by Everett Jensen

Created on: July 26, 2008

Batman
directed by Tim Burton
written by Sam Hamm and Warren Skaaren
based on characters created by Bob Kane
starring Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl, Pat Hingle, Billy Dee Williams, Michael Gough, Jack Palance

Tim Burton creates a rather shallow take on the Batman mythos in this classic example of a film that is far more interested in creating a viable look than telling a compelling story. Not that it doesn't look amazing. Gotham City is impossibly dark and its easy to imagine all sorts of terrible crimes being committed there. This film is all about atmosphere dead on and manages to convey a lasting sense of dread throughout. However, the actual story it is trying to tell is unimaginative and lacking in anything resembling substance. Naturally, the only character worth giving a hoot about is the Joker as played by Jack Nicholson. This is a sharply drawn villain, larger than life and purely demonic in every way. He's a pure joy to watch dance (literally) across the screen as that dull guy in the batsuit mutters hopelessly to himself. No, this Joker is filled with life and takes his pleasures where he finds him. He's the great satanic force commanding attention wherever he goes and always with that lovely smile to win friends and influence other people. He's a classic misanthrope and Nicholson plays it daringly, bereft as his character is of any real or lasting feelings.

In direct contrast to the Joker is the Batman without a discernable personality. Granted, Batman is supposed to be rigid and unknowable but this guy is about as charismatic as a lane of blacktop. That goes double for the billionaire Bruce Wayne (Keaton). He may be loaded but he is terribly flat and uninspiring. Even Vicky Vale (Basinger) is not a particularly fleshed out character. It's simply impossible to care for these people even if they are presented as being on the side of eternal right. This is a clear case of one performance so readily dominating the others that I agree with whoever said this should actually be called "Joker". It's Nicholson's film and nobody in it can match him tit for tat.

The story involves corruption and crime in the big city. District Attorney Harvey Dent (Williams) wants to clean up the streets. Jack Napier (Nicholson) is a deviant member of a crime syndicate who takes over the family after snuffing the big man, Carl Grissom (Palance). Napier tries to take down a chemical factory and in the process runs into Batman who flings him into a vat

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