Movie Review #15: Batman (1989)

Have you ever heard of the healing power of laughter? You will after watching this film.

Batman is one of my favorite films of all time because I grew up on this film. Even though The Dark Knight trilogy is vastly superior to the first four, this film has a special place in my heart. I won't even bother explaining the plot because let's face it, if you don't know Batman's story you've been living under a rock. So I'll just dive right in.

This was Tim Burton's third film after Pee Wee's Big Adventure and Beetlejuice. Both films are awesome and unique, but Batman showed that he can make an awesome action blockbuster. The visuals may look dated today, but the main characters hold up. Michael Keaton is the second best actor to play Batman. He both looks the part of Bruce Wayne and doesn't sound like he has throat cancer when he dons his cape and cowl. He's a better Batman than Bruce Wayne. Aside from looks, he's not a very believable Bruce Wayne.

Even though the film's title character is Batman/Bruce Wayne, the real star of the show is Jack Nicholson as The Joker. The film should have just been called Joker! I'm pretty sure that The Joker is in the movie more than Bruce Wayne is in the Batsuit. With the exception of Heath Ledger, no one could play a better Joker. Nicholson plays the Joker with the perfect mix of humor, creepiness and a hysterical laugh. He can be frying someone with a joy buzzer in one scene and dancing in a parade to Prince tracks in the other. You see what I mean? The weakest characters were Commissioner Gordon and Harvey Dent. I felt that they just included Dent to please the die-hard comic book fans but he was very underdeveloped. The same goes for Gordon. On IGN top 100 superheroes of all time, Commissioner Gordon is in the top 20. The fact such a great hero was so underused and underdeveloped was a missed attempt. The score is my favorite aspect of the film. Danny Elfman is my favorite composer and the them to the movie alone was a masterpiece!

Final Report: This movie not only redefined superheros movies, but also redefined what a great blockbuster and summer movie could and should be. Batman is exactly what I want in a superhero movie.