[Paladin]

Saw that the '89 Batman film had been added to Netflix so I thought I'd check it out.


...Holy crap; this does not hold up at all.

The plot is a mess; events are barely connected and motivation for anyone & anything is barely explained. We get virtually no characterization for Batman & even less for his supposed Love Interest Vickie Vale. Why does she care so much about him & why is he willing to risk the secret of Batman after ONE DATE?!

Jack Nicholson as The Joker is funny for about five minutes and then just grates on you for the rest of time. Some of his antics are WAY too over the top for a movie ostensibly made as an extended toy commercial. And what exactly is added to this story or the overall Bat-mythos with the "reveal" that he killed the Waynes????

I don't think Tim Burton understands a damn thing about the Batman character, especially considering that Batman announces at the onset of his final fight with Joker I'm going to kill you. Even considering the less-than-impressive comics at the time this was made, that seems way outside any incarnation of Batman before or since. Hell, I'm pretty sure he DID kill at least two of Joker's minions on the way up to the church and it's never spoken of by anyone else!


Don't waste any more time on this.