Gambit's 52 Pickup #34 - Batman (1989)

[Keith G.]

#34 - Batman(1989)

Ah yes, Batman.  The Caped Crusader. The Dark Knight.  Adam West's cash cow.  We all know the character, we all know his story.  It wasn't until 1989 though, that a true superhero movie of his story was made.  Tim Burton directed this piece of work and everything about it is good and it's legacy of starting up the serious and well done Superhero film genre still lives on.  For now...TO THE BATCAVE!!

Gotham City - nightfall.  A young well to do boy is out with his parents after taking in a film when suddenly, a man comes out of the shadows and pulls a gun on them.  The young boy watches in horror as his parents are shot and robbed by the man.  Thus begins the Batman/Bruce Wayne origin story.

Bruce Wayne has now taken a vow to rid Gotham City of violent criminals.  He will be a protector of the city so that no one shall have to face what he did as a child.  He uses his family fortune and brilliant mind to devise a customized vehicle dubbed The Batmobile.  You know it's awesome because it's black and has flames shooting out of the back.  Plus, it's got cool gadgets, so it's like a James Bond car, only, not as practical. 

"Yes, I was better than Clooney and Kilmer."

Now that he has the desire to fight crime and the means to do so, now he needs an arch nemesis.  Why?  Because it's the comic book superhero rules.  DUH!!  Enter Jack Napier, the right hand man to the Gotham City crime boss, Carl Grissom.  It seems that Jack has been enjoying Grissom's girlfriend more than he has, so Grissom set's Jack up.  He sends him to a big chemical plant to do some shady bad guy stuff.  Since he was setup, the police obviously show up as does Batman himself because there was shady bad guy stuff going on and because he overheard the police receive their tip while hosting a charity dinner earlier on.  A firefight breaks out at the plant and Jack is accidentally shot in the face by a ricocheting bullet.  He falls over a railing and is saved by Batman.  He grabs Jack's hand, but Jack falls anyway and lands in a nasty chemical vat that ends up changing his appearance and giving us the viewers one of the coolest movie villains.  He eventually makes his way out of the drainage pipes and goes to a hired hand plastic surgeon who tries in vain to fix the wound on his face.  No dice, so now he is permanently scarred with a crazy smile and the chemicals have turned his skin white and his hair green.  We now have The Joker.  Ta DAAA!!!

"Am I crazy?  Of course!  I'm Jack Nicholson."

Meanwhile, in the local news office, reporter Mike Knox is working with his photographer, Vicki Vale, to get the inside scoop on the "masked vigilante" who's been cleaning up Gotham's streets. Through much reporter snooping and following, they end up looking into Bruce Wayne as well, thinking he has some info on Batman.  If only they knew.  Bruce ends up starting somewhat of a relationship with Vicki, even though The Joker is trying to get to her too.  They even have a chance encounter when Bruce goes to visit Vicki at her home, but they are soon interrupted by The Joker.  Bruce tries to channel his inner BeetleJuice and ends up getting shot by the villain.  Luckily Bruce was wearing a dinner tray under his shirt that he snuck on before confronting the Joker.  Lucky him....and us.  Could've been a short movie.

Seems The Joker has also been busy taking out big crime bosses who get in his way as well as devising a new chemical concoction to add to personal hygiene products that will make them laugh themselves to death.  Soon the citizens of Gotham are scared to look pretty and Batman tries to discover the secret behind Joker's plans.  It's not long before Joker's grand scheme comes to life as he sets up a parade under the guise of a mass killing of the citizens of Gotham.  The people gather around the parade floats, grasping for falling money that The Joker has his men throwing around.  Soon, after The Joker is done dancing to Prince music, he makes an announcement to the citizens that he's going to kill them and he then releases his chemical gas from airtanks strapped to his parade balloons.  Within  minutes, Batman swoops in flying his Batwing jet and snatches the ballons away.  The Joker is pissed and he ends up shooting the Batwing down and then taking Vicki Vale hostage as she was taking pictures of the parade nearby.  They make their way up to a church tower where The Joker is supposed to meet his getaway helicopter.  Batman climbs out of the crashed Batwing and makes his way up to the top of the tower himself.  After fighting a few henchman in a not so stylish way, because the Batsuit only allowed for pretty stiff movement, he soon confronts The Joker himself.  He reveals to The Joker that he believes he was the one whom years ago killed his parents and he vows to destroy him.  They scuffle a little, but then The Joker falls off the side of the roof.  He's saved by an outcropping gargoyle statue and soon his helicopter is there with a rope ladder.  He grabs on, but Batman fires his grappling hook and it wraps around The Joker's leg and the other end is caught on the gargoyle.  The Joker ends up falling to his death and Batman saves Vicki.

"Up, UP AND AWAY!!! Oh...wait, sorry.  That's not my catchphrase."

The streets of Gotham are now safer and prettier since Batman figured out the secret to The Joker's chemical scheme.  He gives the police commissioner a fancy new Bat signal to use whenever the city should need Batman's help and he then goes off to do his hero thing.

This was a true superhero film.  It's sequels were so bad they were good, save for Batman Returns - it was pretty good.  This film, though, really gave people an idea of what a comic book movie could be like when handled well.  Jack Nicholson stole the show as The Joker and Micheal Keaton held his own very well as Bruce/Batman.  Overall, this was a great film.

[Christopher J. Lawton]

Very nice, G. Though, not enough Batdance for my liking. You should Batdance more. Everyone should.

[Matt W.]

I loved this movie. Haven't watched it in a while, so it needs a watchin'.

[Thundaga Smith]

Awesome movie sill stands up. And probably Tim Burton's best live action work. Awesome stuff G man

[Gabriel S-C.]

Keith you made lots of jokes as I read the recap, and they were very funny.

"Lucky for us" It could have been a short movie.

[Keith G.]

Thanks Gabe.  Yeah, that's how I roll, even if I really love the film, I can still find something to joke about.

[chygrbyte]

Classic... gets me all nostalgic! Well written, G!

[Captain Marvel]

I remember going to see this when it cam out. I loved it. I was en-route from St. Louis back to Southeast Missouri the summer after my Senior Year of High School and stopped along the way to see it. Awesome movie for the day. Great review, Keith.

[Christopher J. Lawton]

I remember going to see this when it cam out. I loved it. I was en-route from St. Louis back to Southeast Missouri the summer after my Senior Year of High School and stopped along the way to see it. Awesome movie for the day. Great review, Keith.

*gasp* they had movies back then? BOOM! HA! ZING!

[Thundaga Smith]

I loved it every day i got home from 4th grade I'd put it in the old VHS

[Keith G.]

Did you have a toploading VCR?  We had one when it first came out.  Had a wired remote control and everything.  That thing was beast!!

[Thundaga Smith]

lol, my parents first one was, the one we had when i watched this one was a front and wireLESS!! whoohoo!!

[Docdoom]

i was just the right age when this hit.. (9 years old).. and it has been my favorite movie for the longest time... I have probably seen this more than 100 times..

i kid you not..

to this day i still watch it...

[Docdoom]

oh, and napier didnt fall in those chemicals... the batman dropped him!!

[Matt W.]

Nice. I have watched tons of movies hundreds of times too. Where they're that good, you just can't help it.