After he is betrayed by his mob boss, Jack Napier becomes the Joker and begins his steep climb to become the crime lord of Gotham, with newspaper photographer Vicki Vale following him closely while she also builds a relationship with billionaire Bruce Wayne. Meanwhile, Wayne -- as the vigilante Batman -- wages his own war on the Joker as he attempts to thwart his plans.

Batman has always been my favorite superhero, yet for some reason it's taken me so long to dive into the original series of Batman films from the '80s and '90s, and with Michael Keaton returning to the role for The Flash this summer, I figured I probably needed to finally check his films out -- and boy was it great. There is a fair bit of campiness, more than I was expecting, but at the same time it's sort of expected for a Tim Burton film, especially one in this time period. It does, however, balance that out well with the dark and serious tone that was "new" at the time for the Dark Knight, and it works very well. Burton's take on Gotham and the characters is amazing, and the performances of both Keaton and Jack Nicholson as the Joker knock it out of the park. It leaves me super excited to dive into Batman Returns -- and a bit disappointed that this thrill ride will likely end there before the next pair of Batman films.

Content Concerns: Quite a bit of action violence; Batman scuffles with the Joker and his goons in some fistfights and other types of close-quarters combat. Cops and criminals also utilize firearms, killing several opponents in the process. Other characters are killed by falling to their doom and getting blown up, and the most graphic and grisly death is when a character is electrocuted and we see their charred, skeletal-like corpse. It's not terribly graphic, but a bit disturbing to see. There are also a couple of innuendos throughout. There are also 9 uses of vulgarity (3 "h-ll," 2 "sh-t," 2 "b-tch," and 1 apiece of "d-ck" and "g-dd-mn").

(April 29, 2023) ( )

An origin story for The Joker.

It's cheesey and cartoonish, but I don't care; it's the Batman I grew up with. Going back to watch this after Nolan's movies, it really becomes clear how this is just one level of campiness above Adam West. Also, what's with Batman killing people left and right? And the city thanking him for it? 1980s morality is f***ed up. And as much as I think Nicholson and Keaton are cool, this has got to be some of the worst casting ever.

Concept: B
Story: C
Characters: B
Dialog: D
Pacing: B
Cinematography: C
Special effects/design: A
Acting: C
Music: B

Enjoyment: A plus

GPA: 2.8/4 ( )

126 minutos