Batman 1989 Film Starring Michael Keaton

The Batman Battles his Diabolical Nemesis the Joker

Sep 20, 2009

Batman stalks the streets terrifying the criminal underworld, but he is about to meet is match in the form of the insane clown prince of crime, the twisted Joker.

The criminals of Gotham City are running scared from a giant bat, whilst the police don’t acknowledge that the Bat even exists. Jack Napier, a vicious criminal, in transformed into the Joker after a chemical bath, and faces the Batman.

A father, son and mother are leaving the theatre and take a short cut through an alleyway, which is never a good idea. They are mugged by a pair of men, above them an ominous shadow looms, and tracks the two muggers. The pair are attacked by a giant bat that gets up after being shot in the chest and still beats them both senseless. The authorities don’t believe the story. However, reporter Alexander Knox (Robert Wuhl) and photo-journalist Vicki Vale (Kim Bassinger) investigate the mysterious Bat.

At the same time crime boss Carl Grissom (Jack Palance) learns that his ‘number one guy’ Jack Napier (Jack Nicholson) has been having an affair with his mistress and sends him to raid Axis Chemicals before tipping off the police. During a violent shootout Napier tumbles over a ledge and even as Batman (Michael Keaton) tries to help him he falls into a vat of chemicals below.

The chemical bath drives him insane, stains his skin and changes the colour of his hair. He is reborn as the psychotic criminal known as the Joker.

Michael Keaton Dons the Cape

This was the Batman film before the recent revival of the series. Tim Burton directs his cast set against the backdrop of a gothic city. Gotham City is dirty and polluted, and the prospect that there might be something supernatural about the Batman works to terrify the criminal underworld.

Burton does his own take on the Batman universe, and some of the comic book fans might be annoyed by his changes. The most notable being that in the film, Wayne’s parents were murdered by Jack Napier who later becomes the Joker, whereas in the comics they were killed during a mugging by a petty criminal. The Joker's past in the comics is deliberately unknown whereas in this film his past is tied directly to the creation of Batman. The other main difference is that Batman seems to kill people; there is a moment when he grips a criminal around the neck with his legs before throwing him down a flight of stairs to certain death.

Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson are perfectly cast as Batman and Joker. Keaton does not spend much of his time out of his Batsuit and when he does he is brooding over the loss of his parents. Nicholson’s performance as the Joker defined the character in film (and was unbeatable until the late Heath Ledger’s portrayal in The Dark Knight). The Joker and Batman need one another and whilst the chemistry (seen between Bale’s Batman and Ledger’s Joker) is lacking here, Burton does make sure that the relationship between the two is key to the development of both characters.

Basinger is the screaming damsel in distress that gets in trouble fairly frequently and is the object of Joker's affections. Burton’s strength is in making everyone in the film as ‘real’ as possible. It seems that superheroes and supervillains are made in similar ways and whilst some become heroes some become villains. Batman in this film is as not far removed from the criminal world as he is in Batman Begins as he does seem prepared to kill when necessary.

Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Gough) is on hand as Batman's ally and Bruce Wayne's only family.

Commissioner Gordon (Pat Hingle) is also present, however, at this point he and Batman are not seen as being allies or having much to do with one another.

Batman comes from a time when the origin stories were not the beginnings of the franchise, Wayne has already established the Batcave, Batmobile, and has a lot of fully developed equipment. The audience sees his parents’ murder through flashbacks, but they do not learn exactly why he decided to don a cape and pointy ears.

Great gothic take on Batman, and was the Batman film before Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. However, fans of the comic might be upset by some of the changes that Burton made to the characters.

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