Batman (1989)
Let's get the best bit out of the way first: Batman (1989) arguably has the greatest film poster of all time. That simple, striking yellow and black bat logo is so infinitely cool it practically sells the entire movie before you've even pressed play. No tagline, no floating heads, no overcrowded ensemble shot. Just the symbol. Iconic doesn't even begin to cover it.
What makes it even more remarkable is that, despite being born in 1989, growing up as a massive Batman fan, and playing the Megadrive game based on this very film to absolute death, I'd somehow never actually sat down and watched it. I'd seen The Dark Knight. I'd even subjected myself to those god-awful later outings like Batman Forever and Batman and Robin. But the original? Kept putting it off. They say never meet your heroes, and maybe some part of me was protecting the mythology I'd built up in my head around that poster, that logo, that world I'd only ever half-entered through a console game.
Well, I've finally met my hero, and I'm genuinely, pleasantly surprised. I'll go out on a limb here: no other Batman film captures the actual feel of the comic books quite like this one. Tim Burton's twisted, gothic depiction of Gotham City is an absolute triumph in itself. It's a brooding, atmospheric world that feels entirely unique and utterly its own. Burton has always had a gift for that kind of beautiful, unsettling production design, and if you've seen my reviews of Corpse Bride and Alice in Wonderland, you'll know I've a soft spot for that particular flavour of visual imagination. Here, though, it feels grounded in something darker and more dangerous. Gotham isn't a fantasy. It's a nightmare city that happens to have a bat-shaped saviour lurking on its rooftops.
Then there's Jack Nicholson. What a performance. He chews the scenery with a manic, theatrical glee that is an absolute joy to watch from start to finish. There's a loose, dangerous energy to it, a sense that he's having the time of his life and you're lucky to be watching. Nicholson has always had that quality. I've seen him be terrifying in The Shining and magnetic in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and The Joker sits comfortably alongside both. That said, I'll still maintain that the ultimate crown for Joker depictions rightfully belongs to the late Heath Ledger. Nicholson's version is brilliant fun. Ledger's was something else entirely. But this isn't a competition, and what Nicholson does here is more than enough.
The one thing that genuinely pulled me out of the experience now and again was the Batsuit itself. It's clearly so rigid and poorly constructed that Michael Keaton has to arch his entire back and torso just to look up or turn his head. Watching him swivel his whole body like Robocop every time he needs to check his blind spot is, frankly, hilarious. It's the kind of thing you can't unsee once you've noticed it, and you will notice it. But honestly, in the grand scheme of what the film achieves, it's a minor quibble. More a curiosity than a dealbreaker.
What I keep coming back to is how well the whole thing holds up. Despite its age, I enjoyed Batman a hell of a lot more than most of the modern Marvel output we get spoon-fed on a quarterly basis these days. There's a confidence and a distinctiveness to it that so many superhero films now seem terrified to have. It commits completely to its own strange, stylised vision, and it's all the better for it.
Three and a half stars. A brilliant, gothic caper that finally lived up to the hype of its legendary poster. Worth the thirty-five year wait.
Rating: ★★★½ | Year: 1989 | Watched: 2026-06-22
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Stream: HBO Max Amazon Channel · Sky Go · Now TV Cinema · HBO Max
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Stream: HBO Max Amazon Channel · HBO Max
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US
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