My Review of "Batman (1989)

Batman (1989) was the first movie I ever saw on VHS. My mom went out to get a VCR for some reason and somehow haggled the salesperson to include Batman in the deal. I remember seeing it for the first time and I was in awe. I've never seen anything like this movie let alone knew who Batman was.

Years later Batman has become a pop culture icon. He's been a pop culture icon for a while but since this 1989 movie he has had numerous movies by countless actors to reprise the role. Still this original 1989 movie has a special place in my heart and I was curious how I was going to react watching it 30 years later.

The movie starts off with a lot of mood as they open up with the camera following the contours of the Batman logo. You can already tell that there was a lot of thought taken into the artistic approach to the movie. It then has a landscape view of Gotham City. It looks like a dingy metropolis of a city.

Then we notice a small family coming out of the theatres trying to catch a cab back home. They're having problems and have to resort going through a dark alleyway. I haven't seen this for a long time so I thought they were going to tell the story of Bruce Wayne but this is their modern time. It just so happens to reflect very closely to Bruce's origin story. I guess maybe the writers are talking about how life is a continuous cycle or something.

The thieves that mug our small family basically help build the mythos of Batman. It sounds like he's just starting out and people are just finding out about him. Then all of a sudden you see the silhouette of the caped crusader in the background. I actually love how they depict Batman in this movie as some sort of horror character. He's striking fear in the hearts of criminals everywhere.

When he finally approaches these miscreants he does so in a haunting fashion. Everything about him is very dramatic. The way he lifts his cape and the way that he approaches his enemies. There's this sense of danger coming despite his smaller stature.

When I was younger I never really noticed how small in size this batman was until watching this again. There are a few moments where he's just the same size as certain non threatening characters. In a way I guess this works because he's still Bruce Wayne when he's not Batman.

I also liked that he is still starting out so he does screw up a lot in this film. His bat weapons are still pretty impressive today. I still say this original Batmobile is the best looking Batmobile ever!

With the introduction of Batman we're also introduced to a few new characters. We have Vicki Vale who is Bruce Wayne's love interest in this movie. She's basically a damsel in distress character but she has pretty realistic reactions to certain chaotic scenes.

Then we have Knox. He's one of the few reporters that is viewed in a positive tone. Usually movies portray the media with mostly negative characteristics. It was a mixed bag back in the day I guess.

We can't forget the main antagonist in this movie the Joker. He's actually given an origin story in this movie unlike more recent movies. The guy is definitely unhinged but there's this fun method in which he delivers his performance. It's almost like a very dark version of the old 60's Batman movie. A lot of this movie actually borrows some of the campiness of that old show.

Although it is a much darker mood and a lot more violent. Not as violent to today's standards. Technically a lot of people die inconsequentially. There's actually tons of deaths in this movie that people don't really take into regard. It's funny how at times you have to really shut off your brain to really enjoy this movie.

At one moment Joker will have the citizens of Gotham as hostage as he's killing all of them with some sort of toxin. Then we jump into the next scene where the citizens of Gotham totally forgot about the day before and love him. They love him because he's giving away millions of dollars to them. I can see how this is some sort of social commentary of how we're blind to companies and politicians but give us a little more credit...

Seeing this 30 odd years later makes me realize how this movie was definitely a product of its time. I still love certain aspects of this movie however there are moments that I totally glossed over not realizing they made no sense.

Overall, the entertainment factor is still there but only for people of my generation that have seen this movie when it was popular. I don't see people of the newer generations actually enjoying this quite as much. Movies nowadays are a lot more complicated and audiences are treaded as such. Today movies like this wouldn't make it as the logic of the movie doesn't make sense. That's why I have to give this movie a 6 out of 10. I think it's only for those with nostalgia for it.