was Jack Nicholson's portrayal of the Joker. Nicholson adds a great dynamic when playing the Joker, ranging from lighthearted and silly to evil and shocking. Thanks to Jack's performance, many of the Joker's lines are remembered when talking about Batman. Like Keaton in having to play two roles, Jack Nicholson not only has to play the Joker, but also the sly mobster Jack Napier. With the proper makeup, anyone could play the Joker, but add Jack's acting ability and a laugh that is both terrifying and goofy, and wait til you get a load of him. I will say that his portrayal may not have aged as well as the film did, as modern audiences would probably be expecting a darker version of the Joker.

Vicki Vale is Batman and Bruce Wayne's main love interest, played by Kim Basinger. Basinger is one of the few aspects of the film I didn't like. She starts out as a strong, smart, independent female character, but slowly starts to slip into the damsel in distress role as the movie progresses. She isn't necessarily a bad character, but rather a confusing character. She starts off as a determined reporter for the local newspaper, but that seems to be tossed aside for the second half of the film, and only comes back as the film is about to end, making her character seem very inconsistent. One more thing I should mention is that most of her lines are high-pitched screams for help (and yes, it is as annoying as it sounds).

When you look at this movie, would you actually believe that this was directed by Tim Burton? Sure it has basic elements to it, including Danny Elfman providing the film's score and collaborating with stars who were in his other films, but I bet modern audiences who know of the stereotypes of Burton's films would not believe that he made Batman. One of his first movies as a director, Burton went into the project knowing what he wanted to do to bring Batman to life on the big screen. It was HIS idea to cast Michael Keaton, even when majority of moviegoers and fans couldn't see him doing it well, and after the film's release, they admitted they were wrong. Burton had the vision to make Batman dark and gritty on the big screen, and he was able to do that, while thankfully not putting TOO much of his eccentric twists on the project.

I feel like there's something about Batman that just works. There are some stuff that might feel dated (like the songs from Prince on the soundtrack), but overall, the film is a great testament to how an adaptation of a comic book should be done on the big screen. While the first installment in this franchise was a big success, sequels would lead to a constant decline in quality and fan support, leading to the desire to have a new look at the caped crusader, but I'll get into that franchise in a little bit so tune in next week....same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.


Rating:  4.5 out of 5 stars.

This is a great adaptation to film, not only being a good superhero movie, but also being a good movie that happens to be about a superhero. The key components to this film are Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, and Tim Burton, as they made Batman a film to remember. An easy recommendation to all moviegoers.

Comment below to share your thoughts on the movie or to discuss a topic that I left out of my review 

Batman and movie images are copyrighted by Warner Bros.