Batman (1989) - A Retrospective

With Suicide Squad once more pitting Batman against his most famous adversary (however brief) The Joker, I thought that the time was ripe to examine their two other famous silver screen clashes. Namely, Batman and The Dark Knight. So, Batman, Tim Burtons 1989 film receives the retrospective treatment first!

Batman is a film that was long in development and had numerous scripts, actors and directors attached. Actors as diverse as William Defoe, David Bowie, John Lithgow and Robin Williams were linked with The Joker before Jack Nicholson took the role and made it his own. Mel Gibson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Harrison Ford and Daniel-Day Lewis were similarly attached to the title role of Bruce Wayne/Batman before Michael Keaton ever got close to signing up for it. Various possible storylines had The Penguin joining The Joker as a second villain, Barbara Gordon being involved and the emergence of Robin by the films end. Despite all of these possible castings and the storylines we could've had, I think it's fair to say that we ended up with a Batman film which did the source material and character justice.

Michael Keaton may seem an odd choice for the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman in much the same way that Ben Affleck was. However, like Affleck, Keaton delivers us a superb version of the dark knight. His Bruce Wayne is very much a playboy, aware of his own wealth and someone who is perhaps more Batman than he wants to believe. When he dons the cape, he is a Batman that offers us a fresh take. It is worth remembering that prior to Batman, the only live action version of this character was Adam Wests! Keaton's Batman couldn't be further from him with not a hint of campness or colour.

The Joker contrasts perfectly with Batman in many ways. He is colourful and bright and brilliantly insane. Here is a Joker which stands the test of time and is perhaps more like Heath Ledgers later version than we remember. The Joker is a killer, the craziest of psychopaths. Whether he's frying someone to death with a hand buzzer or spearing someone else through the throat with a quill, here is a Joker who is dangerous. The difference between Nicholson and Ledger? Nicholson does it with a smile and a laugh. In these days of multiple cinematic versions of The Joker, this one is often referred to as the clown and that's true. He's more terrifying because of that. He's unpredictable. Batman still remains the only Batman film to only feature one comic book bad guy and there is a reason for that. Who else could share the lime light with The Joker. This is something I'll discuss in further detail when I write my The Dark Knight retrospective in regards to Two Face.

As far as style goes, Batman is very much a Tim Burton film although obviously before he got his hands on Alice in Wonderland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It's deeply gothic which works well with a character such as Batman. This gothic feel, with the darkness and foreboding works well when The Joker comes into play. His sudden unpredictability and splash of colour bringing a sudden contrast to proceedings. It all works to make The Joker more larger than life and dangerous than he actually is.

Although Batman isn't my personal favourite Batman film, it's easy to see why it tops many lists. The Joker is an absolutely great character and Nicholson plays him to perfection. There is a motive behind his actions and his unpredictability is terrifying at times. While he may seem too comic bookish in this post-Nolan-Trilogy days, he still holds up as a truly dangerous adversary to Batman. Talking about Batman, Keaton is a worthy actor to don the cape. Physically he may not be a perfect Batman but character wise Keaton gets him just right. Later on of course we would get a tougher Batman courtesy of Christian Bale and a crazier Joker courtesy of the late Heath Ledger. That wouldn't happen for a further nineteen years though and in the meantime Batman pretty much set the superhero standard.