Movies That Age Poorly: Tim Burton's Batman (1989)

Felix Vasquez digs deep in to the library of titles from his childhood to explore the movies he once adored that have showed their age significantly and are now movies he consciously avoids. As capsules of their decade, their overall messages, and their critical standings, he explains why they’re movies that have aged poorly.

TIM BURTON’S BATMAN (1989)
Directed by Tim Burton
Written by Sam Hamm, Warren Skaaren

And that favorite is: “Batman (1989)” or “Tim Burton’s Batman” as many refer to it. That said, Tim Burton is overrated.

And while at the time his vision of “Batman” was quite amazing, I never actually enjoyed it as much as I wanted to. I can attribute it to the fact that I never enjoyed the character of Batman, sure, but I think it’s mainly because Tim Burton’s “Batman” was never as great as people praised it to be. I mean while people still thank Burton for trying to bring something serious to the Batman character on film form, it’s pretty obvious Burton’s vision also took some of its influence from the 1966 Adam West series.

The only difference between “Batman” and “Batman & Robin” was that Schumacher didn’t mind showing that he was turning the series into a campy embarrassment and took the beatings from angry fan boys who still curse his name. Burton did it passively and snuck in humor that was still in keeping with the 1966 series.

At least Schumacher and Warner admitted they were watering down the movies. Burton still denies it to this day, but you can smell it coming off the hunk of average comic book fodder that was 1989’s “Batman.” Let’s face it here, “Tim Burton’s Batman” isn’t that good. It’s barely mediocre.

I have buddies who enjoy it and they make great arguments for it, but in my book it will never be as good as people say it is. And no, I’m not comparing it to Christopher Nolan’s “Batman” movies because that’s a whole different time. The Joker in “Batman” is Cesar Romero’s shell in Jack Nicholson as he plays Jack Nicholson except much more psychotic. As many people have jokingly called it, Tim Burton’s “Batman” is more aptly “Joker: The Movie” guest starring Batman, as Burton is often much too obsessed with the villains as he is Batman, which is a shame. I may not be a fan of Batman, but I know he’s much more capable of bringing a gravitas on the screen that can rival the crooks in Gotham City. Batman was a second fiddle from the first movie, and unlike Schumacher, Burton never really admitted to this, either.

Look at “Batman Returns.” All Burton ever found time for was the sob story behind the repugnant Penguin and the absolutely stunning vision of Catwoman. I won’t lie, Catwoman was a wet dream brought to life thanks to Michelle Pfeiffer, but what of Batman? The only time he ever really shines in his sequel is during their fight when Burton depicts him as hopelessly outmatched instead of finding his equal. Beyond that he’s simply no match for his villains who take center stage by the second half even controlling his Batmobile in a segment that would have been best left for… here it comes… Adam West’s “Batman.”

I can still remember seeing “Batman” in theaters. Of course, my dad took me and my brother to watch it in Manhattan and it was amazing to us. But then back when we were kids, buttered popcorn was amazing to us. Still, it was all about the experience. For those people who remember, movie theaters were actual movie theaters back then, it was all about soaking the sounds, sights, and energy up along with the movie. It was about coming together with other people to celebrate movie making whether it was “Weekend at Bernie’s” or “Gandhi.”

Going to see “Batman” was incredible as we walked by two huge posters for Tim Burton’s film before entering the dark theater. And we sat with smiles as Burton’s booming Danny Elfman score blasted with Batman’s insignia flying at us, and we could also still remember hearing the fantastic dialogue exchange as Batman preyed on a hapless mugger:

“Who are you?!”
“I’m Batman.”

We were in pure awe, and hell even my dad loved it. His common reaction to cool moments in film were always “Ho shit!”

And trust me, he let out a stifled “Ho shit!”

One of the things I remember were these three kids who couldn’t have been but a few years older than us and they enjoyed the movie so much that they were giving away all the plot twists to each other ruining it for us. Back then we didn’t pay too much mind to it, because back then it wasn’t that much of a nuisance since not many people did it. At least for us. We went to the movies all the time, and never had too many bad moments watching movies.

Either way, watching it in theaters was a blast, and re-watching it twice on VHS when my dad bought it for us was equally entertaining because we had the Dark Knight on screen in the flesh. “Superman” on the other hand… was it any surprise I was the only one who enjoyed it? Either way, as time went on I really only saw it twice every other year, mainly because I was too annoyed to watch it and admit it was pretty crummy.

If the constant re-emergence of Prince’s soundtrack didn’t discourage me, it was likely the fact that Keaton just wasn’t a good Bruce Wayne or Batman. It wasn’t so much his appearance, as it was his performance which was also much of Keaton’s comedic routines coming through most of the time. The whole “You want to get nuts?! Let’s get nuts!” double takes were just ridiculous for a man like Bruce Wayne often depicted as a figure with either a dark sense of humor, or completely void of any personality at all. This is a man on the brink of insanity who is technically a psycho that dons a costume to catch other psychos. There’s really no difference beyond Wayne’s justification that he’s doing it for the best of mankind. Burton missed the boat. Can the most important, richest, and buzzed about man in Gotham actually stand in the middle of a press conference without being mobbed by reporters?

Batman on the other hand was all really forgettable.

Apart from the costume being too big and stiff to convince us he was a crime fighter, Burton strived for a very nineties sleek apparel that gave Batman a bright yellow bat insignia that became canon years after its end, and the entire movie had a bit of a pomposity about itself with the art deco scenery, surreal visuals. There’s also the boring love story between Vicky Vale and Bruce, as well as the awkward side character of Robert Wuhl as Vale’s own Jimmy Olsen.

Burton seems to want to take from Superman in some regard while never being able to understand Bruce himself. You figure he’d be able to relate to Bruce whose own actions turned him in to as colorful a character as the likes of the Joker, but no… there’s no real compelling material with Bruce.

Oh man, he’s such a Bat Man that he sleeps hanging upside down. How does sleeping upside down help his ability as the Batman? Who cares, it’s cool. We think that’s the mind set approached to that scene. I mean forget the fact that Bruce is afraid of bats, but how this puts him in tune with bats, we’ll leave that up to you. There are also the obvious allusions including his lame rant about samurai armor, some of the dumbest dark humor filmed prior to Schumacher’s treatment, and of course the heavy Prince soundtrack that ruins any atmosphere the film puts in place. And how did Bruce get this machinery anyway?

Now while “Batman” has aged poorly over the years, it’s still considered an achievement, because all people associated with Batman was Adam West and Burt Ward fighting Vincent Price as an egg villain. To this day Nicholson is a paltry consolation. It was a pretty easy casting decision. Scary actor + Psycho Clown = Jack Nicholson, it’s just a shame we never really saw anything of the Joker that was original. Sometimes Nicholson seemed to be Jake from Chinatown, then Cesar Romero from the Batman series, and then for eighty percent of the time it was all Jack Torrance.

There are still people who love “Batman” and hell some folks I’ve spoken to have even stated they prefer the twist on Bruce as the balding unimposing millionaire a la Michael Keaton, or the homosexual interior designer twist a la Val Kilmer. Christian Bale has yet to win over all Batman fans. As for me, I think Keaton was tolerable, I just wanted to see more, damn it. I wanted more Bruce Wayne and we never got it, and as the series went on, Batman became nothing more than an after thought and a side character. Look! Riddler! Penguin! Catwoman…! And… Batman, too, I guess. Batman should not be a side character, and people should stop calling these movies serious (penguins with missiles on their backs!), because Burton was obviously influenced by the whole “Same Bat time! Same Bat Channel!” gimmick except his pretense was so thick people missed it.

Back on the cusp of the nineties, the common reaction to Tim Burton’s vision of Batman felt pretty much like my own. It was good, but not as spectacular or serious as originally hoped. And as time went on, the response heard to Burton’s franchise was “It’s better than nothing.” And in 1990, it was definitely better than nothing, because at a time where Batman was known for bearing a Bat Thermos, and meeting up with Scooby-Doo, Burton’s movies were a shot in the arm.

But in the twenty years after, we were given a slew of choices and preferences what with Bruce Timm’s dark and adult version of Batman that re-imagined the Dark Knight as a character of torment and tragedy, the cartoon movies that outweighed what Burton and Schumacher served up, the Justice League series that showed Batman as a pariah in a company of gods, “Batman Beyond” and the inevitable much needed cinematic reboot by an indie director known mainly for the cult classic “Memento.” Soon fans who felt they had no choice but to stick with Burton’s movies realized that “better than nothing” simply wasn’t enough anymore.

With all the variety we have for the character (the director gets credit for bringing him to us in a quasi-dramatic tone) Tim Burton’s vision of “Batman” has aged poorly and deserves to be but a footnote in the category of good attempts, but disappointing executions.

And what inevitably became of the first film adaptation of Batman? We all know, don’t we?

Thank you for saving us, Christopher Nolan.