6 Reasons Tim Burton’s BATMAN Is Better Than You Think

By M.R. Gott on Thursday, April 17th, 2014

My first comic book memory of Batman comes from Detective Comics 625. Not a very well-known issue, but reading it in second grade shortly after seeing Tim Burton’s first Batman flick was an eye opening experience. Written by Marv Wolfamn with pencils by Jim Apro the issue is the first appearance of Abbatoir. Abbatoir is a villain that deserves more accolades than he gets, especially in the hands of someone like Scott Snyder. In this issue Abbatoir escapes from a Arkham Asylum (killing at least four people on the way out) and heading out to assassinate Ethchison who is running for mayor. The body count rises and when Batman finally tracks down Abbatoir who is living in a mausoleum he explains he eats his relatives to gain there strength. In the ensuing battle he dumps a pile of corpses on Batman before escaping. Damn, and this was approved by the comics code authority.

For me Batman has always been a dark figure. I first truly discovered him as presented by Tim Burton. Twenty four years after first seeing this film it still resonates with me. The film opens on an eerie rough path as Danny Elfman’s score thunders through transporting you to a dark world, that is not entirely unlike ours. As the camera pulls away we the audience realize the crevices are that of the Batman signal. As a youngster my mind was blown before the credits were even over. From there we are transported to a dark grimy Gotham just in time to see a man pistol whipped and robbed in front of his wife and kid. The wife screams and from somewhere high above the silhouette of Batman can be seen.

The two muggers are on a rooftop counting their loot and trading stories of the supernatural ‘bat,’ and then he falls silently behind them. He is impervious to bullets and kicks one of the muggers through a wooden door before dragging the other to the edge of the roof. Batman dangles him over the ledge and the thug pleads, “Don’t kill me. Don’t kill me man.”

Coldly Batman replies, “I’m not going to kill you. I want you to do me a favor. I want you to tell all your friends about me.”

“What are you?” The thug asks in fear.

“I’m Batman.” The shadowy figure answers before tossing him back onto the roof and jumping off the side of the building and disappearing. For as many times as I watched the movie, I heard this exchange even more times as it was the opener of Prince’s soundtrack to the film. Keep in mind at the time lacing a soundtrack with dialogue from the film was a pretty new idea.

Now that is a character introduction, and Tim Burton was setting the stage for what we know as Batman now with this opening. The grizzled voice declaring he’s Batman, the all black body armor. This is Batman as we know him now. It’s easy to lose sight of how influential this movie was at the time. A dark comic book adaptation that pissed off parents because it was decidedly un-kiddie friendly this was the first. While there were obviously weaker elements from a cannon perspective the film nails the tone like no other. Let’s break down the six main arguments against the film to see how much merit they deserve.

1) Batman is a killer

First off Batman kills people, it happens. While not always on screen there are a few thugs who very probably died, like the guy with a cable around his neck who is left hanging. Why don’t I care as a fan and why should true purists let up? Because initially Batman carried a gun and left a trail of bodies in his wake. It wasn’t until the book Seduction of the Innocent that he stopped. So the no kill code was in response to public pressure, not a story telling decision. And let’s be honest, the right action in The Dark Knight would probably be hitting the Joker with the damn Batpod. Which brings us to the next point.

2) Joe Chill?

The Joker kills Bruce Wayne’s parents and we even see him before he is the Joker. This one holds more weight. First off there is the convenience of this occurrence, it also makes Joker and Batman’s conflict too personal. I would argue Batman’s decision to kill Joker at the film’s end is justified regardless, however knowing he is killing the man who murdered his parents makes the choice too easy and not about protecting others, but simple revenge. Despite this decision to ignore cannon, from a film maker’s perspective the scenes of Joker having surgery and gunning down Grismon are iconic and classic.

3) Hi, Vikki Vale

Vikki Vale is let into the Batcave by Alfred. This is weak, screen writer Sam Hamm said this was all Burton and the decision was made without him during a screen actor’s guild strike. The only way to salvage this would be if Vikki is still around in the sequel, still supporting Bruce. She isn’t.

4) We’re gonna’ need a montage

Montage sequences. Prince’s Partyman and Trust play pretty much in their entirety, and while the plot doesn’t stop during these moments it grinds to a much slower pace. Some people ask why would Joker trash the museum? I respond he’s crazy. Why would Tim Burton shoot the whole sequence? Same answer. Prince’s inclusion was at the request of Warner Bros. and it shows.

5) The Bat Spatula

Seriously, what else would you call this thing. And it apparently is used exclusively when being jumped kicked with a bladed boot. This is dumber than the shark repellent in Adam West’s film entry.

6) Harvey Dent is Billy Dee Williams

Yeah don’t care, if he became the Joker at a later date it would have been awesome. You can’t sit there reading this and complain you keep seeing Billy Dee everywhere. There was nothing wrong with his portrayal of Dent, I really don’t get this one at all.

So those are the main arguments against 1989’s Batman. When you look at that them listed out does it show how weak they are compared to the influence the film had? Do you think Bryan Singer would have came up with black leather costumes without 1989’s Batman? Tim Burton’s Batman was the blueprint for today’s super hero films, and while its not perfect its better than most people are willing to give it credit for.

While I freely admit Christopher Nolan’s films are the strongest Batman films by far, I will always carry a torch for Burton’s entries in the franchise. If you have a hard time enjoying or appreciating Batman and Batman Returns compare it to the comic’s 75 year history. Burton’s Batmans are the golden age, dark and dangerous owing more to pulp than comic books. They made quite a few parents very uncomfortable. Next you have Joel Schumacher’s conscious effort to lighten the series up, make it more kid friendly and nearly kill it. Finally you have Christopher Nolan and David Goyer stepping in for Dennis O’Neal and Neal Adams returning Batman to his darker roots and establishing him as the mainstay he is today. And if Ben Affleck is making you uncomfortable as Batman, try to think of it as Holden McNeil playing Batman. Holden deserves a shot.