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Average User Score: 8 (268 sources)

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8bit7055

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What is there to say that needs to be? If you like Batman, see it, by all means... The acting is great the cast is near perfect, with Jack Nicholson as the Joker and Michael Keaton as Batman, and other great people for the role. Jack is great...
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What is there to say that needs to be? If you like Batman, see it, by all means... The acting is great the cast is near perfect, with Jack Nicholson as the Joker and Michael Keaton as Batman, and other great people for the role. Jack is great because he is one of the best people to cast as a crazy guy (did you ever see The Shining?). But also, the unexpected master himself, Michael Keaton as Batman. Many people actually petitioned not to have him cast becuase they couldn't imagine him in the role as Batman; that's why he's so perfect! The idea of putting on that suit is not to look pretty, (sadly) but to hide his appearance, and boy, you would never expect it to be Bruce Wayne. All you need to do, is see for yourself.

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Posted oct 5, 2009 11:02 pm pt

o-ster

-1

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I was walking in the DVD store one day, and I saw this and the other Batman films. I decided to begin with this since this is the first.
I knew these movies would be good since I love Batman. I watched it when I came back home, and it was...
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I was walking in the DVD store one day, and I saw this and the other Batman films. I decided to begin with this since this is the first.
I knew these movies would be good since I love Batman. I watched it when I came back home, and it was great! It had great action, and it was dark and suspenceful, just how I like it!
It's a really good film. You should see it!

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Posted aug 31, 2009 5:59 am pt

brunele

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sit back and enjoy this review of batman.

When I first saw this movie , I was around the age of 7. My mom rented the movie for me and so I sat down and watched. I don't recall much of ideas on the movie , but I knew I was didn't...
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sit back and enjoy this review of batman.

When I first saw this movie , I was around the age of 7. My mom rented the movie for me and so I sat down and watched. I don't recall much of ideas on the movie , but I knew I was didn't finish it and didn't liked it that much. Now we're 10 years later and since I bought the batman collection, I decided to watch it again and review it here in my blog. i'm gonna start with some background information on the movie. It was released in 1989 and was well recieved by critics and the audience. It had several award nominations and so you can say that the movie was a great succes. Tim Burton directed the movie. You may know him from other great movies like Edward Scissorhands , Sleepy hollow , sweeny todd and many more. That alone was for me a reason to watch the movie.

Now for the actors, lets start with the actor who plays Batman/Bruce Wayne. There were several actors who auditioned for the role of Batman, including Pierce Brosnan, Mel Gibson and Kevin Costner. But eventually Burton choose Micheal Keaton for the role of Batman. Keatons performance in this movie is really great, he has this kind of charisma and for me he is the second best Batman, after Christian Bale. For the role of the Joker, they chose Jack Nicholson. Nicholson is really really good as the Joker. His version of the joker is absolutely awesome. The character has this kind of crazy thing about him that you can't do anything else than love him. I also like the dark humor of the character.Then you have the female lead role, Vicky Vale , played by Kim Basinger. She does a pretty good job and it is a shame that she isn't brought back in the sequel.And last you have Robert Wuhl , who plays Knox. Personally, I didn't like the character of Knox, i see him as one of the minor bad things about the movie. Other actors are Micheal Gough as Alfred , Billy Dee Wiliams as Harvey Dent and Pat Hingle as Commissioner Gordon.

The story is one about revenge. The movie begins with two thiefs robbing a family in a dark back alley. They get their money and escape. One of the thiefs starts talking about a bat who fights crime. Shortly after that, Batman appears and teaches the thiefs a lesson. The introduction of batman is well done and looks nice. After that, you see that the maffia is bribing the police and we meet Jack Napier. He is sleeping with his wife's boss. As you can guess, Grissom , his boss, doesn't like that. So he sends Jack on a mission and later rats him out. In a struggle with Batman , he is wounded by Batman and falls into a crate of toxic waste. He survives, but is horribely scarred and he seeks revenge on the man who did that to him. Batman. He also has this plan to poison and kill all of Gotham City and he eventually falls in love with Vicky Vale , which is ofcourse not mutual. Vicky Vale and Knox are trying to make an article about Batman, which no one believes in. She meets the rich bachelor Bruce Wayne and eventually discovers that he is Batman. I won't tell more about the story, cause I don't want to spoil anything. But a minor thing that I noticed. I find that the movie is more about the Joker than about Batman. He is most of the time on the screen and that is just a minor thing that I didn't liked that much.

But overall this is a great movie and the dark tone makes this movie more a movie for adults.

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Posted mar 21, 2009 4:39 am pt

scotchex2

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Great movie. Tim Burton's Batman is a classic movie. It's been overshadowed now that 2008's The Dark Knight has come out, but I actually prefer Burton's Batman.

Burton's Batman retains that over-the-top comic book flavor. The world is...
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Great movie. Tim Burton's Batman is a classic movie. It's been overshadowed now that 2008's The Dark Knight has come out, but I actually prefer Burton's Batman.

Burton's Batman retains that over-the-top comic book flavor. The world is not realistic, outlandish things happen. But still it feels organic and follows the rules within its own universe.

The opening music is one of the all time great movie scores. It sets the tone for the dark, moody comic book masterpiece that is Batman.

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Posted sep 2, 2008 2:56 am pt

GavinGibbons

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Not a bad little film. I loved this film until i saw Batman Begins. Now for me this movie is just a memory that has been surpased. still worth a watch for great acting by Keaton, and "jack" but the only problem is the effects are very...
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Not a bad little film. I loved this film until i saw Batman Begins. Now for me this movie is just a memory that has been surpased. still worth a watch for great acting by Keaton, and "jack" but the only problem is the effects are very dated now... look at the skellington after joker shakes the gangsters hand

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Posted aug 23, 2008 10:32 am pt

stanhigareda

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Batman the movie is one of those works that you will always remember as reference for transformation of a character. During the 60's and until late 80's when this movie was released, the concept of Batman was established by teh 60's series with...
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Batman the movie is one of those works that you will always remember as reference for transformation of a character. During the 60's and until late 80's when this movie was released, the concept of Batman was established by teh 60's series with Adam West and all those cartoons that went around, giving Batman a concept of friendly and adventurer. Nothing really serious considering his origin. When Tim Burton planned to bring him to the cinema, he decided to give him back his true nature: A dark, disturbed man with a wicked sense of justice.

Darkness is something that Burton can give to a movie. I think the choice was right, since all BUrton's work are mentally disturbing in a good way. His perception fit perfectly with the style of the Dark Knight.

The movie involves great acting by Michael Keaton, who is definetely one of the best Batmans... I would only question his acting as Bruce Wayne. Jack Nicholson was another great choice. His acting showed the perception of the Joker as a funny guy who wants to be bad and the truly insane mastermind that he is in the comics. His role was excellent considering The JOker's perception back then... He might even seem silly for today's audiences.

One of the things that I love about the film is the art design. Tim Burton is one of those directors that you can identify in his movies. You watch it and think... that's a Burton movie. YOu can see the dark humor around (like in Bettlejuice) and the monumentally artistic way to make something so hideous so lovely at the same time (Gotham City).

The movie wasn't exactly a huge action movie. It was the kind of movie that introduces a character and his life around. Batman is not considered a comic character who fights, like Spiderman. People is more involved in his psyche, especially how it works as a genius.

The movie evolves through both characters making it more like a chess game like a full contact battle. WHo is smarter? Who is more evil in its way?

Probably this brought one of its problems. The people want to see action and this is not the kind of movie that they would like to see.

Overall, the movie is a good experience at was a nice try to bring back Batman's reputation. The action is slow paced but it can be a good movie if you like that kind of things.

3.5 stars

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Posted jul 16, 2008 5:06 am pt

sheep233

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An extrememly dark and grim movie that's hardly an action or superhero movie. It's monotony and pitch blackness covers up any fun or excitement but leaves you feeling empty and shocked.

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Posted jul 15, 2008 3:46 am pt

BoredMark

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Great movie with one of the best comic book settings out of anything to date. Tim Burton did his best work in this one in my opinion.

The entire movie feels like it is straight out of comic book in a way that few other films have been...
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Great movie with one of the best comic book settings out of anything to date. Tim Burton did his best work in this one in my opinion.

The entire movie feels like it is straight out of comic book in a way that few other films have been able to reproduce. The casting was near-perfect. Jack Nicholson probably played the Joker about as good as anyone could have.

While I enjoy the new Batman franchise, I believe this one film is so much better than the sequels and definitely worth seeing for any comic-book fan.

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Posted may 5, 2008 7:08 am pt

seaqueastdsv

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the first batman was great jack play the joker out standing. and micheal is my favourite as batman. its a shame the other two were'nt that great.batman 3 and 4.

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Posted feb 9, 2008 2:45 pm pt

jaws2341

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at first i did not know tim burton made this movie

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Posted jan 28, 2008 3:56 am pt

• [+] Washington Post
  
  100
  The movie fixes you in its gravitational pull. It's an enveloping, walk-in vision... As rich and satisfying a movie as you're likely to see all year.

  by Hal Hinson | Read Full Review »
• [+] San Francisco Chronicle
  
  100
  It's a rare, beautifully made movie that offers you another world. [23 June 1989, Daily Datebook, p.E1]

  by Mick LaSalle | Read Full Review »
• [+] The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
  
  100
  In short, Batman is terrific - funny, smart and sensitive too, the perfect cinematic date.

  by Rick Groen | Read Full Review »
• [+] Variety
  
  80
  Nicholson embellishes fascinatingly baroque designs with his twisted features, lavish verbal pirouettes and inspired excursions into the outer limits of psychosis. It's a masterpiece of sinister comic acting.

  by Staff (Not Credited) | Read Full Review »
• [+] Washington Post
  
  80
  The Batblast of the summer.

  by Desson Thomson | Read Full Review »
• [+] Empire
  
  80
  Jack Nicholson as The Joker helpfully provides all the colour.

  by Andrew Collins | Read Full Review »
• [+] USA Today
  
  75
  There's a cold intelligence at work here. Though its pleasures are plentiful enough to reward a second viewing, only Nicholson has saved Warners from a wing-clip. [23 June 1989, Life, p.1D]

  by Mike Clark | Read Full Review »
• [+] Chicago Tribune
  
  75
  Burton's Gotham City-constructed on a massive sound stage in London- is a striking blend of spindly gothic, decaying art deco and broodingly bland institutional architecture that seems to lie just a couple of subway stops down from Ridley Scott's ''Blade Runner'' and Terry Gilliam's ''Brazil.'' It's great to look at, but we seem to have been here before. [23 June 1989, Friday, p.A]

  by Dave Kehr | Read Full Review »
• [+] The New Republic
  
  70
  It's relatively easy to convey the claustral in interior scenes, but [designer] Furst and the director Tim Burton do it even when the setting is a great flight of steps before the municipal building or the huge square where Batman and the joker confront each other. [31 July 1989, p.24]

  by Stanley Kauffmann | Read Full Review »
• [+] The New Yorker
  
  70
  It has so many unpredictable spins that what's missing doesn't seem to matter much. The images sing. [10 July 1989]

  by Pauline Kael | Read Full Review »
• [+] ReelViews
  
  63
  Batman is largely content to skim the surface and bask in the light of its visual style.

  by James Berardinelli | Read Full Review »
• [+] Christian Science Monitor
  
  63
  It would be a lot better if it didn't lean exclusively on bone-crunching action for its climactic thrills, and the story continues long after its ideas have started to sag. [29 June 1989, Arts, p.10]

  by David Sterritt | Read Full Review »
• [+] Chicago Reader
  
  60
  The main problem is that Burton operates best on a modest scale; saddled with a blockbuster, he doesn't know how to animate all the dead space.

  by Jonathan Rosenbaum | Read Full Review »
• [+] TV Guide
  
  60
  Despite its interesting, grim tone and undeniably striking visuals from director Burton and production designer Furst, the film fails to synthesize its strengths into a compelling whole.

  by Staff (Non Credited) | Read Full Review »
• [+] Chicago Sun-Times
  
  50
  The movie's problem is that no one seemed to have any fun making it, and it's hard to have much fun watching it. It's a depressing experience.

  by Roger Ebert | Read Full Review »