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July 17, 2005
Top Ten Superhero Movies - #8 - Batman (1989)
Number #8 - Batman
Directed by Tim Burton
Written by Sam Hamm
Starring Jack Nicholson, Michael Keaton, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl
"You ever dance with the devil by the pale moonlight?"
Tim Burton's first Batman movie arrived in the summer of 1989 amid an enourmous hype that swept the world into a second wave of "Bat-mania." It was the first Batman movie since Adam West graced the big screen, and it was the first effort to present the Dark Knight as a dark character to mainstream audiences. While he was orignally concieved as a dark avenger in the 30's, following the introduction of Robin Batman was steadily lightened up until he reached the peak of camp in the 50's and 60's. It was not until the 70's that the comics once again returned to the character's roots. Still, it was Frank Miller's two classic comic tales, The Dark Knight Returns and Batman Year One that solidified the character as a creature of the night. However these graphic novel works did not penetrate the mainstream, it was Tim Burton that brought Batman back to the common audience. It is the darkness and seriousness of Batman that is it's greatest strength.
As an adaptation, Batman is a rather mixed bag. It remains true to the source in many ways, but it also rebukes many of the iron laws of Batman. This is due mostly to Tim Burton's admitted uninterest in comic books as a whole. It's questionable whether Burton ever even read a Batman comic. Rather than adapting Batman, Burton is content to meld the character into his own vision of a fantastic, gothic, crime ridden world where Batman is not unusual, but rather just another freak among the freaks of a freakish world. Unfortunately, Burton's disinterest in the comics leads to one of Batman's greatest problems, miscasting.
Michael Keaton never was, and never will be, a good choice to play Batman. Besides not looking like the character, he simply does not fit. Fortunately, Keaton is a good and likeable actor, who does his best with the weakly written role. Bruce Wayne is nothing more than an avatar, and a boring one. Most scenes not involving Batman in costume or The Joker are dull, leaving us waiting for the next scene. Despite this, Keaton pulls of the role well, giving us a Batman we can root for and like. He brings darkness back to the character and plays his part with maturity and seriousness. Keaton was miscast, but did everything he could with the role of Batman and should be comended for it. Without him, Batman could very well have sunk.
Jack Nicholson was too old, too short, too bald, and too fat to play The Joker. Rather than disappearing into one of the classic characters of all time and the ultimate comic book villian, he plays the role strictly as "Jack." At no point are we watching The Joker, rather at all times we are watching Jack playing The Joker. That is not to say that Jack Nicholson was not an entertaining villian. He got many aspects of The Joker character right, his flamboyance, his malevolence, his humor, that's all there, but nonetheless, it's off. It never feels like The Joker, and particularly the origin strays away. In the end, Jack Nicholson was simply miscast, but remains entertaining and Joker-like at least. If only he was not the focus of the story...but with such a dull Bruce Wayne, this might have been for the best.
The rest of the cast is mixed. Kim Basinger falls completely flat as girlfriend and photojournalist Vicki Vale. Robert Wuhl is good as reporter Alexander Knox, and Michael Gough does a good job as faithful butler Alfred, even though he never becomes the major character he should. Pat Hingle is miscast as Commisioner Gordon, in a role that devestates the character completely. Billy Dee Williams is rather non-existant as Harvey Dent.
Batman tells the story of two bizarre creatures, one good, the other evil, who are fated to battle each other to the death. The Joker created Batman, and Batman created The Joker. Yes, it is blasphemy to comic fans, but it works in the film. Gotham City may be an unbelievable monstrosity, but it becomes it's own character. All of Batman's gadgets, including his famous Batmobile and the "Batwing" are inspired and a treat to watch. Even though the fight scenes are rather poor, with Batman mainly approaching bad guys like a Frankenstein Monster, the gadgets make up for it. That's the bottom line here. The story is weak, and the characters weaker, bearing only slight resemblence to the world they are based on. Still, it is style and atmosphere, including a brilliant theme and score by Danny Elfman, that rule the day. Batman is style over substance, but that style is of such a wonderful high, that we can forgive many of the lesser elements of this classic film.
Posted by astor at July 17, 2005 01:30 AM