B a t m a n

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Summary:
Driven by the guilt and anger of his parents' murder, the grown up billionare Bruce Wayne is Gotham's Caped Crusader, fighting against crime... by dressing up as a bat and jumping across rooftops at night.  Jack Napier falls into a pit of toxic waste and becomes The Joker, so Batman tries to save the day.

Review:
Tim Burton is admittedly not a big fan of the comic scene in general, and he chose to do Batman for more personal reasons than for the fact that he's a fan of the genre. Typically, this is not a good sign, but in the case of this 1989 classic, it turns out quite alright!
It's not a PERFECT movie. I like the Prince score, but it does date the movie more than if it wasn't included, and it also doesn't quite mesh as nicely as it should have. There are also moments of campiness, but nowhere near the level of the old Adam West/Burt Ward series (thank God). What the hell is Billy Dee Williams doing as Harvey Dent? Plus, Basinger is not a good choice for Vicky Vale, but none of these nitpicky statements ruin the movie too much for me.

There are a score of things that were done RIGHT with this movie. First of all, Danny Elfman proves his worth as not just a former Oingo Boingo musician, and solidifies his status as a movie score composer. His loud, brassy and percussive score fits wonderfully with Burton's darkly lit Gotham City, and the broody tone of the picture itself is accentuated by his musical awesomeness. I also think that the story arc involving Napier and Wayne's parents is pretty cool. It works well for the movie, and doesn't drastically alter the Batman mythos.
When it comes to the man in the batsuit, Michael Keaton is a great choice. It's more important to cast Bruce Wayne first, since Batman is just a daunting figure in the batsuit. Almost anyone can be scary in the right conditions when it comes to actually becoming Batman. It was a big risk, and a near death-stroke for the fate of the movie to cast Keaton, the man who did Beetlejuice, Mr. Mom and Johnny Dangerously! Who knew that those sharp eyebrows and pursey lips could exhude such inner pain? Burton did! Great casting choice, and it's not one I would have suspected, but after he was cast, I couldn't think of someone who would be a better choice as Bruce Wayne.
An even more unique casting choice was Jack Napier, aka The Joker. Who would have suspected Jack Nicholson would even ACCEPT the role? Who could have guessed that he'd go so far "out there" as The Joker? It was wonderful! Every scene he's in, he commands attention, chews everything up and spits it right back out again, and repeats! You can totally tell that he's having a good time with the role, and his infectious nature mixed with complete insanity is in perfect synch with Tim Burton's flavor. It's not often that Nicholson plays such a wacky role, and most of the time, it wouldn't work.

There are a number of comic fans who hate this movie, and many other fans who love it. Everyone who knows the Batman well will have some kind of disagreement with the final product, but the fact remains that Tim Burton pulled off one hell of a great time at the movies, and made one of the most successful movies of all time, as well as one of the coolest comic-to-film movies. It's not perfect, but it's a lot of fun.

And there's no Robin. YAY!

GRADE: A-

Reviewed 1/8/06