I went to Switzerland on vacation recently and had some dead time to kill on long flights. As I perused the options available for me to download to my phone (mostly TV shows), I noticed Batman - the 1989 original - was an option. I'd never seen more than small clips of it before, which is partially a crime in and of itself, so downloading it to watch on the plane was a no-brainer.
I can see what all the fuss was about and how this would have been impactful in 1989 as one of the first big superhero blockbusters. Of course, hindsight is always hard to overcome having witnessed tremendous alternatives like The Dark Knight and last year's The Batman, but I try to keep that in check as much as possible when I make stops in movie history like this, partially trying to imagine what theater goers seeing this for the first time would have experienced.
Batman is a big and bold blockbuster and that still rings true watching it over 30 years later. Michael Keaton is iconic in the role and in the insanely stiff (I had a good chuckle watching him try to turn) but menacing Batsuit, while Jack Nicholson was a far better and darker Joker than I anticipated. For me, the film was always going to hinge on him because it's nearly impossible to get Heath Ledger's all-time performance out of your head, but it was consistently intriguing to see the layers of Nicholson's Joker that Ledger wove into his own. And I do think it's more of a performance than just "Jack Nicholson being himself, but with face paint.". Other standouts include Robert Wuhl and Michael Gough's Alfred, while others are kinda "meh"...Commissioner Gordon feels miscast, but again...bias to other interpretations.
The story isn't an origin story, thankfully, but weaves that into the tale efficiently and overall I enjoyed this plot. It loses steam at a few points and the love story is cliched, but otherwise feels like a great jumping off point that sets up the world and the lore. It's coupled with an iconic, Danny Elfman, original score (yet again, the music withstands the test of time the best!) that creates rousing moments and gives us the distinctive theme.
It's definitely not perfect as the filmmaking, editing, and cinematography has mostly not aged well - though I did find moments of strong visuals - and for every awesome Batmobile chase scene, there's an awkward fight sequence. Unfortunately the finale falls into that latter camp being dark, hard to distinguish, and ultimately just awkward, with a lot of unused air time as our villain and hero chase each other up a tower.
Still, I'm sure in 1989, this was a jaw dropping experience in the theater that had movie goers returning for repeat viewings. Even with several decades and many other Batman films since then, it's impressive how well everything got kicked off.
Retro Rath's Review Score | 8/10
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