A classic Tim Burton Film (Batman - Special Edition (DVD))

Member Name: huggy2009

Product:	Batman - Special Edition (DVD)
Date:	07/06/09 (8 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent visuals, great direction, excellent characters

Disadvantages: Not totally Serious

The first real movie to be made about Batman, this was a real success and brought the genre of superhero movies bang up to date.

Directed by the surreal and wonderfully imaginative Tim Burton, this film reunited him with the star of Beetlejuice, Michael Keaton who was chosen to play the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne.

The plot is fairly flimsy, Bruce Wayne is the heir to a huge empire, he watches his father and mother be murdered as a child and dedicates his life to fighting crime, he takes on the persona of Batman a creature of the night who deals with the vermin of Gotham City in the darkness.

Wayne is fighting crime successfully until one day, The Joker (Jack Nicholson), the villain responsible for Wayne's parents death is helped to escape from Prison and returns to Gotham City to takeover and get rid of the Batman.

The film is basically a power struggle and number of set plays between Batman and the Joker following this, and we watch to find out who will win out. As a side issue, Bruce Wayne falls in love with the beautiful journalist Vicky Vale (Kim Basinger) who is kidnapped by the evil Joker.

Michael Keaton is one of the best two Batmen along with Christian Bale in my mind, he brings dignity and a real sense of power to the role, he contrasts well between the charming Bruce Wayne and the dark brooding batman perfectly, he makes funny wisecracks but remains entirely straight faced and dark throughout. Keaton is brilliantly believable in this role and makes you really root for him in his quest to destroy evil

Jack Nicholson is a great Joker, funny, and yet incredibly dark, he mixes the clown and the villain really well and has some fantastic lines, the interplay between these two characters is brilliant and makes the film for me.

The direction is assured and the use of gadgets and special effects are brilliant, the dark Gotham City is a masterpiece of gothic charm and totally suits Burton's style, he creates a dark underbelly and makes Batman a charmless hero, one who simply wants one thing, to destroy evil.

The film hasn't aged brilliantly as it looks almost comical now, but it does have some great performances with Nicholson in particular being really memorable.

The soundtrack by Prince is superb, there are some really funky tunes and watching Nicholson dance gaily to a Prince soundtrack is very amusing. The film sticks slightly closer to the original television series than it does to the dark graphic novels, but until Batman Begins came out it was easily the best film in the series and still stands the test of time as an excellent film.

The DVD is available for £4.25 on Amazon, or 99p on Marketplace, there are interactive menus and subtitles available too.

Summary: A classic Tim Burton Film