Batman 1989

21 June 2015

Batman 1989

• Director: Tim Burton
• Based on novel: no
• Cast: Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl, Pat Hingle, Billy Dee Williams, Michael Gough, Jack Palance, Jerry Hall, Tracey Walter
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Michael Keaton – Jackie Brown, Much Ado About Nothing, Beetlejuice
• Jack Nicholson – The Pledge, About Schmidt, As Good as It Gets, Mars Attacks, Wolf, A Few Good Men, Batman, Ironweed, The Witches of Eastwick, Prizzi’s Honor, Terms of Endearment, Reds, The Postman Always Rings Twice, The Shining, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Tommy, Chinatown, The King of Marvin Gardens, Carnal Knowledge, Five Easy Pieces, Easy Rider, The Little Shop of Horrors
• Kim Basinger – L.A. Confidential, Never Say Never Again
• Robert Wuhl – Body Guard, Bull Durham, Good Morning Vietnam
• Pat Hingle – A Thousand Acres, The Grifters, Norma Rae,TV series
• Billy Dee Williams – Return of the Jedi, The Empire Strikes Back, Lady Sings the Blues, TV series
• Michael Gough – Sleepy Hollow, Nostradamus, The Age of Innocence, Out of Africa, Cymbeline, The Go-Between, Women in Love
• Jack Palance – Bagdad Café, Le mépris, and a variety of old roles
• Jerry Hall – Urban Cowboy
• Tracey Walter – Veronica Mars, Erin Brockovich, Beloved, Philadelphia, The Silence of the Lambs, ALF, Married to the Mob
• Why? It seems I like this kind of film.  And Tim Burton, of course.
• Seen:  5 June 2015 

It’s Friday.  We have seven Batman movies. Why not start a new Friday tradition? So.

Batman. Before Christian Bale.

Songs by Prince? That’s wild.

Tim Burton clearly loves the comics and the tone of the film is true to the original. All that’s missing are the talk bubbles with ‘Wham!’ and ‘Kerpow!’

It’s entertaining and visually it’s a pleasure. I like the Joker’s purple suit. Jack Nicholson does a flamboyant Joker. It’s his film really and he’s just a bit too much.

Michael Keaton as Batman? Not convincing. He’s much better as Dogberry in Branagh’s Much Ado about Nothing. He should stick to Shakespeare.

But it’s obvious, as always, that Tim Burton had fun making this movie. So, though it goes on for too long, we have fun watching it. But it’s no masterpiece.

2 * of 5