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Batman essentially was the first film to follow the template of the modern summer blockbuster: huge opening weekend, then a quick decline in the following weeks. Admittedly, its then-record $40 million start seems relatively pedestrian now and it hung around the top of the charts for longer than most big releases do these days, but it set a trend that has been getting ever more extreme in the 18 years since its release. Batman was the only the second major superhero film franchise, following in the wake of the Superman films, which had by that time completely run their course (Superman IV: The Quest for Peace had limped into cinemas in 1987). Director Tim Burton wanted something completely different from the Man of Steel's colourful family-friendliness, and created a twisted, gothic vision of Gotham City.
Burton is now a well established blockbuster "auteur", but at the time of Batman he was only a relative newcomer and was recruited on the back of the breakout success of Beetle Juice, starring Michael Keaton. The director brought his star with him when he accepted the blockbuster assignment, and a choice which appeared a strange one proved to be quite successful, Keaton donning the Batsuit with admirable seriousness and intensity. What can't be ignored, though, is that in this film, and indeed all the Bat-films until Begins, Batman and especially his alter-ego Bruce Wayne are bland and underdeveloped characters. As everybody surely knows by now, this is well and truly The Jack Nicholson Show.
Nicholson made headlines at the time for his ludicrously large payday - echoing Marlon Brando in Superman: The Movie - but he is worth every penny. (Well, almost. That's a lot of pennies.) His scenery-devouring performance eclipses everything else in the film, and has meant that it is Jack's portrayal of the Joker that most people have in their minds when they think of the character - Heath Ledger has an unenviable task in next year's The Dark Knight. However, while it is impossible not to enjoy the sheer attention-grabbing audacity, the performance does occasionally veer too far into the absurd and indulgent, lessening the sense of maniacal threat. The film's low point, though not really due to Nicholson, is the Joker's jaunt around an art museum to the sound of Prince's "Partyman". I'm sure the sequence has its fans but the camp tone always seems to me more suited to one of Joel Schumacher's series entries.
Although the film has dated in certain areas (not only because of Prince) it does mostly hold up today. Burton's decision to eschew a real origin story and just launch straight into the action serves the film well even though it hampers the arc of the title character. The baroque design of the film is expertly achieved through some impressive Academy Award-winning set design and detailed matte paintings to artificially extend the backgrounds. Additionally, Danny Elfman's score is arguably his most recognisable and iconic, and is undoubtedly the reason he's since become Hollywood's superhero composer of choice (John Williams has been too busy doing Steven Spielberg movies), with Spider-Man, Darkman, Hulk and, soon, Hellboy 2 under his belt. Despite the fact that Batman Returns has its fans, it took another four movies for Batman to truly find his cinematic feet again, but this first outing remains tremendously watchable and enjoyable.
The extras
At the time of the DVD release of Batman Begins, Warner Bros. gave all the previous Batmans the special edition treatment (excluding the 1966 TV movie!). The first thing I noticed when I watched the film was that despite it supposedly being a new digital transfer the picture quality is not brilliant, with some grain and slight frame judder when the camera is stationary (especially noticeable with the opening titles). It's not terrible; I just expected better. Thankfully, the picture is in anamorphic widescreen format, which the cover forgets to mention. A commentary from Tim Burton accompanies the film, and there's also a trailer on Disc 1.
Redeeming somewhat the disappointing picture quality of the film are the absolutely superb special features provided on the second disc. The "Shadows of the Bat" documentary is split into six parts and is stretched over the DVDs of the four films, but this DVD gets the first three parts dealing with the development of the film and its long journey to the screen (70 minutes). "Legends of the Dark Knight: The History of Batman" is a fascinating 40-minute look at the character's life. Six "Beyond Batman" featurettes of between 6 and 11 minutes each look at individual aspects of the film, from the Batmobile to the music. "On the set with Bob Kane" is a short archival featurette with the creator of Batman talking about the film; oddly it ends very abruptly after less than 3 minutes. One of the most intriguing extras is "The Complete Robin Storyboard Sequence" - at one point Robin was intended to appear in the film too and this details his appearance in storyboard form, with added sound effects including Mark Hamill voicing the Joker. Seven interesting profiles of the heroes and villains of the film (in which the actors and filmmakers talk about specific characters), as well as three Prince music videos, finish off the packed disc.
The summary
Batman is remembered mainly for Tim Burton's stylish visuals and Jack Nicholson's iconic turn as the villain for obvious reasons, but it's also a very entertaining and well-made blockbuster that deserved its success.
