Even as a kid, there was no hook for me other than the pitch-perfect score. This Gotham is boring. These characters are stale. Nicholson is cheesy fun, but belongs in Dick Tracy. Keaton was a better joker in Beetlejuice. I don't get this Joker's rise to unlimited power, but I guess Dark Knight has that too.

The sets are stylish, but coming off of my two favorite Burton films, there isn't a lick of inspiration in his directing. The pacing is methodical, revealing little about character from scene to scene and the action is horrendous and there's too many fucking close ups. Batman is bland. And Kim Basinger, ugh. If I had seen this fresh in '89, there'd certainly be something new to the towering gothicness surrounding Gotham. I get it.

This portrayal of the man behind the bat has aged incredibly dully.