The kind of world we live in: A man dressed as a bat getting press

Batman to this day remains one of my favorite super hero to screen adaptations. Part of that comes from the comics being among my favorites. I’ve been fascinated with Batman for a long time even to the point of writing a highly praised college term paper comparing his world to Greek mythology. Tim Burton and his crew managed to capture much of what I most enjoy about the character.

Bruce Wayne deals with death by staring it in the eye every night and stopping it wherever he can. Other heroes do that to some extent, but with a character as powerful as the Hulk or Superman the challenges are generally harder to relate to. Batman can’t throw cars, leap over buildings, or stop a train with his hands -- his primary weapons are his intelligence and training sometimes to the point of being portrayed as a Sherlock Holmes type character.

The mystery stories were always my favorites when reading the books. The movie doesn’t have that much mystery, but it does portray Batman’s detective skills and has the dark, gothic atmosphere inspired by the detective’s late-night investigations. It also deals with the character nicely. Say what you will about Michael Keaton, but he captured the essence of Batman with a dose of realism. Batman is intense, precise, and brilliant. However, he’s obsessed, and an obsessed man is bound to have some drawbacks in his life. As Bruce he’s a bit absent-minded. It’s difficult for him to say what he wants to say, and he definitely needs Alfred’s help to put on the air of the socialite his cover requires him to be. To an unsuspecting looker-on he might seem to be a careless playboy, but we know he’s got bigger things on his mind. While I enjoy the animated Bruce who is the consummate businessman and who can add oration to his list of skills, this movie version gives us a Bruce that is not flawless yet still very much super-heroic. Keaton also gives us a Batman who has the intensity but not the physicality to be imposing. His costume is an important part of his equation to psyche out his opponents, calculated to be recognizable and fearsome. The costume is designed to make up for what he would otherwise lack in his ability to intimidate his adversaries.

The Joker… an insane prankster clown. Sounds pretty lame doesn’t it? He has no powers, he’s got a permanent grin, and his face is greasepaint white. I mean are they serious? Yet he is one of the most fearsome villains ever. Strange villains are a dime a dozen so what makes him so much better? For one thing he’s not putting on a clown costume to be the Joker, he’s actually disfigured. He’s not driven by greed or the desire to blow up the world, he’s a true sociopath. He’s looking for amusement, and his lethal pranks are fun for him. He’s Batman’s nemesis because of his brilliance, warped though it might be. Two-Face, Riddler, and others can be dangerous but are to some degree predictable. Figure out the Riddler’s puzzle, exploit Harvey’s duality, smack the Penguin. Joker is more dangerous than any of the others. With the possible exception of Harley (and what evil clown wouldn’t want the likes of HER around??? Maybe in a future movie…) he might at any time have an exploding whoopee cushion or joy buzzer of death waiting for the next guy that says something he doesn’t like.

In addition to Joker being a great villain, I enjoy the ferocity with which Nicholson plays the part. Seeing the betrayal that leads to his transformation and the believable (from a characterization standpoint at least) roots of his insanity adds a layer on which Nicholson is able to build a disturbing intelligence and disdain for normalcy. The depths of his dark humor are frightening.

The Killing Joke has long been one of my favorite Batman stories. I saw the similarities between it and the movie, especially in relation to the concepts used in the Joker character and backstory. It was only recently that I learned this more than any other single story directly influenced the movie. There’s a dark humor there as well as an attention to characters that sets Batman apart from standard action or super-hero movies.

The costume and props have gone through many redesigns. It’s no surprise that the movie would want its own style. This costume is rubber with the practical use of body armor. The car is low to the ground and sharp. There’s a gothic look to everything which seems to be what Batman would want.

The story is in some ways exactly what you might expect from the cinema treatment: facing off with a villain that culminates into a final battle and with personal ties, love interest, love interest conflict with the villain, and oh no Batman might be dead (yeah right). There is one thing that is different from most other movies, it does not begin with Batman’s origins. That’s not to say they aren’t revealed, but when we first meet Bruce he’s already Batman. Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing the lives of Peter Parker pre Spider-Man and Clark Kent pre Superman, but it’s nice to get a different pace.

Everything about this production is outstanding, and that includes the score. Danny Elfman’s theme is the most recognizable super-hero theme since John Williams’ Superman. I enjoy a lot of soundtracks, and this one is near the top of the list of the best ever. The songs by Prince (which is actually what this guy was known as during that time) got old on their own, but I was surprised at how well they still worked in the movie after not having seen it in several years.

All in all this is a great balance of realism and comic book lore. It’s fantastic but not so overblown that it screams fiction. The writing and style make it a movie that doesn’t take a comic book fan to appreciate, but it gives enough to please the fanboys.

Content:
There’s a little language and violence and very mild sexuality. It may not be for young kids, but it’s tame.

DVD:
There is an older DVD release that has virtually nothing on it. I’ve never seen it first hand so I can’t really tell anything about the quality. All I can say is if you’re going to get it, this new 2-disc release is the way to go. The only complaint I have about it is that it has no insert. I like chapter lists and a little bit of printed material with my DVD’s. I can overlook the lack of them with the $5 bargain bin DVD’s, but a big release like this one should have that.

The exterior is the classic Batman symbol which is a pleasant change from most covers that feature a huge blow up of the star(s)’ face(es). The menus aren’t particularly creative, but they do have animation and audio which is better than a plain page. Movie presentation is superb. Widescreen with 5.1 surround sound. It looks and sounds far better than I remember (having last seen it pan and scan on VHS).

In addition to everything else this release is loaded with terrific extras. Disc 1 keeps it light with a trailer and a commentary with Tim Burton. Tim is a better director than he is a speaker. He has some interesting ideas but they are presented in a stumbling and interrupted way making it difficult to follow sometimes.

Disc 2 starts out with a history of Batman. It’s lengthy and interesting. In another clip Bob Kane shares his thoughts about the movie. It feels cut off at the end, but is otherwise worth watching.

Shadows of the Bat is a series that will continue through the following 3 releases. The first 3 parts cover this movie: pre-production, writing and vision – the people that made it happen, and other things like location, cost, adversity, and marketing.

Another series of behind the scenes videos cover more technical aspects: design, props, the Batmobile, costumes, Joker makeup, and music. There is play all feature for these.

Character profiles take a look at the history and motivations of the key players: Batman, Vicki, Alex, Gordon, Harvey Dent, Joker, and Bob.

A storyboard in which the writers explored the introduction of Robin with simple animation and music features what appears to be the cast of the animated series as the voices. It’s pretty interesting to see what might have been.

There are 3 music videos by Prince. Partyman is energetic and features some good Joker visuals. Scandalous is a terrible song and a boring video. Batdance is a weak song but has some great visuals, the dancers made up to be half Batman half Joker suggest a new spin on the duality of super heroes and villains. These songs seem to me like they fit the production of Batman forever better than they do this one and vice-versa for Kiss From a Rose.

Final Thoughts:
There’s not much I can criticize here. The movie is great, the DVD is great. Anything negative I can say would only be nitpicking. If you like super heroes at all or just like darker action movies this is worth seeing. It’s a DVD that’s worth the cost between the quality of the feature, presentation, and extra content. It’s getting 5* from me.