‎Batman (1989) directed by Tim Burton • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

Batman

1989 Directed by Tim Burton

Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?

The Dark Knight of Gotham City begins his war on crime with his first major enemy being the clownishly homicidal Joker, who has seized control of Gotham's underworld.

Michael Keaton Jack Nicholson Kim Basinger Michael Gough Billy Dee Williams Robert Wuhl Pat Hingle Jack Palance Jerry Hall Tracey Walter Lee Wallace William Hootkins Richard Strange Carl Chase Mac McDonald George Lane Cooper Terence Plummer Philip Tan John Sterland Edwin Craig Vincent Wong Joel Cutrara John Dair Christopher Fairbank George Roth Kate Harper Bruce McGuire Richard Durden Kit Hollerbach Show All…

126 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Matt Singer ★★★★ 24

"Alfred, could you come here for a sec?"

"Yes, Master Bruce?"

"Did you let Vicki Vale in the Batcave?"

"..."

"Y'know I'm trying to maintain a secret identity here, right?"

"Yes, Master Bruce."

"Kinda hard to do that when YOU LET RANDOM WOMEN IN HERE."

"Yes, Master Bruce."

"And this was AFTER I told her we had to go out of town and YOU immediately told her we weren't going out of town! HOW DUMB DO YOU HAVE TO BE TO MAKE THAT MISTAKE?"

"Yes, Master Bruce."

"Look, I hate to do this. You're a good guy, and you make a really good bowl of chowder. But I'm afraid I'm going to have to let you go."

"But... Master Bruce..."…
Review by Sam Van Hallgren ★★★★★ 19

Count me among those few who prefers this to any of the Nolan films.

After revisiting for the first time in at least a decade (and likely two decades), I discovered a film whose power comes from a rare alchemy of artifice, absurdity and horror. It starts with the score. Elfman's work is one for the ages and does a lot of heavy lifting early in the film (specifically making Nicholson's Jack Napier about 80% more sinister in those early scenes). Secondly, the set design - with special adoring emphasis on that first shot of Gotham, all dark, smudged pastels, like something out of Caligari or Metropolis. The opening scene when we're introduced to Keaton's Batman is impeccable. His "I'm…
Review by Ivica_Pusticki ★★★★½ 3

I decided to watch Batman again as a moral support to Michael Keaton and him being robbed at the Oscars! IMO he should have jump on the stage, grab Redmayne and ask him "You ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?"!

Anyway...Batman is still awesome! Love the soundtrack, love the effects, look of the movie...everything! Although I still prefer Batman Returns just for an inch...
Review by Evan ★★★★½ 4

Jack Nicholson's Joker >>> Heath Ledger's Joker

Don't get me wrong both were absolutely fantastic. But based on who The Joker is in the comic book, Jack Nicholson literally embodied him perfectly. I love Heath Ledger and his Joker, but Jack Nicholson was a better comic book Joker.

Tim Burton's Batman is definitely one of the best comic book films out there.
Review by Arielrocks5 ★★★★★ 19

There's a lot of movies I watch again and wonder to myself why I don't watch them more often. It can't be because of time (I have plenty of that when I'm not working), but it could be because of an underlying fear of getting tired of seeing something you once loved.

After all, sometimes there can be too much of a good thing; but then other times, I revisit old favorites of mine that I watch every once and awhile to see if they still hold up, and sure enough, they often do, and this is definitely one of those cases.

There's always something I come to appreciate each time I end up seeing this, and I think the…
Review by DirkH ★★★★½ 13

I will be honest. I did not really care for the film the first time I saw it. As a kid I was always a Marvel man and automatically didn't care for the DC heroes at all.

But that was almost 25 years ago....

After rewatching it I was a bit shocked to discover it is that old. As it really doesn't show at all. I was also rather shocked by how much more I liked it this time round. If ever a film aged well it is this one.

This has, of course, a lot to do with Burton. Here his visual flair is fresh and absolutely spot on. He manages to give the film the feel of a…

Recent reviews

Review by Peter Langman ★★★★

Gothic, Dark and Striking. Tim Burton helped introduce a mature interpretation of The Dark Knight thanks to its great production design, Danny Elfman’s incredible music and leading performances of Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson.
Review by cosmel ★★★

Το πιο τίμιο κιτς Μπάτμαν που έχει βγει!
Review by Brandon Wolfe ★★★★★

Probably more a 4.5, in truth, but no movie has more raw iconic power over me, so it gets the boost. But it’s weird that the Joker instantly knows which killed parents Batman is referring to.
Review by Cullen ★★★

Jack Nicholson is perfect in this.
Review by Andy Martin ★★★★½

It's an amazing live action version of a cartoon.
Review by Meltha ★★★★★

Superman was probably the first superhero movie to try to not just be for kids, but this one? This was for the grownups. Dark. Twisted. Psychotic. Creative murders. No, it's not as dark as Batman would become later, but the tone here (adding in Prince's soundtrack, which never seems to get the credit it deserves) is so remarkably different that it completely change the genre.
Review by Simon ★★★½

Very strong first hour but I'm still not keen on the campy Prince bits. There is no way that parade would be signed off by the council at that short notice.
Review by Colin Morgan ★★★

is this movie good? no, not really. burton's a pretty abysmal director of hand-to-hand combat (has a batman movie ever been directed by a filmmaker good at shooting that?). the film's treatment of vicki vale is reprehensible. keaton's performance is entirely drained of any sense of personality. and about, i don't know, 40% of the joker stuff comes off more annoying than terrifying (the museum scene works a lot better as a youtube clip than as a setpiece in an already overstuffed movie).

but, i mean, those sets though. there was a fun novelty to revisit this and see a superhero movie where actors are interacting with real objects on real sets. this and beetlejuice really do showcase burton's ability to handle stop-motion and miniatures (makes a fun contrast with the CGI abominations that populate mars attacks). also, batman's far from my favorite prince album but there's some solid stuff here.
Review by Déo Gracias ★★★★

Graphically, this was a movie piorneering its times. Unlike, most of the movies made later the special effect still holds up. As of the acting, Jack Nicholeson truly shine over shadowing Michael Keaton’s, who also did a bang up job even though he isn’t my favourite Batman. There is no doubt in mind that this is a classic.