Batman is very much a product of its time. It has "made in the 80s" written all over it, with Keaton's big mullet, the music and acting styles. My main issue is the complete lack of explanation for anything. I don't see the appeal of hero/superhero films with no back story. Close to the end we find out Wayne's parents were murdered and that's why he's a bit screwed up, but that's the entire story we get to work with. Why is he dressed as a bat? Why did he become a vigilante? Who makes those toys and vehicles? And Michael Keaton just cannot pull off the role. He is passable as Bruce Wayne, nothing special but he'll do. But as soon as he puts on the suit he suddenly starts walking like some sort of robot. The concepts of style, finesse, flair and cool seem to have completely passed him by. He's just not convincing as a tough hero guy, he looks so awkward in doing anything at all.
It just seems to try and be 'cool' for the sake of it. The new Batmobile thing is a military tank spray-painted black with an afterburner to jump gaps. It was designed for a purpose and has a practical use. The Batmobile here, however, looks like some sort of space shuttle with an afterburner that doesn't appear to go particularly fast. It just looks ridiculous. Where did he get it? Does the manufacturer not have suspicions about Batman's identity when he realises he not so long ago was asked to build a rocket car with a bat wing on the roof? As for the Batwing thing, there are no words to describe how terrible that is. It just appears from nowhere, with no explanation, and doesn't look like it could physically get off the ground in that shape. The brief scene where the Batwing popped up above the clouds and lined up with the moon to make the symbol made me want to bang my head on something.
And as a side note, why does Batman only appear to be able to glide at a perfectly vertical angle? The opening scene where he lowers onto the rooftops where the guys are counting the money, and then spreads his wings when they turn around and again after he gets shot, is just cringeworthy.
Thank god for Nicholson then, the saving grace. His exceptionally manic performance as the Joker is superb, genuinely believable, despite it's ludicrous extremism. Michael Gough and Robert Wuhl also put in fairly decent performances that stand out above the rest.
Whilst the direction is good for the most part, and I admire the extremely Gothic art direction Burton has gone for, I can't help but feel Gotham is a bit unconvincing. I know it's a big city, as well as an island, but during those far out landscape shots everything seems so over the top and the city so isolated that it feels less like a sprawling metropolis and more like an over-sized Disneyland with no source of light.
And all this is a great shame, because it could have been very good. Had they at least attempted to put in an explanation to anything, got another actor who actually knew how to walk like a human when in the suit and got rid of that spaceship thing then it would probably get another 3 or 4 stars on this review. Perhaps if they had renamed it The Joker (featuring Batman) then it wouldn't have been so bitterly disappointing.
It just seems to try and be 'cool' for the sake of it. The new Batmobile thing is a military tank spray-painted black with an afterburner to jump gaps. It was designed for a purpose and has a practical use. The Batmobile here, however, looks like some sort of space shuttle with an afterburner that doesn't appear to go particularly fast. It just looks ridiculous. Where did he get it? Does the manufacturer not have suspicions about Batman's identity when he realises he not so long ago was asked to build a rocket car with a bat wing on the roof? As for the Batwing thing, there are no words to describe how terrible that is. It just appears from nowhere, with no explanation, and doesn't look like it could physically get off the ground in that shape. The brief scene where the Batwing popped up above the clouds and lined up with the moon to make the symbol made me want to bang my head on something.
And as a side note, why does Batman only appear to be able to glide at a perfectly vertical angle? The opening scene where he lowers onto the rooftops where the guys are counting the money, and then spreads his wings when they turn around and again after he gets shot, is just cringeworthy.
Thank god for Nicholson then, the saving grace. His exceptionally manic performance as the Joker is superb, genuinely believable, despite it's ludicrous extremism. Michael Gough and Robert Wuhl also put in fairly decent performances that stand out above the rest.
Whilst the direction is good for the most part, and I admire the extremely Gothic art direction Burton has gone for, I can't help but feel Gotham is a bit unconvincing. I know it's a big city, as well as an island, but during those far out landscape shots everything seems so over the top and the city so isolated that it feels less like a sprawling metropolis and more like an over-sized Disneyland with no source of light.
And all this is a great shame, because it could have been very good. Had they at least attempted to put in an explanation to anything, got another actor who actually knew how to walk like a human when in the suit and got rid of that spaceship thing then it would probably get another 3 or 4 stars on this review. Perhaps if they had renamed it The Joker (featuring Batman) then it wouldn't have been so bitterly disappointing.