It was 25 years ago this year that Batman was first unleashed onto the world. In 1989, director Tim Burton brought his version of the Caped Crusader to life with Michael Keaton playing the dual role of Batman and Bruce Wayne. Prior to this movie, the only time we had seen Batman in a full-length feature film was the cheesy 1966 movie that starred Adam West. Sure, we all love watching West’s Batman cruising around fighting crime, but that was hardly a proper Batman movie.

There was a lot of hype for this movie and rightfully so. Batman had never been given a big screen treatment and Tim Burton already had a reputation for being an expert with over-the-top visuals. Everyone was hoping for another Beetlejuice when it was announced that Burton would direct Batman, but the end result was much different.

Anyone who has read the Batman comics knew Batman’s origin story. But Burton presented it so well that his has become the yardstick by which all other Batman origin stories are measured. The entire movie, from the beginning to the end, has this dark hue that is impossible to ignore. Burton would use that hue again in Edward Scissorhands and Ed Wood. It became his calling card because no one else knew how to get that look. Because of Burton’s efforts, the idea of bringing Batman to the silver screen suddenly became in demand and it still has not gone away.

When I first saw this film, I was immediately impressed with Jack Nicholson as the Joker. Burton decided to give the Joker a backstory, which wound up being a hybrid of a couple of Joker backstories from the comic books. As a Batman fan, I was never comfortable with a Joker backstory. I didn’t want to know who the Joker was, which is why I prefer Christopher Nolan’s Joker to Burton’s. But what makes the Joker work in Batman is Jack Nicholson.

I honestly believed in 1989, and to an extent I still believe, that Jack Nicholson deserved an Oscar for his role. Why? Because he took the unassuming Jack Napier and turned him into a raving lunatic. The transition was masterful and Nicholson’s little touches here and there made it believable. Well, as believable as anything can be in a Tim Burton universe.

I was not a big fan of Prince doing the soundtrack for this movie and, 25 years later, I am still not a big fan of Prince doing the soundtrack for this movie. Don’t get me wrong, I love Prince’s music. But this movie needed a psychotic genius to generate its score and Prince is simply a genius. Trent Reznor, Pink Floyd or even Metallica would have been interesting choices to do the soundtrack. Reznor would have been the best candidate to retain that cartoonish aspect that Burton slips into the movie, but avoids making a main part of the story.

The genius of this movie, from a Tim Burton perspective, is that it preserves the Batman comic book look that we all love, but it does not do it in a campy way. This movie is deep, philosophical and even terrifying in some spots. Nicholson’s uneasy but brilliant use of humor at the most inappropriate moments added to the charm of the movie. In the middle of a fight scene with Batman, the Joker throws on a pair of glasses and asks Batman if he would hit a guy with glasses. Of course, Batman does, but the Looney Tunes-ish joke was so inappropriate at that moment that it was perfect.

I did not have any problem when they announced that Michael Keaton would be Batman and I had no problem with it when the movie was over. Keaton was everything he was supposed to be, which made his performance brilliant as well. When he was Bruce Wayne, he was perplexed and off guard. When he was Batman, he was focused to the point where he could see nothing but the bad guys in front of him. Keaton played two different roles and he did it very well.

Burton was forced into making a sequel, which was not too bad. The Batman movies went way downhill after that, until Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale came along to save the franchise. But it all started with 1989’s Batman and the vision of Tim Burton. Even if you do not like Batman, this movie is one that you must see.

Rating:  4 ½ out of 5

George Root is a Lockport resident and Drive-in fanatic. As the drive-in winds down for the season, it is time to break out the classic blu-rays until the Drive-in opens in April 2015.

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