1989 superhero film by Tim Burton is an example of films that don't age well. First modern Hollywood adaptation of Batman, made for the 50th anniversary of the comic book, is set in Gotham City, metropolis plagued by crime embodied by vicious gangsters like Jack Napier (played by Jack Nicholson). The only thing that stands in a way for criminals is mysterious masked vigilante called Batman, who is actually Bruce Wayne (played by Michael Keaton), wealthy industrialist who, as a child, lost parents in street mugging. While Batman starts fighting crimes, Napier, after being terribly disfigured starts calling himself Joker and starts building his own crime empire. While the film was huge commercial success and received, often deserved, praise from the critics, it had its flaws. Director Tim Burton created Batman's world as some sort of compromise between 1940s (embodied by fashion) and 1980s (embodied by modern technology and songs by Prince); on the other hand the general tone of the film was some sort of compromise between darker motives hinted at Frank Miller's Dark Knight reinterpretation of original script and somewhat lighter approach based on 1960s TV series. Although Batman seems be one of the best roles in Michael Keaton's career, he is easily overshadowed by Jack Nicholson who plays Joker as embodiment of unrestrained insanity and delivers one of the greatest performances of his career. The script, on the other hand, is too complicated, and many characters bland and undeveloped. Although, thanks to Danny Elfman's great musical score and Burton's direction 1989 version of Batman remains a very good film, it is easy to understand why it was overshadowed by Christopher Nolan's trilogy.
RATING: 7/10
