“Millionaire Bruce Wayne by day, avenging Batman by night, the caped crusader encounters a grinning face from his past when a madman known as the Joker threatens Gotham city.” This is the best description I’ve ever seen of this movie.
We all know the story. Bruce Wayne’s parents were killed in front of him as a child, and as an adult, he’s vowed to use their fortune to dedicate his life to fighting crime. He also wants to avenge their death, and to keep this tragedy from occurring to another young child. Michael Keaton’s Batman is slightly dotty, and deliciously absent minded, but those nuances humanize him, and make him the best and deepest Batman. The movie is filmed in Tim Burton’s dark Gothic vision, which only adds to the mystique.
Jack Nicholson is truly beyond masterful as the Joker and provides the color in Burton’s gloomy expressionist Gotham City. His performance is about as unrestrained as he’s ever been allowed...