There have been countless versions of Batman over the years, but Tim Burton’s Batman remains one of my absolute favourites. Released in 1989, this was the movie that gave us Michael Keaton’s Dark Knight, Jack Nicholson’s Joker, one of the greatest Batmobiles ever put on screen and a version of Gotham City that actually felt like somewhere Batman belonged.
Burton’s Gotham is dark, dirty and dangerous. Criminals operate around every corner, the police are struggling to keep control and rumours are spreading about some giant bat taking criminals off the streets. That bat is, of course, Bruce Wayne, and while Michael Keaton might not have seemed like the most obvious casting at the time, watching the movie now it’s difficult to imagine Burton’s Gotham without him.
Keaton’s Bruce Wayne is quieter and slightly awkward, while his Batman feels mysterious and unpredictable. He doesn’t need to spend the entire movie telling us how dangerous he is because you believe it whenever he puts on the suit. There’s something wonderfully understated about Keaton’s performance that works particularly well against the much larger personality standing on the other side.
That brings us to Jack Nicholson, whose Joker remains absolutely iconic. He can be playful one second and completely psychotic the next, and that’s what makes him so much fun to watch. There’s a theatrical quality to everything he does, but underneath the jokes and ridiculous behaviour is someone who will happily murder anybody standing in his way.
Nicholson also looks like he’s having the time of his life. Whether he’s taking over Gotham’s criminal underworld, vandalising an art gallery or parading through the streets, his Joker dominates whenever he’s on screen. He set an incredibly high standard for anyone who followed. Heath Ledger would eventually give us a completely different and equally unforgettable interpretation, but I’ve never felt the need to choose between them. Nicholson’s Joker belongs perfectly inside Burton’s world, and that’s what matters.
Kim Basinger deserves plenty of credit too. Her Vicki Vale could easily have existed purely as the woman Batman has to rescue, but Basinger gives her considerably more personality than that. She’s a determined photojournalist trying to uncover the truth about Batman while becoming increasingly involved with Bruce Wayne. Yes, she gets herself into plenty of danger, but this is Gotham. Who doesn’t?
The relationship between Bruce and Vicki also gives Keaton more to work with outside the suit. Bruce can face armed criminals without blinking, yet dealing with an actual relationship seems considerably more complicated. Michael Gough is another piece of casting I’ve always loved. For me, he’s Alfred. Gough brings warmth and humour to the role without turning Alfred into a joke, and his relationship with Bruce feels genuine. He’s one of the few people who sees both sides of the man and understands exactly what Bruce is carrying around with him.
Then there’s the hardware, and that Batmobile is still a thing of beauty. I remember seeing it and being completely in awe. Even after all the different versions we’ve had since, Burton’s Batmobile remains one of the coolest. Long, black, ridiculous and absolutely beautiful, it looks less like something somebody built and more like Batman himself somehow turned into a car.
The Batwing is just as memorable. The image of it flying above Gotham and lining up perfectly against the moon is pure Batman, leading into one of my favourite bits of Joker madness. Batman has a bloody aircraft coming towards him and Joker responds by pulling an absurdly long handgun from his trousers and shooting the thing down. It’s completely over the top, but that’s precisely why Nicholson’s Joker works. Nothing about him is restrained.
The final confrontation takes everything to Gotham Cathedral, giving Batman and Joker the suitably gothic showdown the movie has been building towards. Burton’s visual style is everywhere, from the enormous architecture to the darkness surrounding the characters, and Gotham itself feels almost like another character in the film.
Danny Elfman’s score completes the package. You hear that Batman theme and immediately know the Dark Knight has arrived. It’s powerful, instantly recognisable and so closely connected to the character that I can still hear it in my head whenever I think about Keaton standing on a rooftop overlooking Gotham.
That’s probably what I love most about Batman: it has an identity. You can look at a single frame and know exactly which Batman movie you’re watching. Burton’s Gotham, Keaton’s suit, Nicholson’s Joker, the Batmobile and Elfman’s music all belong to the same strange, gothic world.
Is it the most comic-accurate Batman movie ever made? Probably not, but I don’t particularly care. What matters to me is that it understands the darkness and mythology surrounding Batman while still remembering that a comic-book movie can be entertaining.
Michael Keaton would go on to develop the character further in Batman Returns, but everything that made his version work starts here. He’s brooding without becoming miserable, intimidating without constantly needing to prove it and convincing as both Bruce Wayne and Batman. Nicholson gives him the perfect opposite number, Basinger gives the story heart and Burton gives Gotham its personality.
More than three decades later, Batman remains one of my favourite superhero movies and, alongside Batman Returns, one of my two favourite Batman films. Others have gone darker and others have gone bigger, but nobody has made Gotham quite like Tim Burton did.
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