Batman (1989)
Not the first feature length theatrical Batman movie, technically that would be the one based on the 60's television show, but probably the one that laid the groundwork for Batman being a persisting presence in cinema. Directed by Tim Burton, who was still just getting started, right after Beetlejuice. Michael Keaton of course having played the titular character in both Beetlejuice and Batman.
This laid so much of the groundwork for not only every Batman movie but almost every superhero movie that came after it, while still being quite different from almost any of them. Burton's Batman is widely seen as the movie that finally took Batman seriously but I think there is still more of the 60's series in it that many care to admit. Batman '89's tone is one of pretty broad pastiche of, mostly, prohibition era to post World War 2 pulp crime drama with some pop goth Burtonisms thrown in for good measure. Which is one of those things that I actually wonder about, because all of that is now a relatively consistent part of most Batman media, whether it's the animated series (which, as far as I'm aware, was more or less produced as a tie in to this movie), to the Arkham games to even some of the newer movies like Joker and the Matt Reeve's one. Which kind of make me wonder how much of that aesthetic was codified by Tim Burton, I'm too unfamiliar with the comics to say.
All that aside, Batman is a very straight forward movie which definitely streamlines a lot of the pre existing Batman lore. It's very unconcerned with how Bruce Wayne became Batman. At the start of the movie he seems to have been Batman for a while, the death of his parents is very briefly brought up somewhere in the middle and rather economically tied to the Joker, whose origin is in turn tied to Batman. This Batman doesn't think twice about killing his villains henchmen, much less the villains themselves. What I'm saying is, this is a movie very unconcerned with explaining itself. It doesn't feel like it needs to set up why Batman does what he does or why the city and the fashion look the way they do. It presents a setting, a hero, a villain, a love interest and then just kinda has fun with them.
And it is fun, quite fun. Jack Nicholson plays the Joker and he's still one of the best actors to do it. I think every actor, except Leto, who ever played the Joker brought something compelling to the character and in Nicholson's case it's an infectious narcissism. He's a guy who, to the moment of his death, is always playing to an audience. Winking, smirking, doing little bits like a comedian on a stage. He is flamboyant in a way not unlike the villains in the 60's show, but he also sells that he is a genuinely ruthless guy who can, and does, kill on a whim.
And I think that serves as a pretty good metaphor for the movie as a whole. It's not that much less flamboyant and camp than the Adam West series, it's just a whole lot more violent. It has higher stakes and a darker artstyle but it's still full of visual gags and goofy one liners. Hell, even Batman himself gets a couple. Not to mention some of the Jokers more over the top capers that are diegetically scored with Prince songs. More than a serious crime drama ala Reeves, a gritty realistic thriller ala Nolan or a modern day myth ala Snyder, it's still mostly a game of cops and robbers with exaggerated characters.
Burton brings it all to life quite nicely. There's just enough to his Gotham City to make it a rather lively setting. We get to see its police, its organized crime, its press, Billy Dee Williams plays Harvey Dent, a casting choice they sadly never got to pay off... it has nice world building, more than you'd reasonably expect from something so straight forward.
All things considered, this holds up really well. It's simple and to the point but still full of memorable scenes, visuals and characters. There are plenty of Burton's visual quirks in it but they are never used as a crutch for a lifeless script the way they were in his later Disney movies. It neither tries to intellectualize nor ridicule its source material, it just uses it for a straight forward action movie with memorable characters played by talented character actors in a unique setting that's decently fleshed out. I'm not sure it's still the best Batman movie and I'm not even sure it's Burton's best Batman movie (I think I remember preferring Returns but I haven't seen it in a long time) but this is still a genuinely fun watch.
