But comic book fans knew that the real character has darker tone. 1989 finally saw this style of the caped crusader on the big screen.
Directed by Tim Burton, who has just come off doing Beetlejuice had many people thinking that his tone might not suite the source material. But with the rating been a 15, a lot were getting quite intrigued in why this has gone for a mature approach.
I was only a few months when this got released. But I have seen clips of how big this film was. Posters were everywhere and people were queuing round the block to see this. That was the pure definition of a blockbuster.
Burton and his team has now corrected everything by showing us the dark, sinister and gothic side that all the comic bans were waiting for. From the adrenaline rushing opening score by composter Danny Elfman gets you pumped and preparing for the tone that they are going for.
One thing that they show straight away that I loved about this film the most, is that it's not an origin story. It does go over Bruce Wayne's origin of becoming Batman for a short moment. That moment for me actually felt really haunting and favorite part of the film. But other than that, it is all about the development of the main villain and is clash with Batman. No superhero film would do that now.
It ended up winning one Oscar, for set direction, and I can see why. The design of Gotham City still looks great now and was probably as big as it could get at that time.
Michael Keaton was good as both Batman and Bruce Wayne. His mysterious persona was done really well to make us want to know more about his character by the time the film ends. However, the film belongs to Jack Nicholson, who plays The Joker. Only until recently, many saw as THE joker, and they were quite right. It might not be as intimidating as Heath Ledger's was in The Dark Knight. But it is still a role that many people associate with Nicholson the most.
Kim Basinger was a solid female lead as Vicki Vale, as was Robert Wuhl as investigator Knox and Michael Gough was a great Alfred. I would have liked to have seen more of the always smooth-talking Billy Dee Williams who played Harvey Dent.
My only negatives were probably the villain not being as threatening as he could have been and the use of the Prince songs do not feel right now. But they are only minor ones.
Despite some of it looking quite dated, it remains to be a really good watch. I liked the look of it. It reminded of crime noir flick set in the 50's or 60's. It is the Batman that everyone had been waiting for. The dark and gritty tone felt right with Burton directing. There are many great action scenes including the introduction to the Batmobile which was totally bad-ass.
Burton truly set for what is now a franchise with many successful additions.
Rating: 8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment