I wanted to watch Watchmen today, but realised I wasn't quite feeling it. I remembered that recently wanted to watch the Tim Burton Batman films, I don't recall ever really watching them, especially when I was a child. And I don't really have a big interest in the more modern superhero films, for many various reasons. I wasn't sure what to expect going into Batman, and I completely forgot that Tim Burton even had anything to do with them. But this is very much a Tim Burton film in style. I also was quite uncertain as to what I would think of Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne, for some reason I just didn't really see it working out. But I think everything came together quite well. I think a lot of this is down to the era itself, having a strong influence on the technical capabilities the film had, adding to the soul.
On top of this, I was surprised to see that the film was two hours in length. These days I'm not so much of a fan of longe runtimes, but I hardly noticed it with Batman. It felt as if the film was constantly in motion with lots to enjoy. Running through various characters in the gritty city of Gotham without straying too far from what was important. It seemed almost odd at how much I found myself enjoying it, the cast and the characters it displayed. Defying my expectations and generally being an entertaining superhero film. It did have me question, though: just what happened to all of that charm? These films are certainly capable of it. Did the film industry just get lazy? Perhaps so, but at least these older titles are reminders of how interesting these characters and worlds can be, engaging and creative.
There may be spoilers from here on. So if you care about spoilers from an 80s Batman film, you've been warned! Though I don't feel they make much impact on the general story. Much of the film is atmosphere.
Batman
Michael Keaton's portrayal of Bruce Wayne sums him up as a relatively quiet individual. Often enough Bruce Wayne is portrayed as some sort of celebrity in Gotham, perhaps a bit too much. In this film, he seems much more grounded. A regular individual despite his great wealth. I liked that he seemed more human, less mentions of his finances and even less exploration of his personality. He was a relatively blank sheet, which I think actually made his character seem more interesting. There are some mentions of Wayne's wealth here and there, but it's hardly a focus and used in political discussion like the later titles. I really did not think this would work, so to see myself quickly enjoying his performance was a surprise. Keaton is hardly the largest surprise in the cast, with Jack Nicholson having a relatively large role as Joker. Again, I really didn't expect this to work as well as it did!
The film's story is mostly an origin story of the Joker character. His mob like ways and encounter with an already existing Batman that leads to Jack falling into a chamber of chemicals; he survives this horrible fate and encounter with Batman, but is horribly disfigured as a result. This is the start of Joker. His hatred for Batman, and the creation of his character as something far more threatening and motivated than he was before. His character actually feels quite threating as a result of his existing mob ties, being someone that generally isn't afraid to cause trouble. The film focuses on his character quite a lot, perhaps more than it does Bruce and his Batman activities. He isn't really roaming around engaging with different groups, only really appearing as a result of something Joker is up to.
There's a nice dynamic between Bruce's life in and outside of Batman, showing the interest people have in him from reporters, and his struggles with a love life as romance is something he's open to but of course can't really commit to. Though at the same time, this isn't delivered to us through moments of intense drama. Instead, they're minor bits of dialogue in the film between Bruce and Alfred. It makes Bruce's life look even more void of purpose, where he has no interest in the business side of things, nor does playing the role of Batman really mean a lot to him. He has a very neutral nature to him. This almost makes the side characters feel more like main characters, people that find themselves caught up in the drama between villain and vigilante as they go about trying to figure out the story of Batman as reporters.
Much of the interest I had was also in the visuals. It's a very Tim Burton film. And coming from the late 80s, it has a lot of that 80s charm. Even down to the use of 80s music. I quite liked the use of film stock and the grainy influence it had in displaying Gotham, it is both beautiful and gritty. Mixed with technology of the era, it makes Batman's gadgets look both advanced and rather mechanical. Something with some thought in it that doesn't just seem straight out of the distant future. Even down to Bruce's surveillance room in his house: regular cameras and some screens of various sizes. Nothing too fancy. Though the most ambitious creation would be his car, which of course features some screen time more towards the end. In terms of visuals, it's a very beautiful and atmospheric film, but that's of no surprise when coming from the mind of Tim Burton. And strangely, you'd think he'd be offered more work in recent years for stylised comic book films.
I think if you're someone like me that has no interest in modern superhero films but ultimately is open to watching things based on the characters, this is a good entry. It's vastly different to what you may expect. Void of the annoying lighthearted humour you often find in these films, and with a more mature take on the characters that doesn't shy away from action and portraying them as serious people. This is one of the things I liked the most of it, to see a more realistic approach to it all. Something that doesn't seem like it's made to appeal to the widest demographic, and takes care to take the more serious, darker elements of the comics that fans would expect to see. For once, I certainly recommend this superhero film! And I'll be watching the following entries over the next few days, I'm very curious!
