A MICHAEL KEATON Birthday Salute…
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UPDATED 9/5/23: Michael Keaton turns 72! I first wrote this piece in June 2014 but it’s obviously the perfect time to “reprint'” it (in slightly altered form). I also included it in our 30th anniversary BATMAN ’89 WEEK, so click here for lots more groovy stories. You’ll dig ’em! — Dan
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I’m obsessed with Batman ’66. You know that by now. But in 1989, I was 22 and I wanted nothing more than to run away from Adam West and all the Biffs! and Pows!
You gotta understand. If you were a Batfan at the time, you kinda had to keep it under wraps. Friends — and girls — knew nothing of Frank Miller or Steve Englehart or Denny O’Neil or Neal Adams or Marshall Rogers.
To them, Batman was kid’s stuff. And when you’re 22, kid’s stuff is something you want to bury and forget. “I’m a man, man.”
I remember when they announced that Michael Keaton was gonna be Batman. Had there been an Internet at the time, it wouldn’t have cracked in half. It would have disintegrated.
Sheer outrage and panic. That’s what I remember most. And it was universal. Michael Keaton was the guy from “Night Shift” or “Beetlejuice.” Batman? BATMAN?!
We felt betrayed. Batfans had waited and waited to be taken seriously. We were closeted and embarrassed and this didn’t help at all.
Then — and I’m pretty sure it was in USA Today — they released this picture. Or something close to it.
And, just like that, I was a convert. We were all converts. We knew this was gonna be the real deal.
By the time the movie finally premiered in 1989, I was working at a Boston theater chain. In one of the earliest instances of living a charmed Batlife, I was able to go to the first screening.
And this is where I jump in with 13 Things I Still Love About Batman ’89 (Mostly):
1. The memory of seeing it that first time.
I don’t want to insult anybody, but for me it was akin to a euphoric, religious experience. The place was packed and people were shouting and hollering throughout the whole thing — in the best possible way at the best possible times.
Batman on the rooftop, taking out two thugs? “YEAHHHHHHHH!!!”
Joker kills Grissom? “YEAHHHHHHHHH!!!
First shot of the Batmobile? “YEAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”
The Batsignal? “Oh, MY GOD, YEAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”
I walked out feeling like my life was changed. I went to dinner afterward with friends and I sat there, feeling my body vibrate, my ears ringing. It was a physical reaction.
Finally. We finally got the Batman we wanted.
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2. The score.
And I’m not just talking about the theme, which soon became one of Hollywood’s most memorable. I’m talking about the entire score. And there are two tracks on the album that really soar:
Descent Into Mystery
and
Finale
Now of course, on the album there’s no dialogue, but I included these clips for the full effect. But I tell you, this music is perfect. If it’s late at night and I’m driving down a darkened, tree-lined road, Descent Into Mystery slams through my head, with all its Carmina Burana gothic menace.
One thing, though about the finale. Why is Batman just standing there looking at the Batsignal? I mean, time to go to work, dude!
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3. On the other hand, everytime I hear a Prince song, it takes me right out of the movie.
Even the best use of it — in the museum scene that rips off a similar one from Batman ’66 — feels really forced.
It’s not like I dislike Prince. He’s OK. I just don’t like him mixed with Batman unless it’s Cliff Chiang’s handiwork.
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4. I was the first person to cast Jack Nicholson as the Joker.
I was! I used to write to DC Comics with my suggested cast for a serious Batman movie. And I pegged Jack Nicholson as the Joker from the get-go. I’m sure they passed my notes on to Warner Brothers.
So you can thank me.
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5. Vicki Vale. Vicki Vale. Vicki Vale.
Sorry, no.
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6. Why don’t they ever explain why he became a bat?
They give us his parents’ death, but we never see that bat crash through the window. Missed opportunity. His explanation to Vicki that bats are great survivors is really thin. Oh, well.
It’s not like it was an antiquated idea. Here’s a fantastic version in Batman: Year One by Miller and Mazzucchelli.
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7. I think Billy Dee Williams would have made a fine Two-Face.
He was so smooth, he was almost unctuous. But it really would have worked.
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8. The show gave us Batman: The Animated Series — and by extension, the entire Bruce Timm-helmed animated universe.
Without Batman’s success, the dominoes never would have fallen in such a way that the network suits at Fox would have greenlit a darker Batman cartoon for prime time. For many children of the ’90s, this version of Batman is the platonic ideal.
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9. This image is still one of the best in any Batman movie.
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10. After the movie came out and was such a ridiculous smash, the Batlogo was everywhere. Everyone wore it, whether it was on T-shirts, decals, pins or cut into their hair. It was ubiquitous. These days, you walk through a city and you see men, women, kids wearing a wide variety of superhero gear. Marvel, DC, it doesn’t matter. Those logos are everywhere.
The summer of 1989 was the first time you saw something like that, only it was that Batlogo over and over again. I remember riding the T in Boston and thinking to myself, “I wonder when will be the next time I’ll go a day without seeing that logo.” At some point I gave up looking because it had become so routine. I never thought I’d see Batman become that kind of phenomenon.
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11. My love of action figures and Batswag was rekindled. Batman, Joker, Batcave, Batmobile, Batwing, an ancillary wave of reconstituted Super Powers figures, all of it, I had to have it. Even the Batman cereal with Batman bank. ALL of it.
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12. But when it all comes down to it, the movie doesn’t age well for me in certain respects.
The criticism at the time was that it was a great-looking movie in search of a plot. I dismissed such talk. But then I began to recognize the seams: Too much Tim Burton. Not enough Batman. The pacing can be sluggish. Alexander Knox is annoying. Gordon is a non-entity. Bruce isn’t driven as much as he’s befuddled at times. “We can try to love each other.” The Joker has a real name. Machine guns on the Batwing. Batman blows people up real good and kills thugs without a second thought.
Now, I acknowledge that some of my complaints are quibbles and I’ll always honor Batman for its legacy. But as a straight-up movie, it gets a B to these 52-year-old sensibilities.
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13. Still, these are really cool.
Pix by Sam Greenfield
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MORE
— The Complete BATMAN ’89 WEEK Index. Click here.
— 13 THINGS You Might Not Know About BATMAN ’89. Click here.
August 30, 2014
Interesting article. There are some points that I really share, some that I don’t. The main one that I don’t share is that the movie has not aged well, which is absolutely not true because “Batman” is one of the best examples of how you can place a movie totally out of space and time, so that it becomes eternal. Nothing has aged in this movie and even after 25 years you can perceive something “like it was yesterday”. I agree concerning the plot, a bit confusing in certain moments and not focused enough on the Joker’s poisoning plan. I think this is because, being a prototype, it was very hard to gather so many elements all together in 2 hours. Today we have movies 3 hours long and people are never bored or annoyed, back then it was impossible to do something like that. However, “Batman” is and always will be the best Batman adaptation alongside “Batman Begins”, it set the standards for everything we have today.
August 31, 2014
Watching the movie more recently, the Prince songs stick out like a sore thumb. But in the context of 1989, I can remember why they were accepted, as hip-hop and sample-based music was becoming more and more mainstream (Yo! MTV Raps debuted the year prior.) The songs haven’t aged well, but they made some sense at the time. And I remember the Batman t-shirts–more common than just the logo were the Aparo and Gaiman pin-ups turned to (probably bootleg) t-shirts, at least in New York. But kids getting Batman symbols shaved into their heads, while less prevalent than the shirts, made a huge lasting impact on me! That was real dedication, I thought.
June 25, 2019
I actually like the Prince songs. My problems with the movie:
1.) I think Nicholson’s performance is vastly overrated. It’s not the Joker, it’s Jack Nicholson doing his Jack Nicholson shtick in clown make-up.
2.) Tim Burton has no clue on how to direct an action sequence.
What I do like about the film: Keaton’s performance, the new-Gothic look of Gotham City, and the overall atmosphere. Burton’s was able to merge the comic book feel to his own personal vision pretty successfully
It’s a good movie and an important movie for the superhero genre. It’s not a great movie.
June 25, 2019
LIke many true Batman fans. I too was initially livid at Keaton portraying the Dark Knight. Blue Beetle-juice maybe, but NOT Batman. But I was pleasantly surprised by his depiction of the Dark Knight Detective. As for the somewhat “campy” museum scene with the Prince song, the Joker and his henchmen, I loved it. I seem to remember reading or hearing somewhere that that one scene was a hat tip or homage to the campy TV show.
I enjoyed the Adam West show when it was originally on and I was a kid. But now? I’m a MUCH bigger fan of the no nonsense, grim and gritty DARK Knight of the Aparo and Neal Adams era, so the TV show NOW is only slightly amusing to me.
June 25, 2019
I had the great honor of catching “Batman” on it’s opening night (Knight) . Not talking about the Tim Burton movie, but the original 1966 Batman movie itself! They had a premier showing at the Wilshire Blvd. Theater on the same night. In attendance was Cesar Romero, Burt Ward, Burgess Meredith and Julie Newmar! I still have my ticket stub from the show and this was a very special time for us old Batmaniacs! Meeting them all for the very first time was sensational and the rest is history…!
June 25, 2019
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Why do Facebook profile pics cover the content here??? Here’s my original post again so you can read what’s UNDER the Fb pic. Google Chrome has a hiccup that won’t let me post AT ALL?!?
I too was initially livid at Keaton portraying the Dark Knight. Blue Beetle-juice maybe, but NOT Batman. But I was pleasantly surprised by his depiction of the Dark Knight Detective. As for the somewhat “campy” museum scene with the Prince song, the Joker and his henchmen, I loved it. I seem to remember reading or hearing somewhere that that one scene was a hat tip or homage to the campy TV show.
I enjoyed the Adam West show when it was originally on and I was a kid. But now? I’m a MUCH bigger fan of the no nonsense, grim and gritty DARK Knight of the Aparo and Neal Adams era, so the TV show NOW is only slightly amusing to me.
June 25, 2019
As flawed as it was, I still got a kick out of seeing the film. I kinda liked the songs by Prince, especially “Batdance.”
June 25, 2019
Okay…one more try. Dan, either you or Facebook need to fix this problem with Facebook profile pics covering our comments please.
Why are our Facebook profile picurtes covering the content here??? Here’s my original post again so you can read what’s UNDER the Fb pic. Google Chrome has a hiccup that won’t let me post AT ALL?!?
I too was initially livid at Keaton portraying the Dark Knight. Blue Beetle-juice maybe, but NOT Batman. But I was pleasantly surprised by his depiction of the Dark Knight Detective. As for the somewhat “campy” museum scene with the Prince song, the Joker and his henchmen, I loved it. I seem to remember reading or hearing somewhere that that one scene was a hat tip or homage to the campy TV show.
I enjoyed the Adam West show when it was originally on and I was a kid. But now? I’m a MUCH bigger fan of the no nonsense, grim and gritty DARK Knight of the Aparo and Neal Adams era, so the TV show NOW is only slightly amusing to me.
June 25, 2019
I forgot to add this cool bit of info I discovered several months ago concerning Jack Nicholson’s role as the Joker and a previous role and similar dialogue in another movie he was in.
FUN TRIVIA FACT: I posted something about this a while back on a comic fan Facebook page but had to wait for a repeat of this western movie before confirming what I thought I heard the first time I watched this movie. An hour and 45 minutes into the 1978 movie “Goin’ South”, Jack Nicholson’s character ‘Moon’ says this 11 years BEFORE he was in the 1989 Batman movie as the Joker… “Wait till the Domingi Sisters get a load of me!”
I tried finding a reference online to these two similar but different movie lines by Jack N., but couldn’t find a thing. It’s so close to what he says in Batman ( “Wait till they get a load of me!” ) Now I can’t help but wonder if he ad-lib-ed that or if he requested it be in the script based on the similar line from Goin’ South. This Jack Nicholson western was his first movie as the Director of a movie and it also starred another Batman movie villain, Danny Devito/Penguin.
June 26, 2019
Agree, sluggish pacing. I remember how big a thing it was and where I was when it came out in 89. I had one if those t shirts. I actually prefererred the sequels over this first entry.
June 27, 2019
I remember being excited for a serious take. I remember being really upset with Keaton being cast. I still say I’d prefer another casting of someone taller, stronger etc.
The aloof Bruce Wayne was irritating. I hate, hate, hate the black rubber suits that became the standard going forward. Vicki Vale finding out his secret due to Alfred was cringe worthy. Joker replacing Joe Chill made no sense. A non-fan wouldn’t miss anything but a fan is left shaking his head.
I will say that the novelization of the movie was a good read. And, I can still enjoy the movie today for what is. But, it is just not the version I envision. BTAS…..now that is my version.
July 6, 2019
I think Batman ’89 holds up pretty well and deserves more than a B.
Michael Keaton devised a new and intriguing interpretation of Bruce Wayne–a neurotic recluse who went through everyday life distracted and off-balance and came fully alive only when he put on the cowl. As Batman Keaton had a great mystique and his “talk softly and carry a big stick” approach contrasts nicely with Christian Bale’s.
The Prince songs don’t bother me–they’re used primarily for “party scenes” and work fine in them. When serious music is needed Elfman takes over.
Seeing the bat crash through the window would, I think, look hokey in live action.
I agree that Alexander Knox is annoying, and the character wasn’t well-served by the script changes. And certainly more could have been done with Gordon. Vicki Vale in the batcave is more than made up for the scene of Bruce telling her he has to go out there and stop the Joker.
Giving the Joker an extended origin meant giving him a name, so that doesn’t bother me. And making him the killer of Batman’s parents works because it cements the movie’s theme: that Batman and the Joker are freaks who created each other. The movie is about them struggling for possession of an equally freaky city.
Batman using machine guns and killing hoods might upset some fans, but that’s also how Batman used to be before Robin came along and he stopped being a grim creature of the night.
Looking back after the heavily plot-oriented Nolan Batman films, the intense mood and visuals of Burton’s films are a relief. The ’89 Batman might have wonky plotting, but in visual terms it remains one of the strongest and most iconic superhero films ever made and the strongest Batman film. As Pauline Kael wrote in her review, “the images sing.”
July 7, 2019
I wanted to expand on the whole…# 6. “Why don’t they ever explain why he became a bat? They give us his parents’ death, but we never see that bat crash through the window. Missed opportunity.”
When I was a kid it never occurred to me that an average sized bat probably could NOT crash through an average sized window pane. So I bought it hook line and sinker. As an adult, or even a teen that made less and less sense to me. Unless it’s a fox/fruit bat ( the largest bat ) that doesn’t have sonar then the odds of a smaller bat dramatically breaking through ANY window and not killing or knocking itself out is unrealistic.
When I read comics or see comics based TV shows and movies now, I EXPECT a certain amount of scientific plausibility in them, A coyote suspended in mid air before finally falling into the canyon is kids stuff. As a teen or adult I can only “suspend reality” just so much. So put the bat into a scene as an inspiration flying into an open patio door, but not as a 1 ounce window crasher.
February 18, 2021
In this age of CGI epics, it probably hasn’t aged well, but it still works for me. I feel like the character of Bruce Wayne is perfect and a welcome departure from the bland Ken-doll aesthetic that still permeates movie superheroes. This is a deeply troubled Batman, one who is losing himself entirely to this persona he’s created.
I never minded the Prince songs. I had the soundtrack! I prefer they use wholly original songs to keep these movies timeless. Hearing that instrumentsl version of Superfreak in Batman Returns put me off, as did the Ted Bundy reference, because it dates them in a way little does.
I didn’t mind Joker having a name. It makes no difference to me; in the end, he’s still recognizably the Joker. I love, love, LOVE the Joker makeup in this! That grin is hideous, especially when he puts fleshy makeup on. I don’t think the design has been equalled since.
But the one silly thing in the movie to me was that he sleeps hanging upside down! I’d love that to be explained in the upcoming comics . . .
September 5, 2023
I rewatched this a couple of months back in preparation for Michael Keaton’s appearance in The Flash. I remember having been deeply disappointed by it back in 1989; I’m British but saw it in North Carolina when I was holidaying there. As a Bat-fan since childhood and having thoroughly enjoyed Tim Burton’s Pee Wee’s Big Adventure and Beetlejuice, I really wanted to like it. But I didn’t like it back then and, on my recent rewatch, I found it to be absolutely terrible. Plus points: Production design and score. Everything else doesn’t work: the script feels butchered, flat and nonsensical; the characters are barely even one-dimensional; really good actors give really stilted performances. I’m open to authorial reinterpretation and original approaches, but it felt like Burton simply had no grasp on the core of the material whatsoever. The whole thing just feels dull, clumsy and misconceived to me. FWIW I thought The Flash was shockingly bad too. Sorry to be a party pooper! I remain, however, an Adam West devotee, I liked the first two Nolan movies very much, and I think Matt Reeves’ The Batman was stellar.
September 5, 2023
I mostly agree with the pacing issues. I think the first 30 minutes (up to the shot where the Joker’s hand reaches out of the chemical waste) is absolutely brilliant. If you ended it right there, it would be one of the great short films of all time. And I think the last 20 minutes or so (starting with the parade) holds up really well, too. But those middle sections are really uneven. Too much ping-ponging back and forth between Bruce/Batman and the Joker.
Ironically, all of those pacing issues likely could have been avoided if they had kept Robin in the film. If you read the original script (it’s available online), just as the pacing begins to get sluggish, the Robin origin sequence happens (roughly at around the point where Bruce visits Vicki in her apartment in the finished film). That sequence and the Dick Grayson scenes that follow add a much needed jolt of narrative energy that I think the film would have benefited from. And thematically, it would have added some nice layers to the story by having the rage and vengeance-driven Bruce see Dick (whose parents in the film were also killed by the Joker, just like Bruce’s) start traveling down the same path as he (Bruce) was, forcing him to moderate his approach (kind of presaging a similar thematic arc that Ben Affleck’s Bruce went through in BvS).
All of that said, I still mostly like the movie and can accept it for what it is, flaws and all. And it was great seeing Keaton reprising the role in The Flash this summer. He hasn’t lost a step.
September 5, 2023
So in’89 I was 30, and just returned to comics with the Dark Knight Returns in’85. While I feel there was a place in there for the 66 cast, DC was trying hard to distance itself.
Like you, Dan, I was thrill with the opening sequence, thinking it was the Batmobile exiting the cave.
Some cool things:
The opening sequence on the rooftop
The Axis Chemicals scene
The Casino party at Wayne manor
The BatTurn executed in the city
Cornering Bruce at Vicki’s pad
The leaves kicking up on the drive to the cave.
The battle in the church steeple
The Batwing
Things I didn’t like the second time through- how does the Joker have a parade in Gotham. Where are the cops, etc?
Prince – that song didn’t really fit for me.
Batmobile outfitted with machine guns, may violate the Batman code (he strings up the bad guys in the factory!?!)
Jack Nicholson was larger than the role, that is I kept seeing and hearing Jack, not the Joker. For reference see the Joker in the Dark Knight.
I even read the book to try to understand how you have an unsanctioned parade in Gotham City.
September 5, 2023
The original has held up better than the sequels. I remember seeing it in 1989 and just being taken with the entire feel of the movie, and the music score had so much to do with it. Years later was happy to see Batman TAS co-opted the theme. Just hard to believe it came out 34 years ago. Yikes.
September 5, 2023
I understand the complaint about pacing issues, but I think the film probably made the right decision to leave out Robin. Introducing a major character more than halfway through would have been dicey, and trying to cram in Robin’s story to the already existing Batman-Joker-Vicki plots would have resulted in a longer and probably even worse-paced film. It would have also distracted from the film’s theme: Joker and Batman are two freaks who created each other and, seeking vengeance, have to battle for control (and the soul of) Gotham. In that context, having Bruce moderate himself wouldn’t have worked. Batman ’89 in my mind is a note-perfect adaptation of the original Batman comics from 1939, before Robin was introduced and Batman became kid-friendly.
I’m not averse to seeing Robin in a future Bat-film, but such a film would have to devote considerable time and thought to introducing the character—more than what the ’89 script was prepared to do. Batman Forever’s treatment of the character wasn’t embarrassing, but could have been better.
September 5, 2023
This post is fantastic. Really captures how I felt in ‘89 about this movie and the entire Batmania. I was 14 and even at that age I was starting to realize how deeply uncool loving comics was at my school. So I tried to keep that part of my life hidden. I look back now and see that I tried to downplay how excited I was over Batman ‘89 because of that fear of being ostracized. Then, after the movie opened, the whole world had Bat fever! It still didn’t feel safe to admit to loving comics though. All those Johnny-come-lately fans were into the movie, not the comics. But I digress. I also agree with your present-day assessment of the movie. I revisited it a week or two ago and all the issues you mention—especially pacing and lack of plot—were glaringly obvious now. I’ve always loved Batman Returns so much more. But I’ll always respect Batman ‘89 because of what a cool moment in time it represents.
September 5, 2023
In addition to the sluggish pace, on rewatch is it striking just how campy large parts of it are. It was more violent but large parts of it, including the museum scene, the “love that Joker” TV commercial and the giant gun shooting down the batwing wouldn’t be terribly out of place on the old TV show.