Too much of everything

Thanks for the memories!

I'll tell you why so serious

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Though often heralded as a highlight of the genre, this early example of a superhero flick hasn't held up well even when compared to its similarly aged peers mainly thanks to its lax pacing. 'Batman (1989)' places much more emphasis on a relatively dull, hum-drum background 'Bruce Wayne' plot than any of its actual bombastic bat-based elements, with the only joy in the Gothic goings-on coming in when the piece pulls back on the sincerity and decides it's time to get nuts. It's when its ostentatious side turns front and centre that it can be almost ironically enjoyed, for at all other times it is actually genuinely quite boring. There is one seriously good aspect, though, and that's Jack Nicholson's 'Joker'. Here, he is treated as the focal point, even receiving the origin story over the eponymous hero beginning with a nice little bait-and-switch, so much so that he steals the show in the most literal sense and it's a crying shame every time we're wrenched away from his campy yet callous criminal acts to focus on an unfortunately uncharismatic lead. 5/10

Batman is one of the most popular superheros in the world so obviously a movie would be made and out of all the Batman movies that I have seen i have really enjoyed this one and it further proves that Tim Burton is one of the best directors ever as this movie became a critical success. The story follows Batman as he fights crime and is still trying to get over the tragic loss of both of his parents and a new threat comes to Gotham and that's The Joker he is a crazy man with a plan and he won't stop. Michael Keaton,Jack Nicholson,Kim Basinger,Michael Gough,Pat Hingle and Billy Dee Williams are the cast who play there amazing adaptations of the comic book characters and they really made me feel like i was opening a comic and reading a new story and i love that. Overall for superhero movies this has to be one of my favorite i just love the story and i love the characters they are all amazing and this is always going to be a favorite of mine and the story can hold up against Nolan's batman trilogy.

This was the first superhero movie I have ever seen and it still holds up. Michael Keaton plays an excellent Batman and Jack Nicholson plays an excellent Joker. While almost 30 years old, the movies effects are extremelly good and Tim Burton's Gotham looked excellent. This was the first movie that proved that superhero movies can be serious stuff and I recommend it. It's quite fast-paced and fun.

Hyped beyond belief at the time of release (1989), highly budgeted, and nerve wracking to comic book fans who did not want the movie to resemble the 1960's Batman TV show (who need to get their priorities in life straight), Tim Burton's first Batman movie leaves a lot to be desired. On the positive side, it looks great with moody cinematography, Gothic/art decoy baroque inspired sets and matte paintings. It also has insistent but generally effective music by Danny Elfman, who impressively succeeds in spite of having no formal training in orchestration.The actors seem to be earnestly trying, though Keaton and especially Basinger perhaps just are not suited to the material. Keaton isn't terribly persuasive with the angst of his character, and Basinger....Well, she looks good but her delivery and interaction with the other cast members is lacking. Jack Nicholson is charismatic and fittingly for the Joker his mannerisms and line deliveries are quirky and manic, but thankfully they avoid falling into shrill camp. Heath Ledger would go for a more conventionally "dark" take on the character, which in my opinion may be more believable but isn't as entertaining.The movie's story takes a long time to take shape and the movie overall definitely runs long for a 1980's action movie; you can get up and take a break without pausing the movie at the beginning of a more talky scene and trust me, you won't miss a whole lot. Stretching some of the story and "character" scenes out mostly is a drawback, as it emphasizes the inadequacies of the movie.The movie presents as stylistically dark, but the situation and behavioral logic of many scenes is not at all sophisticated. Verily, one could argue that the delicious camp of the 60's show was actually more witty than this ostensibly serious but of often poor workmanship movie.As the movie gains steam (at a glacial pace....), the film-makers start piling up one coincidence or defiance of common sense after another. Why isn't the Joker arrested? This isn't Robocop where the police are protecting the crime lord villain. Why don't other Gothamites run shrieking away from the Joker, or try and take on the Joker who must be widely hated by the last third of the movie? Why does the Joker have a massive supply of goons conveniently dressed in the same uniform, who also have a large supply of Joker themed vehicles? It's clear that Burton likes the aesthetics of the enterprise, but whether he's capable of handling a large scale action movie is debatable. Some of the problems are script related, but the script isn't primarily responsible for pacing, acting, action choreography , and the like, which are all lacking in the movie; it's really odd that an a year with some spectacular action scenes (the 3rd Indiana Jones, Lethal Weapon 2, Back to the Future 2, The Abyss, Black Rain, License to Kill, Roadhouse, etc.) the public would somehow not notice that the film's fight scenes are dull and the vehicle action scenes are mediocre (with the bat plane stuff being more goofy than Roger Moore era bond). The action often is lacking in both internal logic and a reasonable connection to the surrounding scenes.This might seem shocking, but I've yet to see a Batman movie that fully sells me on the character. And I'm not hard to impress. I grew up loving Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Rambo, etc. I'm not a snob and I'm not that hard to please. Perhaps it's that, oddly enough, I still find Adam West to be the most appealing actor in the role. Keaton lacks a heroic presence, a good actor all the same but not right for the role. Christian Bale has a cold and smarmy presence that suited him for Patrick Bateman, but is totally wrong for an action hero. Film-makers seem to think Batman is a complex, "dark" character and as such shy away from casting alpha males in the role. Dumb. Stallone hit a grand slam with Rambo, who in the first movie is a scarred loose cannon. Highly masculine actors can do dark as well as anybody.