Director: Tim Burton
DVD release date: March 25, 1997
Rating: PG-13 (USA)
Screenplay: Warren Skaaren, Sam Hamm
Batman: The Caped Crusader, The Dark Knight, and even in some cases, The Dynamic Duo. Bob Kane's creation of Batman has done nothing but evolve since Detective Comics had Batman appear for the first time in 1939 with the release of their 27th issue. It featured Bruce Wayne as Batman against a Chemical Crime Syndicate, and it blew up in everyone's faces! They had to know more. However, today only a couple of copies of these very early Batman Comics still exist today, and we wouldn't see this darker side of Batman until much later. In my opinion, these were Batman's best days, when not just crooks, but cops were afraid of Batman, and nobody could touch him besides the super crime lords that were as crazy as him. In a sense, Batman first started out as an anti-hero, and I believe the new movie, "The Dark Knight Rises" will bring Batman's legacy full circle. So in light of that, I have decided to review the Batman films by Tim Burton first, because this was technically the first feature-length film of Batman, with the darkest setting...so far.
Being the fact that I have not yet expressed my admiration for Tim Burton, this review should be a deal lengthier than my previous reviews. Let me start off by saying that Tim Burton is the strangest director I know, and has created by far the most films where you, as a viewer, shift uncomfortably in your seat, of run out of the theater screaming because he broke your mind, or you haven't been able to look away because his style is incredibly original, and unlike anything you have seen. His visual style is sublime, his directing...strange to say the least, and a homage payer to many old horror films, and films in general. The first of Tim Burton's works that I had reviewed, called "Vincent", was a great character study for Tim Burton, and if you know a great deal about him, you realize that Vincent, is really just Tim as a child. But, if at this point in the review your asking why "Vincent" isn't posted on the site yet, it's because terrible things happen to reviews if you leave your computer on while the auto-save function temporarily glitches. I suppose these things happen...
However, I am prepared to write about some of the less appealing aspects that Tim Burton possesses. "Batman" is a wonderful example of how Tim Burton can take an idea already thought up, and put his own spin on it. Now, Tim has done this with the majority of the films he's directed, and as such he has been dubbed "The Remake King"...which isn't necessarily a good thing. But don't worry, because "Batman" is an example of how an idea can be made into a film, and not feel like it's been overused. I'm not sure, but I think that this Batman film was one of the first of its kind to be made into a motion picture. But there was a difference between this film, and the ones made before it. This Batman film was made more for adults than for kids. I believe this heightened ticket sales, as well as creating a wider audience to discover the Batman universe in, since Batman just began to convert to slightly darker story lines in the comics with the arrival of new artists.
Batman teamed up with this kind of a director was a godsend to the film industry, as well as Batman fans. The film presented a very dark setting (but not too dark), and this was one of Burton's specialties. The city of Gotham was as stylistic as it was strange, but I suppose it had to be because Bat's and Clown's would be fighting in it. Speaking of which, The Joker is an interesting character in this film. Consider the scene with Vicky Vale (Kim Basinger) hostage to the clown. Joker (Jack Nicholson) explains that his...psychosis...is more of an artistic one. It's not so much as doing something because you can, rather sending a message through abstract destruction...because you can. And it is an interesting notion, as well as one that would be plausible to The Joker, because of the deformities created by the mishaps in the Ace Chemical co. And this is a very interesting foe against foe origin in this film, because if you think about it, they are each the creator of their own alter ego. Young Jack Napier (Jack Nicholson) kills Bruce Wayne's (Michael Keaton) parents causing him to become The Batman, and Batman pushes Jack into the infamous vat of acid, thus transforming him into The Joker.
This is truly the plight of Batman. The idea that he may be creating more villains than he can take off the streets of Gotham (If he's doing more harm than good). Many people have touched on this theory, and have understood its significance. Heck, even the animated series recognized the power within this thought. This is also the reason why I believe Batman to be more of an anti-hero than a hero, but it fits his character and Gotham and especially this film. Tim Burton's Batman is a very good movie, and it captures the struggles a crime fighter of this caliber must face. It's dark and edgy, and brought out, not my likability of the horror genre, more so my...tolerance for it. There are some campy moments, some funny ones, but at the center you'll find a stone cold flick worth checking out if your any kind of a Batman fan.
8.0/10
Being the fact that I have not yet expressed my admiration for Tim Burton, this review should be a deal lengthier than my previous reviews. Let me start off by saying that Tim Burton is the strangest director I know, and has created by far the most films where you, as a viewer, shift uncomfortably in your seat, of run out of the theater screaming because he broke your mind, or you haven't been able to look away because his style is incredibly original, and unlike anything you have seen. His visual style is sublime, his directing...strange to say the least, and a homage payer to many old horror films, and films in general. The first of Tim Burton's works that I had reviewed, called "Vincent", was a great character study for Tim Burton, and if you know a great deal about him, you realize that Vincent, is really just Tim as a child. But, if at this point in the review your asking why "Vincent" isn't posted on the site yet, it's because terrible things happen to reviews if you leave your computer on while the auto-save function temporarily glitches. I suppose these things happen...
Batman teamed up with this kind of a director was a godsend to the film industry, as well as Batman fans. The film presented a very dark setting (but not too dark), and this was one of Burton's specialties. The city of Gotham was as stylistic as it was strange, but I suppose it had to be because Bat's and Clown's would be fighting in it. Speaking of which, The Joker is an interesting character in this film. Consider the scene with Vicky Vale (Kim Basinger) hostage to the clown. Joker (Jack Nicholson) explains that his...psychosis...is more of an artistic one. It's not so much as doing something because you can, rather sending a message through abstract destruction...because you can. And it is an interesting notion, as well as one that would be plausible to The Joker, because of the deformities created by the mishaps in the Ace Chemical co. And this is a very interesting foe against foe origin in this film, because if you think about it, they are each the creator of their own alter ego. Young Jack Napier (Jack Nicholson) kills Bruce Wayne's (Michael Keaton) parents causing him to become The Batman, and Batman pushes Jack into the infamous vat of acid, thus transforming him into The Joker.
8.0/10
Watch the Trailer Here
Next Review: Batman Returns 1992
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