BATMAN

Batman (1989)
Grade: B-
Directed by TIM BURTON
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Michael Keaton, Robert Wuhl, Pat Hingle, Billy Dee Williams, Michael Gough, and Jack Palance
PREMISE: The Caped Crusader seeks to protect Gotham City from a psychopathic killer named The Joker.

RATED PG-13 for violence and action, menace and disturbing images

Whoa. So this was most people's first taste of a big screen Batman. Shocking as it may seem for an avid movie fan like me, I had never seen the original 1989, Tim Burton/Michael Keaton/Jack Nicholson Batman until the day before yesterday. No, this wasn't an attempt to whet my appetite for the much-anticipated Dark Knight Rises (due July 20), the finale of the epic Christopher Nolan Dark Knight series; this one had been on my to-watch list for a while. So there I was, stepping back into a cinematic world where Tim Burton had never worked with Johnny Depp (!!), Christian Bale was a mere teenager, Heath Ledger wasn't even making films, Michael Keaton, Kim Basinger, and Jack Nicholson were all flavor-of-the-week movie stars... Sixteen years before Nolan/Bale's Batman Begins (2005), this movie graced screens and thrilled and shocked audiences with its vision of a gritty, real-life Batman and Nicholson's dynamic performance as the ultimate deranged baddie.

Plot: Just as public curiosity over the mysterious Batman is reaching its peak in Gotham City, ambitious photographer Vicki Vale (Basinger) comes to town and forms an alliance with a young-buck reporter (Robert Wuhl) to try and be the ones who discover the masked vigilante's identity. That vigilante--billionaire Bruce Wayne (Keaton) by day--soon has his hands full, though, after a chemical mishap unleashes the pent-up savagery of already aggressive mob hit man Jack Napier (Nicholson). With his new, scarred visage giving him the chance to embrace the sort of theatrics he seems to have been meant for, Napier becomes The Joker, a perpetually-smiling but gruesomely-inclined killer who takes out his mob boss (the late Jack Palance), cops, and random bystanders everywhere. He soon holds Gotham in a state of collective terror, with people dropping dead of poison gas and poisoned hygienic products, and he begins demanding the Batman reveal himself, or people will continue to die. By night and under disguise, Batman fights back against the Joker's schemes, while his alter ego struggles to balance his secretive lifestyle with his feelings for the plucky, attractive Vicki.

What Works?
Rumor has it, this film was originally planned to be called Joker, rather than Batman, and, watching it, you can see why. Its Nicholson's Joker, and not Keaton's Bruce Wayne/Batman, who dominates the film's running time and has all the best lines and makes the most memorable impression. Though Nicholson was celebrated for his performance at the time, later generations have decided "Jack Nicholson was playing Jack Nicholson", not only because mouthy, twisted geezers have always been part of the three-time-Oscar winner's repertoire, but also because the late Heath Ledger made such a tremendous impact with his interpretation of the character in 2008's The Dark Knight.  Knight is one of my favorite films, and, while I'll still always think of Ledger as The Joker, Nicholson's performance is really something to see. His eyes shining with demonic glee, his mouth and face twisted in that grotesque smirk, Nicholson has a ball in a role that may not be completely original given his tendency to play similiarly off-kilter characters (1975's The Shining, 2006's The Departed), but still dominates this film.

Basinger, another Oscar winner who has only been in two films in the last decade that I can recall (2002's 8 Mile and 2005's Cellular), is great as Vale; though the role is a cliche type by now, Basinger is a more appealing and talented actress than many of the ingenues who've been tapped to play superhero love interests since. And, while Keaton is not the actor Bale is (nor does he have the amount of time/material in which to carve out the character that Bale does), he makes an amiable impression, particularly in later scenes when his character's tragic past is revealed.

Basically, what works are pretty much all of Nicholson's scenes, most of Basingers, and many of Keaton's. When they're playing their characters. When they're involved in action...

What Doesn't Work?
From Edward Scissorhands (1990) to The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) to Alice in Wonderland (2010), Tim Burton has always proven brilliant when it comes to a film's look, feel, mood, and atmosphere. Action, though, isn't his strong suit. He made a thunderous bore out of the Willy Wonka remake in 2005, and the action here, particularly the 'big finale', is slow-burn stuff. Yes, a lot of that impression probably comes because this film was made well before CGI ruled the action roost, before you could do anything onscreen that you wanted, and because Burton cares less about action than atmosphere (and he hasn't proven to be the last superhero movie director so inclined). The characters work, the relationships work, the laughs work, but maybe this movie should have been called Joker, if only so the viewers expect less Batman.

Content:
Well, this was rated PG-13 in 1989. There's no cussing, little cleavage or sexual content, and, for the amount of action/death-inducing mayhem depicted, very little blood. It is, what with its combination of being about The Joker and being directed by Burton, an often sinister film that can and will give you the creeps (something Nicholson has always excelled at), but it's largely tame stuff compared to what we see in action movies today (and most likely weak sauce compared to what Dark Knight Rises is going to offer).

Bottom Line (I promise):
It's hard to say what I'd have thought if I was old enough to watch and appreciate this in 1989. Maybe Nicholson's Joker would have blown me away. Maybe the action would have kept me riveted. Maybe I'd be in love with Kim Basinger...  Impressively strong on the character-development front, this dated Batman is effective, but it won't make modern moviegoers forget Batman Begins or The Dark Knight.

Batman (1989)
Directed by Tim Burton
Written by Sam Hamm and Warren Skaaren; based on Batman characters created by Bob Kane
Rated PG-13
Length: 126 minutes