My Review of Batman (1989)

Rating Scale:

12/10—a complete masterpiece; flawless and outstanding
11/10—Excellent, near-perfect film
10/10—the standard rating; awesome film with a couple of flaws
9/10—a wonderful film with several flaws
8/10–a great film with numerous flaws but not enough to ruin it
7/10—a fun and entertaining movie; not great but still enjoyable
6/10—a slightly above average film; it is something I might watch again
5/10—mediocre movie; not awful but not great either
4/10—a below average film; it could have been much better
3/10—a bad film; poorly written and poorly executed
2/10—a very bad movie; the few good things in the movie overshadowed by the bad things
1/10—a terrible movie; a total waste of time
0/10—a worthless piece of abomination; should have never been made

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Greetings, ladies and gentlemen! This is Mr. J back with another movie review for tonight! This evening, I will be reviewing one of the most well-known classic DC films of all time simply entitled: Batman from 1989. As I have stated in my Batman Returns review, this movie was one of the three Batman movies in the Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher universe that I’ve loosely watched when I was a kid with the exception of Batman Returns. But because I haven’t seen these films in such a long time, I’ve felt the need to rewatch this movie first before I could get to the last two installments. Additionally, after I have enjoyed the second movie prior to my review thereof, I knew for a fact I would immensely enjoy this movie after re-watching it. Let me tell ya, I had such a great time seeing this as a grown man now.

This movie is one of the best Batman movies that exist, and it is my third favorite Batman movie of all time. Almost everything in this film was perfect and had a solid gothic atmosphere that Tim Burton is so good at providing. Without a shadow of a doubt, his direction and vision for the movie proved to be a tremendous success that earned so much love and admiration from hardcore Batman fans especially those who are devout fans of Michael Keaton’s Batman.

For those of you who are likewise BM fans, you know how his story went down: after having witnessed the tragic murder of his parents as a child, billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne grows up and dresses himself as the Dark Knight and takes down any criminal in Gotham City. He will soon encounter his rising nemesis called The Joker, the Clown Prince of Crime. This may prove to be his most dangerous battle yet; will The Batman emerge victorious or will he fall prey to The Joker’s clutches and tricks?

This movie feels like something that was taken from a DC comic book and is actually happening within a comic book world. Although this series is bombarded with cartoonish sound effects, it does establish the fact that this isn’t exactly based on realism (as Christopher Nolan did for The Dark Knight Trilogy) and is based more on what Batman actually does within the fictional world. Plus, while the tone isn’t too dark, it doesn’t water down any impact of violence being shown on screen.

The story was quite solid and well-written; however, despite the fact that this movie is literally named after Batman, it focuses more on Jack Napier and how he became the infamous Joker. I mean, seriously, the majority of the movie completely focuses on him which makes me think this movie should have been called Joker. *Chuckles* I personally wouldn’t have minded that.

Speaking of Joker, Jack Nicholson was absolutely amazing as Jack Napier/Joker. He stole every scene he was in even before he became Joker! His sinister smile, his deadly gadgets, his dastardly design, and ruggedly handsome appearance made him the best character and best villain in this movie! His jokes were also golden and comedically well-timed which solidified him as a force to be reckoned with...and a banger. HAHAHAHAHA...*clears throat*...I’m sorry, let me move along.

Once again, Michael Keaton was just badass as Batman. Although his Bruce Wayne was awkward and a little strange, he aced more as Batman. I simply cannot imagine the angry crowd of people who were initially opposed to seeing Michael Keaton being cast as the Dark Knight during that time and had to make petitions to take him down from the role. Just like with the late Heath Ledger, Michael Keaton proved everyone wrong and showed them just how he was the right guy for the role.

The action scenes were terrific and not over-the-top, the visuals were amazing, the acting was good, the soundtrack was top-notch, and the characters were all pretty great. Danny Elfman was a great choice for providing the soundtrack for this movie since his soundtrack composing is almost always amazing, mesmerizing, and epic to listen to!

Overall, this movie was awesome in nearly every way and has always been a classic that will always be remembered by DC fans and Batman fans alike. Therefore, I will rate this a 10/10!

Now, let me ask you this: have you ever danced with the devil under the pale moonlight? 🌝