Batman has been, and continues to be controversial. Perhaps like his comic criticisms "Take off that mask" - "a vigilante" - the idea of a hero with a violent dark side makes him part hero and part villain.
The storyline here plays pretty straight to the origins in Detective Comics No. 27. Bruce Wayne takes the persona of Batman to avenge the deaths of his parents in the dark Gotham City. Crime runs rampant due to the insidious influence of the Joker, played somewhat ad libbed by Jack Nicholson.
At the time it was made, it was considered very dark, as compared to other movies. It's really somewhat cartoonish, with the Lost in Space special effects and the Willie Wonka-sets distinctive of other Tim Burton movies. It reminded me of another dark but comic 80s movie set in a dysfunctional NYC - Ghostbusters.
Kim Basinger does a good turn as Vicky Vale, the Lois Lane of Bruce Wayne's existence. Michael Keaton is servicable, better at Bruce Wayne than Batman. Of course this show is really Jack Nicholson's - as I recall, he had top billing on the movie - Nicholson** Keaton ** BATMAN.
The end scene running up a narrow square staircase is straight out of Vertigo - in fact it had a lot of common themes of secret identity, being another person and struggles of good v. evil. Guess who wins?
Kudos to the Paramount Theater in Austin for showing this as part of the Summer Classics series.
* * * of 4
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