Whenever you call me, I'll be there *

Tim Burton’s Batman was released in June of 1989, the trailer had been showing up in theatres much earlier of course and I remember thinking, “Michael Keaton? Mr. Mom? Beetlejuice? That guy?” Though I don’t think I saw the movie until December of 1990. December 23rd to be exact. In retrospect I may not have seen that much of it as I was decorating a Christmas tree, and I was in labor with my first child; he was born early the morning of December 24th. And then time got away from me. So, to finally see the film, to sit down and really watch this movie has been a long time coming.

    This Batman is a sumptuous film visually. The dark overlay of shadows in the night sky and the bulky chunk of closeups forming the architectural backdrop are stunning at times. Mashing together types of buildings into that background, as Sam Letchford wrote in his blog, Context is Everything, “By creating such a dramatic and artificial setting, the city becomes a perfect backdrop to the struggle between Batman and The Joker – the filthy, crime ridden streets providing the story with the classic ‘evil villain vs righteous avenger’ format, …" The dark and then the more dark and the totally weighty backgrounds did create mood and intrigue.

    Then, too, the wardrobe harkened back to the original Batman comics that came out in 1939. A lot of wide lapels and broad shoulders, which also cast it in a contemporary 1980’s light. There was nothing Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger) wore that could not have been seen in 1988’s Working Girl. Bulky cuts with flowing material were still “in” in 1989, at least in some fashions, and giving the actors in Batman these timeless clothes helped to make the movie more of a timeless piece.

    Thankfully, director Tim Burton had no desire to pay homage to the 1960’s Batman television series which was more camp than superhero-ish. Though he did give Joker (Jack Nicholson) hyper Cesar Romero face. Screenwriters, Sam Hamm and Warren Skaaren, leaned more toward the 1970’s DC Comic The Joker’s Five-Way Revenge to encapsulate the darkness of the story according to Cinephilia and Beyond. This choice is appealing to get to the meat of the story which is how Bruce Wayne (Michel Keaton) became Batman.

    Coupling the origin of the Joker and bringing it back full circle to Wayne’s tragedy is a neat piece of storytelling to bring people up to speed in the Bat-Universe. Having the Joker be the killer of his parents almost felt too pat and unnecessary in this story but still kind of satisfying. That conundrum, which fills in a lot of comic/video games coming to a big screen near you type of reimaging, The overwhelming darkness and oppression of the street scenes did convey a “who can save us” vibe.

    There is a brief respite in Vale’s apartment which is full of light and is wonderfully metaphoric. (And one of the few movie apartments that made me sigh, "I want that.") The creamy interior and the wide arches, the sinuosity of the furniture implied neutrality, and safety, both things that Wayne needed from this woman as he attempted to share his darkest secret. And the movie needed that break, just a momentary breather.

    Toward this end, (as Batman and peripheral characters have been imagined again and again, each Batman is filled with more iterations, different depths, and stories) maybe more could have been done to make this Batman, this Bruce Wayne more than two dimensional. Or the Joker. Or the vapid Vicki Vale. It is a movie, based on a comic book that ran off the rails occasionally. That’s okay. The new vision was interesting in how the backgrounds helped tell the story. This movie wasn’t bad. It was a fun romp, with some spectacular design, Prince’s music, and a new way to imagine Batman. So, not bad at all.

*I'll be Around,  Songwriters: Salaam Remi / Ryan Toby / Phillip Guilbeau / Shareefa