Super-Cember Day #1: Batman (1989)

(Originally posted December 1st, 2017)

Super-Cember kicks off with a bang, or a pow, or even a wham, as today I watched Tim Burton's Batman (1989) for the first time. Starring Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Jack Nicholson as Jack Napier/Joker and Kim Basinger as Vicky Vale, this is the first of many Batman films I'll be watching this month, and it set the bar pretty high.

Batman (1989)

One of the best things this film has going for it is its atmosphere. Tim Burton did an amazing job setting the scene of Gotham City. Right from the get-go, you can tell things aren't exactly peachy in Gotham. Yes, you can tell that one or two of the sets are actually sets, but overall, this movie looks amazing, especially for 1989. If anything, this movie's held up very well, as there were very limited CGI effects. Everything was either practical or done with models, and that just adds to the charm of the movie.

The city hall set

Michael Keaton is a great cast for Batman. The only thing I'd seen him in prior to this was Spider-Man: Homecoming, and even from that, I could tell he'd make a great Batman, and he did. One of the things that really impressed me about his performance is that he didn't overdo it. It was a reserved performance, but Bruce Wayne is a reserved character. He keeps things close to the chest, and even one of the more emotional moments, like when he realises who killed his parents, didn't need a big emotional outburst. It was enough to just have Michael Keaton looking shocked about it. It was a very down-to-earth portrayal, and it was something I wasn't expecting, especially given how much of a meme Christian Bale's performance has become (I'll get to that later in the month).

Michael Keaton as Batman

But, let me just come right out and say it: Jack Nicholson is the best thing about this movie. I was initially a little confused as to why his name appears in the opening credits before Keaton's, but having seen the movie, I completely get it. The Joker is the real star of this movie. Every scene he was in, he stole it. Even before he became the Joker, I was thoroughly entertained by his performance. It's almost as though the Joker personality was always brimming under the surface, and it only took a vat of toxic chemicals to bring it out. You get the sense that he could've become the Joker even before his accident, similar to how Wade Wilson was always a wise-cracking asshole even before he became Deadpool. Granted, once he's got his Joker face on, he dials it up to 15, and it's amazing to watch. Whenever he was on screen, I had no idea what he was going to do. He might dance, he might just kill someone, but either way, it was great.

Jack Nicholson as The Joker

However, there were a couple of things that I did take issue with. First of all, Jack Nicholson was just too good. That might not seem like a problem, but it really kinda was, since all too often, a scene of his would end, and then we'd cut to Vicky Vale and the other reporter whose name I forgot, and they'd just be doing their thing, or we'd see Vicky trying to form a relationship with Bruce. And, I'm not trying to hate here; Kim Basinger did a great job in the movie when she wasn't screaming her lungs out at every little thing, but her scenes were nowhere near as interesting or fun to watch as Nicholson's scenes. They were good scenes, absolutely, but coming off the back of the Joker doing Joker things, they sort of bored me a little.

Kim Basinger as Vicki Vale

And why did they get Billy Dee Williams in to play Harvey Dent but then do absolutely nothing with him? Harvey Dent does nothing in this movie. He makes a few phone calls, and that's about it. I say this knowing who Harvey Dent is in the comics, but even in this movie, his role could easily have been filled by some random cop. You didn't need Harvey Dent in here, and you definitely didn't need to waste Billy Dee Williams. I'm not sure if he returns in later movies, but I hope he does, and I hope he does a little more than he did in this one.

Billy Dee Williams as Harvey Dent

Also, I found it interesting how Batman just straight-up killed people in this movie. It didn't happen often, but one of the first lines we get about Batman is about how he recently just killed a burglar by dropping him 5 stories. It's interesting how I heard all about how he kills people in BvS and people had such a big issue with it, but no one mentions when he killed people in this movie. But, context is everything, and I don't know enough about BvS yet to truly understand if there's a real difference here (don't tell me, I'm going to find out later this month).

Batman's totally about to kill this guy

Overall, Batman (1989) was a fun movie, and a great one to start Super-Cember with. I'm glad I saw it, and I'd probably see it again at some point, if just for Jack Nicholson. 7.5/10.

Tomorrow: it's X-Men.