Deep Dive DC: Wes Looks at Batman(1989)

Welcome everyone to a very special, Patreon exclusive edition of Deep Dive DC Month. Today, we’re looking at something very special indeed. As voted on by my Twitter followers, today, we’re taking a look at the 1989 Tim Burton classic simply entitled Batman. Birds of Prey came surprisingly close, but I’m glad y’all picked this one. This movie is truly a classic in every sense of the word, having defined our perception of Batman for generations to come, and all of it spearheaded by the incredible performances of Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson. Nearly every scene in this movie is iconic and one way or another, a true must watch for any fan of the Dark Knight. So here’s our story. Gotham City is a crime ridden hell hole, thanks in large part to a crime boss named Carl Grissom. With most of the cops in Grissom’s pocket, it’s only The Batman who stands between the people of Gotham and the criminal element. Grissom is all but untouchable and anyone who comes close will have Grissom’s sadistic and psychotic right-hand man, Jack Napier, to deal with. However, when Grissom finds out that Jack is fooling around with his woman, he sends Jack on a mission and tips off the cops, hoping Jack will meet his end. Due to interference from The Batman, Jack survives Grissom’s set up, but ends up with his skin bleached after falling into a vat of chemicals. Rechristening himself The Joker, Jack kills Grissom and wastes no time taking over his operation, plunging Gotham into a chaotic nightmare that only Batman can stop. Things get even more personal when Joker and Batman both fall for the same woman. It’s one of the most iconic movies to carry the Batman name and considered by many to be the best Batman movie ever made. Let’s waste no further time and take a look at Tim Burton’s Batman.

Main Character:

This is interesting to me. In nearly every other continuity, we know pretty much everything there is to know about Batman but almost nothing about The Joker. Here, it’s a total reversal. We know everything about the Joker but very little about Bruce Wayne and his alter ego. Hell, while we see Batman in the iconic opening scene, it’s actually a while before we see Bruce Wayne himself. Sure, we learn little things here and there, but it’s kept decidedly vague and mysterious. How did this Batman become what he is? Where did he train to do what he does and what was the extent of his training? We don’t know, nor do we really need to. The film cleverly only gives us what it feels it needs to and then lets its audience fill in the blanks. What we do get is actually pretty fascinating. Like many incarnations, Bruce doesn’t really fit in with Gotham’s wealthy elite, only pretending to be one of them in order to keep up appearances. His wealth has its purpose, such as funding his crusade against Gotham’s criminal element, but he in no way sees it as part of who he is. I really like the subtle ways the movie shows this, my favorite example being his dinner with Vicki where it’s really awkward when the sit at the grand long table where one of his status would be expected to sit, but once they move into the small and intimate kitchen, Bruce feels far more comfortable. Even though he is very mysterious, there’s this humanity to Bruce that comes out in interesting ways. I personally love this moment where he admits to himself that this, the whole Batman thing is pretty crazy and sometimes he genuinely isn’t sure what to make of it, but he keeps going because he knows he’s the only one who can do what he does. I don’t think I’m breaking any new ground here when I say Michael Keaton’s performance is absolutely fantastic in this movie. He is perfectly charming as Bruce Wayne and perfectly intimidating as Batman. I swear, this is one of the only version of Batman who can smile without it seeming awkward. Most people believe that Keaton is the greatest live action Batman and while I will reserve my final judgement until I’ve seen Robert Pattinson in action, I’m inclined to agree.

Villain:

I think over the years that we’ve gotten so caught up on the great Jokers who have come after, such as Mark Hamill and Heath Ledger, that we occasionally need to remind ourselves just how awesome Jack Nicholson’s Joker is. I mean, Jesus Christ this character is a blast. Jack Nicholson is one of the greatest actors of our time and there is nothing quite like seeing the man go full ham on a role. An unrestrained over the top Jack Nicholson is always something truly special and this here is no exception. Every second he’s on screen, Jack is hamming it up like a beast and you can tell he’s having the time of his life, with or without the Joker makeup. During this most recent viewing, I developed an intriguing theory about this Joker. See, while to my knowledge, we’ve never gotten a definitive origin for The Joker, at least not one makes any goddamn sense (looking at you Three Jokers), the idea behind most versions of the character is how one bad day is enough to drive a man to insanity. While that’s all well and good, I don’t think that’s what’s going on here. What if I told you that I don’t actually believe that falling into the vat of chemicals affected Jack Napier’s mind at all. You can tell, this guy was a violent psychopath long before he got his skin bleached. Even some of Grissom’s goons are terrified of him. He was probably planning to wreak his unique brand of havoc on the city all along, Joker face or no, but couldn’t with Grissom in the way. Once Grissom meets his end, Joker is free to basically do whatever he wants without fear of reprisal, knowing that most of the men in his outfit will be kept in line by fear of the gruesome fate that awaits them if they dare make the new Clown Prince of Crime angry. For his part, Jack Nicholson is fantastic in this movie and you can tell he’s having the time of his life hamming it up in a way that only he can. Like any good Joker, Nicholson makes you laugh, but never lets you forget that he is a serious threat. You find yourself laughing your ass off when he shocks a dude with a joy buzzer while singing Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight, but then you see the same dude reduced to a crispy skeleton and suddenly you’re horrified. A perfect balance. And what does this Joker have in store for Gotham? Well, using his expertise in chemistry, Joker puts chemicals in various cosmetics throughout the city that are harmless on their own, but when used in certain combinations, prove deadly. When Batman steals his spotlight, and the affections of his obsession, Vicki Vale, Joker makes it his mission to rub out the Bat. And of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the big twist. In this version of the story, it’s revealed that a young Jack Napier was the one who murdered Thomas and Martha Wayne. An interesting choice and not necessarily one I’d have gone with, but one that I feel works all the same. That’s one of the reasons I say that Joker was always a psychopath even before he fell into a chemical vat. Any man who would gun down two innocent people in the street, laugh in the face of their now traumatized son and later not even remember when confronted about it is clearly already playing with a few jokers in the deck. Either way, this character is amazing and Jack Nicholson is more than worthy of calling himself one of the greatest Jokers there ever was.

Side Characters:

Let’s get this out of the way right off the bat (pun not intended), I have never really liked Vicki Vale. Nothing against Kim Basinger, but I’ve never liked Vicki as a character in this movie nor have I ever really liked her in any incarnation outside of it either. To me, the character has always felt like some kind of dime store Lois Lane. Lois Lane is a great character in her own right and works fine as a love interest for Superman, but Batman is not Superman. It just feels like they’re trying to shove a square peg into a round hole here. More than that, she also often feels like she’s only here to give Batman and Joker something else to fight over, and really, the fact that Joker is a threat to the city should be more than enough.

Alexander Knox doesn’t fair that much better. Half the time, the dude comes off as a creep. I do like that he’s not afraid to stand up to Grissom’s goons, but beyond that, there’s not that much to him.

I actually rather enjoyed Jack Palance as Carl Grissom. You clearly understand why a guy like this would have no problem running Gotham. You get a sense that he can inspire great loyalty, which is how he’s been able to keep a maniac like Jack Napier in line for so long. It’s only after Grissom tries to have Napier killed that he seals his fate.

Pat Hingle plays Jim Gordon and while he doesn’t quite get as much to do in this movie as Gary Oldman does in the Dark Knight Trilogy, I still say this version of Jim Gordon is highly underrated.

There’s a dirty cop on the force named Eckhart who’s in Grissom’s pocket. I’m just going to come out and say it, no way in hell was this not the prototype for everyone’s favorite surly GCPD detective, Harvey Bullock, later to be introduced in Batman the Animated Series. There are some differences, most prominently being the fact that Bullock, while clearly an asshole, was never on the take. Still, the similarities are too numerous for it to be a coincidence.

Then there’s Bob. Bob is Jack’s Number One. Bob is Amazing and Anyone who says otherwise is wrong.

That leaves us with one of my favorite characters, Alfred Pennyworth, played in this version by Michael Gough. I’ve always loved this version of Alfred. He comes across as your kindly old grandfather and I do appreciate that while he fully supports Bruce’s crusade, he’d love nothing more than to see Bruce give it all up and ride off into the proverbial sunset with Vicki. There’s a warmth to this Alfred that you can tell is one of the main things keeping Bruce from falling into the darkness completely. Great stuff.

Songs:

This movie is not a musical. I kind of wish it was sometimes, but it is not a musical. But I’ll be damned if I let this article pass without mentioning the iconic Danny Elfman score. This, more than any other piece of music associated with the character, feels like the true theme of Batman. It’s dark, brooding, but at the same time, triumphant. It really does feel like everything a theme song for Batman should be.

Also, the soundtrack was handled by legendary musician, The Artist formerly known as Prince, now currently known as Prince. You wouldn’t think Prince’s music would fit in a Batman movie, but then, I said the same thing about Bing Crosby and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and look how that turned out. And of course, the most legendary track is one called Party Man, a song that plays while Joker and his thugs are messing up the museum. What can I say, the song rocks!

Memorable Scenes:

First and foremost, I need to talk about the Joker’s Smilex commercial. During a news cast, the Anchor woman starts laughing at an inappropriate time, a result of Joker’s poisoned cosmetics. As the newswoman falls down dead, the feed is interrupted by a cheesy informercial with Joker promoting his new Joker brand cosmetics, with the secret ingredient, Smilex, guaranteed to provide hair color so natural, only your undertaker knows for sure. Nicholson is just going full ham in this scene, again hitting that perfect Joker balance between hilarious and terrifying, and the result is one of the funniest scenes in the movie.

However, my favorite scene has to be the one in Vicki Vale’s apartment. Bruce has gone to Vicki’s place, ready to tell her everything. He tries to come clean about his double life, but keeps fumbling over the words, clearly having never opened up to anyone in this manner before. Things get really bad when Joker breaks into the apartment looking to court Vicki for himself. Bruce gives this speech to throw Jack off, ending with the iconic line “YOU WANNA GET NUTS, COME ON, LET’S GET NUTS.” I love Keaton’s delivery in this. He’s channeling his inner Beetlejuice and I am here for it. Joker responds with the equally iconic line “Ever Dance with the Devil in the Pale Moonlight?” Bruce obviously recognizes this as what the man who killed his parents said to him and is thrown off just long enough for Joker’s goons to knock him out. Then, the perfect cherry on top, the classic “never rub another man’s rhubarb” line to close out the scene. That’s three iconic lines pretty much back to back to back. Who could ask for more?

Story:

There have been Batman movies that have gone f or deeper meaning. Hell, we just covered one last week. However, I’m not sure if that’s this movie. This movie is just trying to tell a fun Batman vs. The Joker story straight out of an old 80’s comic book, and I’d say it’s successful.

The Dark DC Factor

I mean, this is a Tim Burton movie after all, so there’s bound to be plenty of creepy shit throughout. Mind you, the studio kept Burton on a fairly short leash so we don’t get anything quite as out there as we’d see in Beetlejuice or Sweeney Todd or Hell, even his next Batman movie, which I do plan on covering in the future. Still, we get plenty of Burton’s trademark creepiness in this movie. Be it charred skeletons or corpses with twisted smiles on their faces or my personal favorite, Joker’s ex-girlfriend looking like an acid scarred nightmare. Burton never lets us down when it comes to dark shit and we love him for that.

Final Thoughts: I mean, what do you even want me to say, this movie kicks ass. It's widely regarded as one of the best live action Batman movies ever made and that is a reputation very well earned. I love this movie and it's one that I rewatch often. However, Deep Dive DC Month isn't over quite yet. See, turns out there's an extra weekend in the month of May this year, so, join next weekend for a special look at a classic episode of Batman the Animated Series. See you next time.