Batman (1989)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

Batman (1989) – T. Burton

When Amon (almost 9 years) pulled this off of the shelf at the library, I thought “uh-oh” -- but then it didn’t turn out to be that bad.  Michael Keaton is a very subdued hero underneath all that moulded rubber and when he appeared as Bruce Wayne, Amon thought he just didn’t look right (and I agree – we both prefer Adam West).  This first film set itself the challenge of telling Batman’s origin story (in flashback) as well as The Joker’s -- and fortunately, they are intertwined, at least here (I’m not familiar enough with the original texts).  Jack Nicholson plays the villain as a kind of daggy dad, embarrassing you by his bad dance moves – but of course, unlike your average dad, The Joker is evil (and there is some mean-spirited but cartoonish violence here).  Without Nicholson’s goofing, the film would likely be deathly dull, marked only by its cool (but dated) set design and art direction. Should we have known already that director Tim Burton was all style with no sense of pacing? Kim Basinger (as photog/love interest Vicki Vale) and Robert Wuhl (remember him? as a reporter) are not the right calibre of actor for their parts to be interesting.  That said, Amon truly enjoyed it and I ultimately didn’t mind this return to the 80s. However, I’m afraid that Amon is the only one who can get me to watch superheroes these days…I’m not otherwise inclined.