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Now near 25 years removed from its production, Tim Burton's original Batman has slowly lost faded into the background of the modern superhero film landscape. As newer - and admittedly wonderful - superhero movies such as The Dark Knight and The Avengers continue to dazzle and amaze audiences with spectacular special effects and genre-bending writing, the more people seem to forget the much more modest and serene Batman film. Which, I believe, is a grave mistake. For while it may not have had the technological advancements at the time to provide stunning effects and epic storytelling, Tim Burton's directorial effort in Batman is, without question, one of most talented and intelligent efforts ever made in film itself - let alone in the superhero genre.
I'll forgo any plot description as I'm sure it's quite well known by this point and more importantly because the plot acts merely as a sandbox for much more brilliant achievements in acting, directing and cinematography.
The first I'll touch upon is the cinematography. The beautifully rendered gothic landscape that Anton Furst creates in the sets and scenery of Batman is immediately evident upon first viewing of the film. But what is probably much less evident to most viewers, is just how much Burton and his production team borrowed from German Expressionism and the silent filmmaking of first three decades of the 20th century. As someone who's seen a fair share of silent films - and more importantly - films from that small window in the 1930s were sound was a new and somewhat mysterious concept for filmmakers, it's slowly become apparent to me that advent of sound has led to a deterioration of visual storytelling and acting. In short, sound has made today's filmmakers lazy. Instead of having to show their story, the subtleties of their dramas and characters, they can simply say it, and depends with a lot of visual setup and style.
It is that silent film element that really makes Burton's Batman exceptional, and really unlike any other film made since the silent era. With Batman, Burton opens up the playbooks of Fritz Lang and Todd Browning and FW Mernau and instead of telling his story through dialogue or explicitly stated plot points, instead hones in on a myriad of visual elements to express the true nature and grandeur of Batman as a character.
The first way in which he does this is to always show Batman from an outsider's perspective (generally, Vicki's perspective). This creates and element of mystery and darkness to Batman that harkens back more to characters like Dracula and the Phantom of the opera than it does Superman or Spider-Man. Again, taking a page not just from Batman's own roots as a creature of gothic horror, but also from the early cinematic works of Dracula and the Phantom. Burton even uses lighting to highlight and display Batman's subtle eye or facial movements - a trick derived quite directly from 1931's Dracula.
The second method derives directly from Michael Keaton's own performance. Few seem to realize it upon first viewing, but Keaton turns in probably the most subtle and brilliant acting performances of any comic book movie before or since. In compliment to Burton's visual storytelling, Keaton mirrors the silent style of filmmaking by conveying the majority of his character's emotions through both facial expressions and emoting through the eyes. He rarely says much in the film - and his version of Bruce Wayne is characterized as an aloof and somehow emotionally immature man who is often overshadowed by the bombastic nature of Jack Nicholson's inspired performance as the Joker.
But upon closer inspection, it's really Keaton who steals the show in Batman by portraying the character as both wholly sympathetic and always latently psychotic. This juxtaposition of emotional reliability and psychosis is metaphorical tightrope that is near-impossible traverse - in fact, even in the original source materials, most writers struggle to convey a proper amount of emotional resonance in their characterization of Wayne. Yet, astonishingly, Keaton manages to blend these to aspects together with incredible ease; he wears the persona of Bruce Wayne like a second skin, and purely through whispers and off glances both makes the viewer feel for Bruce Wayne, and remain ever terrified of Batman.
Outside of these two most notable aspects, Burton (and Keaton, as through the happenstance of a writers' strike, ended up rewriting much of the script and dialogue with Burton on-set) weaves in numerous subtle character arcs and story beats that seem simple - and perhaps even poorly done at first glance - but through subsequent viewings can be deemed extremely intricate and expertly executed exposition. From Bruce Wayne's reclusive and awkward demeanor reflecting Burton's own thoughts on genius, obsession, and emotional pain - to the simply brilliant relationship built between Michael Gough's Alfred and Bruce - Burton continuously weaves a simple narrative bursting with psychological meaning and emotion.
I'm certain most would call it absurd to refer to Burton's Batman as one of the best films ever made - and in truth, it does indeed lack some of the emotional or dramatic punch that a lot of the other great films of history do have - but when analyzed with a keen and disconcerting eye, the amount of intelligence and detail weaved into the execution of Batman far exceeds most of the directorial efforts in the history of American film. And, without question, Batman should be seen at least a few times by anyone interested in the classic silent and European methods of the early days of filmmaking, and - along with Blade Runner and Burton's followup, Batman Returns - should be considered one of the best tributes to that sophisticated and timeless style.
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Reviews with images
The movie that kicked off the Superhero Boom
Before Bale or Affleck this was my generations Batman. I have owned every iteration of this movie in every format short of actual film. Starting Amazon clearly sent me a repackaged copy, obviously a return since it was barley wrapped in the silophane. And the cardstock was crumpled. The actual movie, the audio and video are top notch in the 4k version. The clarity is outstanding and adds to the at home movie theater experience. The negatives are clearly the color grading and the reworked sound mix. What were they thinking with the blueish/teal tint that takes away the dark brooding aspects of the tone in this movie. The sound mixing replaces old special effects and I'm never in favor of changing the sound of things because it takes away from the authenticity. While it does add umph to action scenes such the scenes where the batmobile or batplane are in action and you can here there engine roar, it drowns out the score. I'll forever miss the ricocheting bullet sfx sounds.Overall the audio and picture clarity make this version pop but it's not without coloring issues and audio changes but still good overall
Top reviews from other countries
Juan Fernando Burgos Monge
La Mejor Pelicula De Batman
Reviewed in Spain on April 29, 2024
Michael
L'edizione migliore possibile
Reviewed in Italy on December 26, 2023
Michael
Reviewed in Italy on December 26, 2023
La grana della pellicola 35mm è presente , in maniera fine nelle scene interne e più marcata in quelle esterne, dove è presente una gradazione del colore più tendente al blu , con una definizione dei dettagli sorprendente.
Sul film poco da dire, il Batman di Burton è un assoluto cult, con un Joker inarrivabile e un Keaton assolutamente in parte, per me il miglior Batman di sempre.
Qualche pecca sulla traccia audio italiana... decisamente non all'altezza dell'impianto visivo.... Le voci si impastano troppo e si perdono sotto gli effetti e la colonna sonora, ma nel complesso rimane comunque godibile.
Images in this review
Isabella
Uno dei miei film preferiti fin da bambina
Reviewed in Italy on July 17, 2023