Tim Burton's Batman was a Taco Bell commercial released in 1989 by Warner Bros. Pictures. Wait, no.
Batman was a craptastic Prince album released in 1989. Er, no.
In 1990, Batman was the first VHS movie we got as a family, and we watched that tape again and again. I've probably seen this film 30-plus times, which is enough to see all the flawed special effects, notice the awful dialogue, wonder about the plot holes, and maybe wish for a little more Jack Palance.
Sometimes I think Jack Nicholson just stepped into a shot, said something random — whatever insanity popped into his head at the time — and Tim Burton said, "Cut! Print!" To wit:
"In the air, junior birdman!"
"Hello, Vinny. It's your Uncle Bingo. Time to pay the check!"
"Never rub another man's rhubarb!"
Buh?
Of course, The Joker's dialogue is nothing compared to pretty much everything Robert Wuhl says in this film. Good grief, that guy was annoying even then.
And yet, I still love this movie. I mean, this is about a man who dresses up in armor and drives around in a huge black car with a rocket engine, and he fights crime. His chief enemy is a guy who fell into a vat of toxic chemicals and only came out with a permanent grin on his face. What's not to love?
This film was Hollywood's first attempt to "darken" Batman. This is not Adam West with the "POW!" and "CRASH!" This is a brooding Michael Keaton instead, and let's not forget just how good Michael Keaton was in this role.
We can't take for granted the more modern, Christopher Nolan/Christian Bale interpretation. The two Burton/Keaton Batman films are a bridge from the TV series to now. My, how the mood has changed.
This was the first live-action film that I ever saw in a movie theater. I was five years old. I adored the goofy 1960's re-runs. And I'm pretty sure I was rockin' the Batman and Robin kiddie undies. There will never be another movie that leaves as big of an impression on me than Batman '89. I remember I began asking "Who is Jack Nicholson? What other movies has he been in?" "Has Tim Burton made other movies?" I was off to the races. Batman instilled my preference for dark, moody material. It made me want to be a filmmaker. Later that year, when my family bought an early generation VHS Camcorder, I directed my first film - a remake of Batman starring me as the Joker, my reluctant three-year old sister as Vicky Vale, a worn-out action figure as Batman (even then I was dabbling with the art of perspective), and my mother was a patient Director of Photography.
ReplyDeleteSure, Batman looks extremely flawed now. But I can't help watching it again and again through a five-year old's eyes. I treasure this movie. I'm glad to see you still appreciate it too.
I hope you have Hollywood Knights in your collection so I can see you really tear into Wuhl when you hit the H's.
ReplyDeleteThis movie changed my 7 year old perspective on comics. It's nuts going through and watching it now, older, and getting more of the darker and more riske' humor--i.e. my 7-year-old mind processing the Joker's line as, "THIS TOWN NEEDS AN ENEMY!" and when I went back to watch it as an adult, and realizing what the actual line was.
I'm glad Burton took Batman in this direction, and that Nolan brought it even further. I've always thought the POW, CRASH to be a bit disingenuous.