Brew Views: Batman

A brighter bat.

BATMAN

In a post-Dark Knight world, it seems laughable that Tim Burton's 1989 Batman—with its Prince soundtrack, delightfully hammy Jack Nicholson performance and lack of horribly disfiguring facial burns—was panned for being "too dark" at the time of its release. Of course, we would later learn what a "lighter" Batman looks like, and that is Arnold Schwarzenegger smeared in silver glitter, shouting, "Let's kick some ice!" So these things are all about perspective. But equally, now that Christopher Nolan has finally done the comics justice on the big screen, fans can stop grousing about how wrong Burton got the sacred story of an adult man who dresses like a bat and just enjoy it as the charming relic of a bygone era. The scrawny, comedy actor Michael Keaton in the title role, the vapid Kim Basinger kicking absolutely no ass, the refreshing lack of CGI and a 16-bit video game tie-in for the Commodore Amiga: This was a simpler Bat-time.

  1. Showing at: Laurelhurst.
  2. Best paired with: Sierra Nevada Porter.
  3. Also showing: Argo (Academy).

WWeek 2015

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