BATMAN. Directed by Tim Burton, written by Bam Hamm and Warren Skaaren; produced by Jon Peters and Peter Guber. Starring Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson and Kim Basinger. Rated PG-13.
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Okay, okay ... during the summer, I know, you probably heard and read more than you wanted to about this movie. And most of you have probably already seen it at least once.
But I've been asking around and have found that some people haven't seen it at all! If you're one of those few, and if you like movies, it's a mistake to skip this one.
Granted, there are a lot of plausible reasons not to see Batman. For one thing, all the hype may have turned you off. I didn't much care for that, either. But, trust me, it was justified in this case.
Secondly—why, you may ask, should two fairly accomplished (though certainly not timid) actors like Keaton and Nicholson want to play cartoon characters? Ah, but this movie is a cartoon for grownups. There's not much in it that's actually out of line for younger viewers. But the whole style and pace of the thing is directed at a more discerning audience.
And the performances are exceptional. Batman's alter ego, Bruce Wayne, is an ambiguous, mysterious figure. And the "Caped Crusader" himself is a superhero, alright, but not superhuman.
Nicholson is an example of truly inspired casting for the villainous Joker. He's as flamboyant and extravagant here as in The Witches of Eastwick, but to much better effect. He gets the best lines in the movie, and he really knows what to do with them!
Finally, if the only Batman you remember is the old TV show, the movie is nothing like that—not in tone, narrative style or level of acting accomplishment.
The movie claims to be closer to the original Batman comics, an assertion I can't personally verify. But its look and its "feel," if you will, somehow evoke the '30's. The clothes people wear are stylish, but not exactly currently in style. The cars, buildings and interiors all look more than a little odd, almost as if they had been lifted from comic book drawings.
The visual style, in fact, is one of the main reasons I recommend the movie. It's exciting, frightening and original. The production designer, Anton Furst, describes it a "believable unreality," and that phrase sums up the whole movie fairly well.
Director Burton's previous features—Pee Wee's Big Adventure and Beetlejuice—are entertainments particularly notable for their originality. And Batman is even moreso.
September 27, 1989