Batman (film)

"*What are you?*
*I'm Batman.*"
―Nic and Batman
***Batman*** is a 1989 film directed by Tim Burton and produced by Jon Peters and Peter Guber, based on the character of the same name from DC Comics. It is the first installment in what would later be referred to as the *Motion Picture Anthology*. In Gotham City, billionaire Bruce Wayne begins a war on crime as a costumed vigilante known as the Batman. His emergence causes the rise of a equally powerful costumed criminal known as the Joker.

The film was a financial and critical success, earning over $400 million in total at the box office. It spawned three sequels, *Batman Returns*, *Batman Forever*, and *Batman & Robin*.

## Plot

The Mayor of Gotham City orders District Attorney Harvey Dent and Commissioner James Gordon to increase police activity and combat crime in preparation for the city's 200th anniversary. Newspaper reporter Alexander Knox and photojournalist Vicki Vale begin to investigate reports of a elusive dark vigilante nicknamed "Batman," who is also targeting criminals in an effort to clean up the city.

Mob boss Carl Grissom, who has already been targeted by Dent, discovers his mistress is involved with his second-in-command, Jack Napier. With the help of corrupt policeman Max Eckhardt, Grissom sets up Napier to be murdered during a raid at the Axis Chemicals plant. During the ensuing shootout, Eckhardt is killed by Napier after which Batman suddenly appears. The two struggle, and Napier is accidentally knocked into a vat of chemical waste. Batman flees, and Napier is though to be dead.

Batman is in actuality billionaire industrialist Bruce Wayne, an orphan who lives in the large mansion Wayne Manor with his butler Alfred Pennyworth. Bruce later meets and falls for Vicki at a fundraiser, and the two begin a relationship. Napier is revealed to have survived the accident. Following a botched attempt to repair physical damage from exposure to chemical waste, Napier is horribly disfigured with chalk-white skin, emerald-green hair and a permanent ruby-red grin. Calling himself "the Joker", he kills Grissom and usurps his criminal empire, making the Axis plant his headquarters.

The Joker begins to spread terror in the city, first by lacing hygiene products with a deadly chemical known as "Smylex", which causes victims to laugh to death when used in certain combinations. The Joker then sets a trap at the Gotham Museum of Art for Vicki, and he and his henchmen vandalize the surrounding works of art. Batman arrives and rescues Vicki, and the pair escape in the Batmobile. Batman gives information about Smylex to Vicki so she can warn the city via Gotham newspapers about the poisoned products.

The Joker begins plans to eliminate Batman. After recalling The Joker earlier asking him "Have you ever danced with the devil by the pale moonlight?" and remembering hearing the same quote as a child, Bruce discovers that The Joker (as Napier) is also the man who murdered his parents. Vicki suddenly appears in the Batcave, having been let in by Alfred. After avouching himself to Vicki, Bruce—as Batman—leaves to destroy the Axis Chemical plant. Meanwhile, planning to use poison gas to murder citizens, The Joker lures the townspeople to a nighttime parade with a promise to give away $20 million in cash. Batman arrives on the scene and saves Gotham City from the attack, but The Joker kidnaps Vicki and takes her to the top of Gotham City's Cathedral.

Batman pursues the two, and at the top of the dusty edifice, the two adversaries confront each other in single combat. When The Joker attempts an escape via a helicopter, Batman secures The Joker's leg to a heavy stone sculpture, causing The Joker to fall from the helicopter and plummet to his doom. Following The Joker's death, Commissioner Gordon unveils the Bat-signal along with a note from Batman read by Harvey Dent, promising to defend Gotham whenever crime strikes again.

## Cast

* Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman
	+ Charles Roskilly as Young Bruce Wayne
* Jack Nicholson as Jack Nicholson/Joker
	+ Hugo E. Blick as Young Jack Napier
* Kim Basinger as Vicki Vale
* Robert Wuhl as Alexander Knox
* Pat Hingle as Commissioner James Gordon
* Billy Dee Williams as Harvey Dent
* Michael Gough as Alfred Pennyworth
* Jack Palance as Carl Grissom
* Jerry Hall as Alicia
* Tracey Walter as Bob Hawkins
* Lee Wallace as Mayor Borg
* William Hootkins as Lieutenant Max Eckhardt
* Richard Strange as Goon
* Carl Chase as Goon
* Mac McDonald as Goon
* George Lane Cooper as Lawrence
* Terence Plummer as Terence
* Philip Tan as Goon
* John Sterland as Accountant
* Edwin Craig as Antoine Rotelli
* Vincent Wong as Crimelord #1
* Joel Cutrara as Crimelord #2
* John Dair as Vinnie Ricorso
* Christopher Fairbank as Nic
* George Roth as Eddie
* Kate Harper as Anchorwoman
* Bruce McGuire as Anchorman
* Richard Durden as TV Director
* Kit Hollerbach as Becky
* Lachele Carl as TV Technician
* Del Baker as Napier Hood
* Jazzer Jeyes as Napier Hood
* Wayne Michaels as Napier Hood
* Valentino Musetti as Napier Hood
* Rocky Taylor as Napier Hood
* Keith Edwards as Reporter
* Leon Herbert as Reporter
* Steve Plytas as Doctor
* Anthony Wellington as Patrolman at Party
* Amir M. Korangy as Wine Steward
* Philip O'Brien as Maitre d'
* Michael Balfour as Scientist
* Liza Ross as Mom
* Garrick Hagon as Dad
* Adrian Meyers as Jimmy
* David Baxt as Thomas Wayne
* Sharon Holm as Martha Wayne
* Clyde Gatell as Other Mugger
* Jon Soresi as Medic
* Sam Douglas as Lawyer
* Elliott Stein as Man in Crowd
* Denis Lill as Bob the Cartoonist
* Paul Birchard as Another Reporter
* Paul Rothery as Cop

## Locations

* Earth
	+ Corto Maltese (photo)
	+ Japan (mentioned)
	+ United States of America (mentioned)
		- Gotham City
			* Axis Chemicals
			* Gotham Globe (building)
			* Gotham Square
				+ Monarch Theatre
				+ Flugelheim Museum
				+ Gotham City Hall
				+ Monarch Theater
				+ Old Gotham Cathedral
			* Joker's studio
			* Wayne Manor
				+ Batcave

## Items

* Bat-signal
* Batarang
* Batmobile
* Batsuit
* Batwing
* Bola launcher
* Grapple gun
* Smoke capsules
* Smylex

## Organizations

* *Action News*
* American Express (card)
* *Cosmo* (mentioned)
* *Gotham Globe*
* *Vogue* (mentioned)

## Production

In the late 1970s, Batman's popularity was waning. CBS was originally interested in producing a Batman film that is set in outer space, however the idea of this never came to light. Batman executive producers Benjamin Melniker and Michael E. Uslan purchased the film rights for Batman from DC Comics, on October 3, 1979. Uslan stated that he wants to make a "defined dark, serious version of Batman", the same way Bill Finger and Bob Kane described the character in 1939.

Many directors were approached for the film, such as *James Bond* director Guy Hamilton. Richard Maibaum was to write the film, unforutantly Michael Uslan was unstatsified with the script and began rewriting himself with a script titled "Return of The Batman" to give the film industry a better idea of his vision for the film.

On November 1979, producers Jon Peters and Peter Guber joined the project, demoting Uslan and Melniker to executive producers. The four felt it was best to pattern the film's development of 1978's Superman film that was directed by Richard Donner. The four producers pitched Batman to Universal Pictures but turned down the idea.

In July 1980, Warner Bros. Pictures announced at the comic art convention in New York, that they have agreed to distribute a Batman film. Tom Mankiewicz completed a script titled "*The Batman"*, which would of focused on Batman and Robin with Joker and Rupert Throne as the villians. *The Batman* was then announced in late 1983 for a mid-1985 release date on a budget of $20 million.

After the financial success of Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), Warner Bros decided to hire Tim Burton to direct Batman. Burton wasn't familier or a fan of comic-books at the time when he was hired, however Burton was impressed with stories such as "*Batman: The Killing Joke* and *The Dark Knight Returns*". Warner Bros enlisted Steve Englehart to rewrite a treatment for Burton's film, however Warner Bros was disstafied with how many characters were in the script.

Tim Burton eventually hired Sam Hamm to write a story treatment for Batman. Hamm was a comic-book fan at the time. Hamm decided not to write an origin story in his script but instead use flashbacks. Hamm felt that flashbacks would be more suitable to "unlocking the mystery" would become part of the story.

Ultimately Batman was finally given the greenlight to commence pre-production in April 1988, after the success of Burton's Beetlejuice (1988).

When comic book fans found out about Burton directing the film with Michael Keaton starring in the lead role, there was stress and controversy arose over the tone and direction *Batman* was going in. To combat the negative response, Sam Hamm enlisted help from Bob Kane to ensure fans that Batman was going to be a "Dark and serious film"

## External links

* Batman (1989 film) on Wikipedia
* Batman (1989) on IMDb