THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
While the superhero genre peaked in the 2000s, everyone wondered where the seeds were planted, what inspired studios to keep it going. The first was 1978’s Superman, but the biggest seed of all was Batman.
PLOT
The 1989 film takes place in the fictional Gotham City. District Attorney Harvey Dent (Billy Dee) and Commissioner James Gordon (Pat Hingle) plan to make the city safer by incarcerating mob boss Carl Grissom (Jack Palance). Photojournalist Vicki Vale and reporter Alexander Knox (Robert Wuhl) investigate sightings of the titular masked vigilante that has been targeting criminals. They do attend a charity benefit hosted by industrialist Bruce Wayne to get information from Gordon himself, but is unable to when he man of the law leaves after hearing of a break-in at Axis Chemicals. Wayne is in fact the caped crusader they're investigating, having chosen this path when a mugger killed his parents when he was a child. Grissom sent his second in command Jack Napier to raid the place to retrieve incriminating evidence. But this is only a cover to have him killed for sleeping with his mistress Alicia (Jerry Hall). Corrupt Lieutenant Max Eckhardt (William Hootkins) arranges Napier’s assassination by conducting an unauthorized operation. When Gordon arrives, he demands the criminal to be brought in alive in order to have a potential witness. Batman does arrive at the scene as well to capture Napier, who is able to kill Eckhardt for double crossing him. During the shoot out between the cops and mobster, the latter falls off a catwalk into a vat of acidic chemicals. As a result of surviving, his skin is white and his hair is green. He does undergo surgery to repair the damage, but only gets rictus grin in the process. Driven insane by his new physical appearance, he dons the nickname ‘Joker’ and takes over Carl’s operations by killing him and all of his associates. As this happens, Vicki has a date with Wayne and it goes well when she finds herself infatuated with him. She does ask him out for another date, but he turns her down claiming he will be out of town. Growing curious of him, she follows him around and noticed him place flowers at an alley. At that point, they both see Joker publicly kill crime lord Vinnie Ricorso (John Dair). The new prince of crime has his own infatuation of Vicki when discovering a picture of her at the scene. He then creates his own chemical known as 'Smilex', which is placed inside cosmetics that'll kill people by laughing to death. Joker also invites Vicki to meet her at the Gotham Museum of Art, pretending to be Bruce. When Bruce finds out she's being lured in danger, he rushes to her as the dark knight quickly could. Joker poisons everyone in the museum except Vicki, as part of wanting a romantic evening with her. Batman saves her from and flee in his personally designed vehicle, the Batmobile. He takes her to his hideout, the Batcave, to give her research needed to avoid Smilex, which she'll give to the press. He does also take away the film with proof of who he is. Bruce does visit her the next day with the intent to reveal his identity, but are interrupted by an intruding Joker. He does threaten the madman in self defense, but he plainly shoots him in the chest with a phrase "Ever dance with the devil in the pale moon light?". When he leaves, Bruce is revealed to have survived by blocking the bullet with a silver tray under his shirt. He leaves before Vicki sees him take off. When she returns to work, Knox shares that the street he visited was where his parents died. When Bruce watches the news that Joker tends to have his own 200th anniversary parade for Gotham, he remembers that he was the one who killed his parents. Vicki is let into the Batcave by Bruce's butler Alfred (Michael Gough), discovering who he is. They agree that Bruce can't focus on a relationship with her while Joker causes chaos. He does destroy the Axis plant, but it is not the last of Smilex yet. Joker spreads the from parade balloons, which gets many exposed to the chemicals. He uses his personal aircraft, the Batwing, to steal the balloons. Joker retaliates by successfully shooting down the Batwing, causing the aircraft to crash. The new crime syndicate takes Vicki hostage to the top of the cathedral, as part of his escape plan, but Batman survives the crash and follows them. When he catches up after taking down multiple goons, he pummels his parents' killer. He knocks him over the balcony, but Joker pulls him and Vicki down, having them hold on for dear life. He attempts to flee by boarding a helicopter, but Batman uses a grappling hook and attaches Joker's leg to a gargoyle. This causes the crime lord to fall to his death, while both love interests make it to safety. The film ends some time after his incident, showing the police unveil a signal to use whenever they need help of the dark knight himself.
THOUGHTS
This was my introduction to the creative brand of DC Comics and this was the best way to go because I have been enjoying this film since I was a kid. This film has held up for so long because Director Tim Burton gives us just the right amount of everything. He brings color in the surrounding grim and creates a spectacle feeling that comic books bring. The combination of Danny Elfman's powerful score and catchy music by Prince was a match made in heaven because you can never expect when things will get exciting or sour; That unpredictable feeling makes the experience more fun. While it has its moments being campy, it works because these are the kind of stories because where you don't have to be too realistic and that is also what makes movies fun. The biggest thing that makes the movie memorable are the performances that create big standards on how to bring iconic characters to life. Michael Keaton was originally doubted on pulling off playing the titular protagonist, but he proved everyone wrong overnight. He makes the character his own by accurately reflecting the dual perspective he has had for generations. By day, he is sociable and can have a deadpan sense of humor but at night, he becomes vicious to the slime that cripple the city he loves. He chooses to do this because he believes his parents would've wanted him to make a difference. Since the police accepted the signal, it is clear that he did in the best way. What I need to make clear now is that this movie has the best Batmobile. While it may not practical to ride, it’s the best designed because it matches the universe’s aesthetic. When you have a great hero, there is usually a great villain that is considered an equal. So when you think about Batman, you'll always think about Joker. Before other actors gave their own layers of this iconic villain, Jack Nicholson is a standout version for straight up owning it being humorously psychotic which is what has defined him for so long. Seeing him express sarcasm during the chaos he spread made him all the more terrifying of a character. What anted it up aside from his smile was how he was unpredictable. Every time he had an interest, he acted on it when least expected and did everything he could to get whatever he wanted. Sadly for him, he failed to understand that after rising, one is bound to fall. The only other character that interested me in this movie was Vicki Vale. Kim Basinger made her interesting as well because she was ambitious and always shared what was important. She fell for Bruce and he fell for her because they don't let appearances define him. She knew that he had a heart behind the costume and he saw how much she cared for the city. Knowing this, it is a bummer we didn't see their relationship continue in the sequels. I’ll always admire this movie for being the stepping stone for its genre, but even a movie as good as this has its own story flaws. For starters, how did Vicki not recognize what Bruce looks like? Considering that he’s popular and is hosting a party at his house, she should’ve found one newspaper of him on the front page. And am I the only one that thought it was dumb when Eckhardt said “Shoot to kill, you know what I mean”. I’m pretty sure everyone already gets it after saying shoot to kill. It is cool that Bruce can hang upside down, but why would he do that after just having sex with Vicki whose still in his bedroom? That’s like asking for her to find out who he is. And I understand that he’s still traumatized of his parents’ death, but why visit the alley where they died instead of the cemetery? I know he’s Batman, but he makes himself suspicious when not everyone remembers what happened to them. Its always badass of an entrance when heroes break through glass, but when Batman does it, how come no shards fell on Vicki or Joker? They don’t have armor like him, so it’s kinda weird how their clothes remained just as fine as before he shows up. It is horrifying when Joker kills in broad daylight, but how the hell did the cops not cuff him immediately? I know his goons got involved, but they could’ve tried. The horror adds up when he kills people by poisoning the cosmetics, but how are only 13 dead at first? I don’t want this villain to win, but 13 is too low of a number when millions of cosmetics are sold. I then wonder how did Joker’s goons catch up to Batman when he was ahead of escaping? It’s not like he left a trail behind. While I admit that this movie has some fantastic production design, my one question related to the Batcave is the point of one bat being caged while others are roam free. Bruce doesn’t seem like a pet person, so I don’t see the point of him isolating a bat. You want to talk about awkward, how about Vicki eating popcorn when Bruce meets Joker in her apartment? I mean I would because I’m watching the movie. So if this is supposed to be a fourth wall break, that should be clear. And why would she open the gift Joker left behind? I know it’s only flowers, but it could’ve been poison. I know we need a connection to the hero and villain when Joker asks if he danced with the devil, but the latter is lying when he says always asks that to his victims. Just because you say it twice doesn’t mean always. Also, why didn’t the henchmen get struck by their own own bullets as a result of ricochet when shooting at the Batmobile? If it’s that invincible, then it should ricochet whatever hits it. And why the hell did no law enforcement show up immediately when Joker started the parade? I know Batman takes care of the balloons, but if they got there before him, they probably would’ve prevented the gas from being released. And I don’t understand why does he choose to go to the top of the church to get a helicopter ride? He could’ve gotten picked up at the entrance within five plans and would’ve shot down Batman again while he was waiting. The biggest continuity error this movie has is not seeing how Joker avoided falling from death to pull down Batman & Vicki, having them hang on for dear life. Joker dies anyway, but I don’t understand how he avoided it the second time around. On top of that, how do both love interests go back to the bottom of the church when the stairs got destroyed? It would’ve been interesting to see how that turned out. Ignore this and you’ll still have a good time. In short, Batman is the true pioneer to the superhero genre for feeling nuanced like a classic noir. If you love this character, it would surprise me that you haven’t seen it as of reading this.
Comments