Batman (1989) * *

Directed by:  Tim Burton

Starring:   Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl, Jack Palance, Billy Dee Williams, Jerry Hall, Pat Hingle

I know, I know.    Batman is by its nature a story of an outsider fighting crime under a disguise.    The idea of Batman owes more to film noir than the cartoonish antics of the 1960's Adam West series.    I never read the comic books, but they were written as atmospheric and with a conflicted hero fending off numerous evil villains.     The visual look of Tim Burton's Batman is dark and somber, but effective.     The trouble is the pall that engulfs the movie.     This Batman isn't much fun or interesting.     Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy explores the myth and origins of Batman, but still manages to engross us.     Revenge for his parents' murder got the ball rolling, but what keeps him spending his nights fighting Gotham criminals?     This version of Batman doesn't answer that question.     Heck, I don't even think it asks.

Batman/Bruce Wayne is played by Michael Keaton.    It is a role which doesn't play to his strengths as an actor.    Keaton is at his best playing verbal, high-energy characters who can think fast and act faster.    Bruce Wayne is a man with secrets and barely utters more than one sentence at a time.     The wattage on Bruce Wayne/Batman is very low.    The role has since been essayed by Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale, and Ben Affleck with varying degrees of success.     Keaton would not have been the first actor I thought of to play the Caped Crusader.     Keaton is more at home playing the Joker.     Jack Nicholson, of course, plays the Joker after his face is disfigured from falling into a vat of chemicals.    He has a permanent smile, but that doesn't make him a happy guy.    As Jack Napier, he was the criminal who killed Wayne's parents.     As the Joker, he plans to take over Gotham after killing his traitor boss and declaring war on Batman.

Nicholson clearly has a ball playing the Joker.    We at least respond to him.    Does it belong in the upper echelon of great Nicholson performances?    No.    But he entertains and camps it up while his opponent barely registers.     Gotham reporter Vicky Vale (Basinger) follows the story of the mysterious nightcrawler Batman.    Is he myth or man?      She soon becomes Wayne's girlfriend and learns the inevitable truth.    My guess is she likes Wayne more when he dons the suit and mask and drives around in the Batmobile.    When she talks with Bruce at dinner, they seem stuck for conversation.    

Joker's plan to take over Gotham limps along like the rest of the plot.    Batman dispatches goon after goon and uses grappling hooks to swing or climb his way out of trouble.     All the while his chin remains firm and stiff.     Words escape his lips as if by accident.     We sense he does all of this because the story requires him to.     We never truly understand or accept that he is compelled to battle the bad guys and save Gotham.     It is a trend in superhero movies that the villain gets to say all of the fun lines while the hero acts morose, but in Nolan's trilogy, Wayne/Batman had something to say when he spoke.   

Tim Burton is a highly visual director.    He rarely tells down-to-earth human stories (although Big Eyes was one and it was pretty good).    He specializes in extravagant fantasies and is attracted to dark stories.     His version of Batman is well within his wheelhouse, but the movie is bogged down by its own despair.     The sets and gadgets are inventive (even the interior ones), and the late Anton Furst won a well-deserved Oscar for his production design.     I only wish the story was as intriguing as the sets.