Batman '89: Scene by Scene

[Homer J. Fong]

[post=16757552]Scenes 1-2[/post]
[post=16774877]Scene 3[/post]
[post=16786822]Scene 4[/post]
[post=16805161]Scene 5[/post]
[post=16819146]Scene 6[/post]
[post=16837625]Scene 7[/post]
[post=16858861]Scene 8[/post]
[post=16874718]Scene 9[/post]
[post=16889615]Scene 10[/post]
[post=16913794]Scene 11[/post]
[post=16947524]Scene 12[/post]
[post=16960440]Scene 13[/post]
[post=16979431]Scene 14[/post]
[post=17864175]Scenes 15-17[/post]
[post=17873785]Scenes 18-20[/post]
[post=18643811]Scenes 21-23[/post]
[post=18648401]Scenes 24-26[/post]
[post=18672197]Scenes 27-29[/post]
[post=18676267]Scene 30[/post]
[post=18681297]Scenes 31-33[/post]
[post=18690213]Scenes 34-36[/post]
[post=18691701]Scenes 37-38[/post]

So I figured it was time to review Burton's Batman in a different way: one scene at a time. I think this'll be a fun way to look at the movie (hell, it might even work a little better this way; it doesn't have the greatest plot flow after all), and if it works, we'll do the same for Returns and Forever...probably not that other one, though. I'll move onto the next chapter every 2 or 3 days. So take out those DVDs or BDs, we'll start with scenes 1 and 2, 'cause scene 1 is just the main titles.

1. Credits

(Running time: 0:00:00 - 0:02:32)

Spoiler

2."I'm Batman."

(Running time: 0:02:33 - 0:07:01)

Spoiler

Love him or hate him, you've gotta admit Tim Burton knows how to set a mood very quickly and efficiently, and that's really on display here - actually, the same should be said for Danny Elfman and Anton Furst. Elfman's Batman Suite goes from somber to heroic, brooding to thrilling, without missing a beat. And the very first images of Burton and Furst's Gotham City - overcrowded, dismal, decaying - are striking ones. For me, the Gotham of Batman and Batman Returns sometimes feels so seedy and corrupt that you wonder why Batman bothers to try to save it at all, and that starts here.

Now, onto Michael Keaton's debut as The Batman. I love Christian Bale, I think he's done a tremendous job in Nolan's films, but I would put Keaton just barely ahead of him; I think Mike had just a little more menace and mystique about him. Mystique's definitely the right word here - Batman lowers himself down behind the thugs, he slowly spreads his wings, he takes a few bullets and slumps down to the ground and then calmly walks back up and strides forward, he makes a quick getaway into the shadows, these are parlor tricks, it's classic stuff. Burton and Nolan both first showed us "the Bat" from the criminal's point of view, but in two very different ways, and both work very well.

(Incidentally, whenever I see the WB logo from this era, I half expect the sky behind it to go black.)

 

[The Sarge]

Great idea.
I like the review so far.
*I'll add that the credit sequence s pretty awesome. Also, I love the parallels between the family at the beginning and batman's origins.

 

[JohnnyGobbs]

Great idea for a thread Homer.

 

[Sawyer]

Great idea.

Anyway, I love Anton Furst's Gotham designs. Its always looked so fantastic to me.

 

[david icke]

It wasn't until a couple of years ago that I realized this scene must've been aping Batman's 1st appearance in the comics, up on the rooftop with two thugs. They turn around to see him standing behind them just like this. Except in the comics it was during daytime.
Great scene, this and and the scene with the Batmobile returning to the Bat-cave are my two fav scenes out of the Burton movies. I prefer Bale but think Keaton's 'I'm Batman.' moment is better.
They guy who plays the thug he holds over the egde is an English actor most famous in the UK for playing a working classs builder in the tv show 'Auf Weidersen Pet', in real life he has a very well spoken upper class English accent, good actor.

Surprised no-one has done a thread like this before, good one.

 

[Homer J. Fong]

They guy who plays the thug he holds over the egde is an English actor most famous in the UK for playing a working classs builder in the tv show 'Auf Weidersen Pet', in real life he has a very well spoken upper class English accent, good actor.

Huh, I didn't know that. The movie was shot in London, though, so it's not surprising they'd use local actors in that sort of role.

 

[JohnnyGobbs]

1. CREDITS
This film hits the ground running with undoubtedly the finest comic-book score yet. It's a beautifully bombastic, atmospheric piece of music which immediately creates a sense of tension and foreboding. This is accompanied by a truly inspired credit sequence, in which the camera roves through the entire Bat-symbol, perhaps the comic's ultimate iconography, as if it were the interior of a labyrinthine skyscraper a full decade before David Fincher utilised his space-defying photogrametry technique in Fight Club.

2. "I'm Batman"
I love our first shot of Gotham City. Even without the caption it is clear that this, unlike Nolan's 'any town' location based setting, couldn't be anywhere else on Earth, real or imagined. Batman 89's Gotham is a rank, malign distillation of all that was corrupt and sordid about 1980s big city America, where even adult-accompanied children are solicited by street-walkers. The contrast with Return's oppressive, Fascistic yet noticeably cleaner and apparently more sedate Gotham is striking; this is a city before the emergence of Batman and still under the figurative thumb of Carl Grissom's crime-syndicate.

One of the reasons I love this film is its lack of presumption. Burton and Sam Hamm set up this film with as much consideration of those members of the audience who have no knowledge of the character, as much as the comic-book fans. Batman '89 purposefully delays Bruce Wayne's entrance, and the 'revelation' that he is in fact Batman until the middle of the first act by which point the entire supporting cast have been introduced. The filmmakers introduce another canny piece of 'misdirection' for those audience members who are slightly more acquainted with the character. Is the family that we watch leaving the Monarch Theatre the Waynes? Is the mugging that follows the pivotal moment in Bruce's childhood, where he essentially 'becomes' Batman?

The sinister yet iconic silhouette we see in the next shot put those questions to rest, just as moments later Keaton effectively silences those who doubted that a relatively short, balding erstwhile comedian couldn't essay the role of Batman without falling over his cape. When he utters the chilling words "I'm Batman" to a petrified low-life we're completely sold on Burton's vision irrespective of our prior fears regarding his fidelity to the source material.

Additional comments:

- Is that a Prince song that can be heard playing from a stereo during the moment when the unfortunate family exit the Monarch Theatre?

- As 'David Icke' has pointed out, the actor who initiates the mugging of the family is probably better known as Mox, the scouse builder in 'Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'. Christopher Fairbank was also in Alien 3 and tends to often play low-lifes on Brit TV. I didn't realise he was posh in real life. That's pretty funny, but it wouldn't surprise me since a lot of actors who appear as cockneys or scousers in 'The Bill' etc. are probably RSC trained.

- I love the name 'Johnny Gobbs' which is why I've adopted it as my moniker. The name just oozes 'low-life seediness'. Obviously, he had it coming...t:

- Batman '89 features my favourite Bat suit. I prefer this organic-looking body armour (which the goons later mistake for Batman's skin) to the art-deco inspired suit in Batman Returns, not to mention the over-stylised bling bodysuits of the Schumacher films. Admittedly, it's probably not as functional as the costume in Nolan's films, but like their different takes on the Batmobile this underscores Burton and Nolan's contrasting but equally valid emphasis on an aesthetically pleasing world and a credible one respectively.

- Just one small issue that bothered me. Why did poor Eddie get the lion's share of the 'ass-whopping' by Batman? He gets immediately knocked unconscious having been kicked through a door, even though he essentially did nothing to the family. The actual mugger Nic on the other hand is merely threatened (although admittedly, he is probably mentally scarred for life).

In the meantime, I'm looking forward to your next analysis Homer. It would be a great achievement to get through to a scene-by-scene discussion of Returns.

 

[Homer J. Fong]

Great post, JohnnyGobbs (I've always loved that name too).

Batman 89's Gotham is a rank, malign distillation of all that was corrupt and sordid about 1980s big city America, where even adult-accompanied children are solicited by street-walkers. The contrast with Return's oppressive, Fascistic yet noticeably cleaner and apparently more sedate Gotham is striking; this is a city before the emergence of Batman and still under the figurative thumb of Carl Grissom's crime-syndicate.

That's a good point. It makes me wonder again how much time elapses in between this film and Returns.

Is that a Prince song that can be heard playing from a stereo during the moment when the unfortunate family exit the Monarch Theatre?

Yep, that's our first Prince song, "The Future". I'll get to those later.

Batman '89 features my favorite Bat suit. I prefer this organic-looking body armour (which the goons later mistake for Batman's skin) to the art-deco inspired suit in Batman Returns, not to mention the over-stylised bling bodysuits of the Schumacher films

Yeah, it's probably mine as well. I like that it's a lot less polished, tougher, and it gives off more of that 'creature of the night' vibe to me. Obviously, it's not the most flexible, but it's still effective.

It would be a great achievement to get through to a scene-by-scene discussion of Returns.

Heh, well, that'll be interesting, we'll see.

And Keaton's Batman voice - particularly his "I'm Batman" delivery - is pitch-perfect throughout both of his movies. It never seems like he's putting on "raspy dark superhero voice", it just feels like it's, I don't know, emanating from him.

 

[CFE]

One of the best comic book movie openings ever. It's so simple and, by extension, so effective. Within this period the entire mood of the picture is established. I prefer it that way then having to laboreously carry on through the origin.

Not that there's anything wrong with an origin (certainly not), but I much prefer hitting the ground running like this.

 

[Homer J. Fong]

3. Looking Fine

(Running time: 0:07:02 - 0:09:24)

Spoiler

Several characters being introduced here: Mayor Borg, Harvey Dent, Commissioner Gordon, Jack Napier, Alicia, crimelord Carl Grissom through some effective expositional dialogue, Bruce Wayne via empty seat and placecard (interesting touch)...and of course the unforgettable character of D.A. Alday. Actually, I think, as much as he tries to avoid it (especially in Returns), Burton conveys all the needed exposition very well here - who Grissom, Jack, and Dent are, that Jack is sleeping with Grissom's girl, Jack's vanity and sense of style, it's well-crafted.

Now, about Billy Dee Williams as new District Attorney Harvey Dent, that's another choice in casting that I never would have considered, but seems simply perfect. He carries the right confidence and promise about him; that poster, that speech, it's so...um, hopeful. (I'd believe in this Harvey Dent.) Not that I think Burton was really laying the foundation for his split into Two-Face, but he makes it clear in his DVD commentary that he had some consideration of where it could go. It's really disappointing Billy D. didn't get to reprise and expand his role.

Of course, Nicholson gets off to a pretty good start here too. We're just scratching the surface of Jack Napier's cruelty ("If this clown could touch Grissom, I'd've handed him his lungs by now") and arroganc ("You look fine" "I didn't ask"). So not an exciting scene, but one that does its job well.

(By the way, seeing Nicholson's name above Keaton's in the credits does irritate me every time, but hey, it was 1989, he was Jack Nicholson, and that paycheck was nothing to scoff at.)

 

[JohnnyGobbs]

Once again Homer, you've added a great post. Anyway, here's my take on the scene. I apologise for its length.

3. Looking Fine
Although this film has been generally well praised over the years, one aspect that always been undervalued (even by the filmmakers themselves) is the film's highly economic and excellently set-up screenplay. It's very easy to forget that Sam Hamm apparently rushed his final draft in order to avoid an imminent Hollywood screenwriter's strike in 1988. In fact the first third of the film, taking in Grissom betrayal of Jack, the birth of the 'Joker' and his subsequent revenge on Grissom along with his appropriation of the gangster rackets, is as smooth a piece of expository writing as anything that has come out of Hollywood and the dialogue, particularly Jack's rivals 'Casablanca' for sheer quotability. I don't think it's an overstatement to cite Hollywood's Golden Era in honouring Batman '89's screenplay since the 'Napier/Grissom' subplot is essentially an update of a 1930s Warner Bros gangster flick. One could quite easily imagine James Cagney as a maniacal Jack Napier, and George Raft as his silky yet devious boss in a 1939 version of the film, without much deviation from Hamm's story.

Of course, this scene begins with our first introduction to the face of Gotham's law and order, Mayor Borg, Commissioner James Gordon and newly elected DA Harvey Dent. Although neither the late Pat Hingle nor Billy Dee Williams, bear a striking resemblance to the comic-books' versions of the last two characters they nevertheless, perfectly capture the tone of Gordon and Dent respectively. Hingle provides a genuinely warm, paternalistic take on Gordon (just watch the fatherly way in which he interacts with his rank and file officers in later scenes) which strikes me as an amalgamation of the 60s TV version of Comm. Gordon and Chief O'Hara. It's a pity that as the series progressed his dignified, smart Gordon was increasingly marginalised, almost as if Batman had officially usurped his official role as Gotham's chief law enforcer. Unfortunately, Dee Williams was not even given the opportunity to replicate his charismatic performance as Dent in further films. Like Keaton and Hingle, Dee Williams may not have been the most obvious physical choice for his comic-book character, but this is not a role defined by race and the actor is practically perfect for portraying a handsome, charming yet slightly roguish D.A.; and on the basis of his performance in The Empire Strikes Back alone it would have been easy to imagine a sequel allowing him to play Dent's more ambivalent side. Judging by his appearance on the Batman '89 DVD documentary Dee Williams appears understandably resentful that he was not able to resume this role, and it seems safe to say that his interpretation of Two-Face would have been a lot subtler and less of a carbon-copy of The Joker than Tommy Lee Jones' portrayal.

The following sequence is a perfect demonstration of the efficient, short-hand use of visual storytelling Burton and Hamm employ throughout the movie. The oversized modeling shots and the opulent yet charmless decor that adorn Alicia Hunt's apartment tells us practically everything we need to know about this beautiful but exceedingly vain and amoral gangster's moll whose affair with Jack Napier will set in motion the events that govern his transformation; and Jerry Hall is highly effective in sending up the shallow ethos that defined the 1980s. Nicholson is simply magnificent as the rasping, contemptuous Napier in these early scenes; so much so that by the time he emerges from the chemical vat as 'The Joker' the audience is in complete thrall to his larger-than-life performance irrespective of whether or not his doughy, middle-aged physique matches the wiry, almost emaciated Joker of the comics. When we first see Napier he is using a picture of Alicia's face on the cover of Vogue as a foot-rest, a sign of his utter disdain for even his most devoted companions. This seems to forshadow not only the way he will later treat Alicia, but also his only true friend, Bob. His demeanour is of a vain, self-regarding man who cares for no one but himself, and yet this scene also illustrates that this carelessness may also have affacted the sloppy way in which he fails to cover up his affair from Grissom. It seems that only after Jack is later 'reborn' as 'The Joker' does he regain the sharp killer instinct that he appears to have possessed as a young hood.

Additional comments:

- As earlier stated, Batman '89 begins as a traditional gangster film and seems to have pre-empted a revived trend for the genre the following year with movies that include Dick Tracy, Goodfellas, The Godfather Part III and Miller's Crossing.

- Lee Wallace (Mayor Borg) played an even less effectual mayor of New York in the original and classic The Taking of Pelham 123. Wallace also bears a striking resemblance to real-life 1980s mayor of New York, Edward Koch and one can't help thinking that the filmmakers must have considered this as part of their casting.

- I love the irony of Bruce Wayne's absent seat at the public conference. Whilst the elected officials drone on about how they will go about combating crime, Wayne is actually in the process of doing the things they're talking about.

- Choice Dialogue: "Decent people shouldn't live here. They'd be happier somewhere else." - Napier's callous yet arguably astute observation. Bearing in mind the way Gotham's citizens lose their collective heads over the money Jack later deposits in the city centre, he may have a point.

 

[CFE]

Is that a Prince song that can be heard playing from a stereo during the moment when the unfortunate family exit the Monarch Theatre?

Yes..."The Future;" the first track off of Prince's conceptual album for the film.

"The Future," "Vicki Waiting," "Electric Chair," "Partyman," "Trust" and "Scandalous" are all featured in the film.

 

[Homer J. Fong]

I agree with nearly everything you said, JohnnyGobbs, but a few specific points:

the dialogue, particularly Jack's rivals 'Casablanca' for sheer quotability. I don't think it's an overstatement to cite Hollywood's Golden Era in honouring Batman '89's screenplay since the 'Napier/Grissom' subplot is essentially an update of a 1930s Warner Bros gangster flick. One could quite easily imagine James Cagney as a maniacal Jack Napier, and George Raft as his silky yet devious boss in a 1939 version of the film, without much deviation from Hamm's story.

High praise indeed, and I agree a lot of the time, although there is some awkward dialogue that I'll reserve my venting about for later. And you're right, the tone being that of the first-year comics and that heavily noir-infused style makes it very easy (fun too) to imagine the likes of Cagney and Raft working this material. Doesn't it just make you wish a major WB picture had been made in '43 instead of the Columbia serial?

Like Keaton and Hingle, Dee Williams may not have been the most obvious physical choice for his comic-book character, but this is not a role defined by race, and the actor is practically perfect for portraying a handsome, charming yet slightly roguish D.A.; and on the basis of his performance in The Empire Strikes Back alone it would have been easy to imagine a sequel allowing him to play Dent's more ambivalent side.

Perfectly put. I feel like Burton and Williams definitely would've given us an empathetic, tragic Two-Face. But it's Hollywood, and we did get to see the character done justice eventually, so ah well...

As earlier stated, Batman '89 begins as a traditional gangster film and seems to have pre-empted a revived trend for the genre the following year with movies that include Dick Tracy, Goodfellas, The Godfather Part III, and Miller's Crossing

Interesting, that's not a point I'd considered.

Wallace also bears a striking resemblance to real-life 1980s mayor of New York, Edward Koch and one can't help thinking that the filmmakers must have considered this as part of their casting.

Oh, no doubt. Actually, isn't there a point on the DVD's documentaries/featurettes where the Borg/Koch - Dent/Dinkins resemblances are brought up?

 

[JohnnyGobbs]

Originally posted by Homer J. Fong
High praise indeed, and I agree a lot of the time, although there is some awkward dialogue that I'll reserve my venting about for later. And you're right, the tone being that of the first-year comics and that heavily noir-infused style makes it very easy (fun too) to imagine the likes of Cagney and Raft working this material. Doesn't it just make you wish a major WB picture had been made in '43 instead of the Columbia serial?

Perhaps I was in a little over-zealous in my praise, although I do hope you don't think I was suggesting that Batman '89 is as brilliant a film as Casablanca (in my and many people's opinion one of the finest films ever made). However, I do stick by my view that much of Batman '89's dialogue is just as memorable, especially when delivered by the likes of Nicholson and Palance. Nevertheless, I look forward to reading some of your criticisms of the film. I am by no means a completely uncritical fan of Burton's Batman films myself (as much as I love them both).

Following on from my comments I've started a new thread on the 'Bat-World' sub-forum regarding a fantasy cast for a 1940s Batman series. I'd really like to read the views of the posters on this forum as to who they might have cast in any given era.

Oh, no doubt. Actually, isn't there a point on the DVD's documentaries/featurettes where the Borg/Koch - Dent/Dinkins resemblances are brought up?

Cool! I didn't know that. Perhaps I need to rewatch the extra features on the DVD. I'd read a piece in which the co-writer of Batman Returns, Wesley Strick cited the similarity between Borg and Mayor Koch but I hadn't read or heard it mentioned elsewhere (although like you say Homer, it does seem pretty obvious). I hadn't even thought of the Dinkins/Dent comparison, but now you've raised it also seems pretty obvious.

 

[Homer J. Fong]

Perhaps I was in a little over-zealous in my praise, although I do hope you don't think I was suggesting that Batman '89 is as brilliant a film as Casablanca (in my and many people's opinion one of the finest films ever made).

Oh no, I knew what you meant.

Following on from my comments I've started a new thread on the 'Bat-World' sub-forum regarding a fantasy cast for a 1940s Batman series. I'd really like to read the views of the posters on this forum as to who they might have cast in any given era.

That's interesting, I'll give that some more thought before I post.

Cool! I didn't know that. Perhaps I need to rewatch the extra features on the DVD

Well, uh, don't hold me to it, I'm not positive that's where it was. But I have heard mention of those likenesses.

"The Future," "Vicki Waiting," "Electric Chair," "Partyman," "Trust" and "Scandalous" are all featured in the film.

Where are "Vicki Waiting" and "Electric Chair?" Because I don't remember those offhand. Is one of them playing at the Wayne Manor party?

 

[Batnam]

They are not in the movie. They are on the Prince soundtrack to the movie. Great album. So is the Danny Elfman soundtrack.

 

[CFE]

Where are "Vicki Waiting" and "Electric Chair?" Because I don't remember those offhand. Is one of them playing at the Wayne Manor party?

That's exactly where both of them are, very good.

"Vicki Waiting" plays in the BG at the beginning of the party scene. It's faint but it's there and it's without lyrics, but you can clearly hear the melody. The moment where you can best hear it is when Knox is paying Alfred for his champagne.

And at that moment when Bruce takes the sip of champagne while he's watching Vicki converse with the Mayor...the pumping opening drums from "Electric Chair" kick in and we hear that great guitar riff as we move across the Craps table to seeing Gordon trying his hand and Knox moving in for an interview.

The only songs from the conceptual album not featured in the movie are "Arms of Orion," "Lemon Crush" and "Batdance."

 

[Batnam]

I have just been trumped. CFE you rock!

 

[Homer J. Fong]

CFE, now that you mention it, I do recall hearing those strains of "Vicki Waiting," but not "Electric Chair." I'll keep an ear open when we get to that scene.

4. "Better Be Sure"

(Running time: 0:09:25 - 0:12:19)

Spoiler

A couple more introductions here in Alexander Knox and Lt. Eckhardt. Robert Wuhl, to me, makes a great first impression - just obnoxious enough and still likeable. He's effective comic relief. ("Lt., is there a six-foot bat in Gotham City? And if so, is he on the police payroll? And if so, what's he pulling down, after taxes?" Pretty funny stuff, and a solid trailer line incidentally.) William Hootkins (who was also the ill-fated Porkins in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope) is great as the grizzled, sleazy, not-so-much-crooked-as-outright-bent Eckhardt. I would say out of all of the characters this is the one that feels most like they stepped out of the pulpiest of '40s film noir pictures.

Now, this is also where we get our first interaction between Eckhardt and Jack, and I take issue with a couple of lines of dialogue here: the first is "I deal with Grissom, not psychos," and the second "you an A-1 nut boy, Jack!" First off, the latter is so cheesy (for lack of a better word) that it just seems awkward. And both are, I think, cases of telling without showing. Sure, I can believe that Jack is the psycho Eckhardt says he is, because Hootkins sells the lines and Jack is Jack, but we haven't seen that yet. We've seen hints of arrogance and viciousness, but not really psychosis. Maybe I'm just nitpicking, but...well, I'm okay with that.

And in the end Eckhardt gets the ball rolling Jack's "rebirth" with the very foreboding words "Where you been spending your nights?" Hmmm...

 

[JohnnyGobbs]

4. Better Be Sure

This is yet another scene that demonstrates Anton Furst's fantastic art direction, in this case the seedy, sordid underbelly of Gotham City. Although Burton's vision of Gotham is set in a hyper-real world that bears no specific resemblance to any actual city (as opposed to Nolan's relatively realistic Chicago-set Gotham), he and Furst nevertheless, present an entirely credible setting. Discrete details like the kosher butcher shop and the neon sign advertising a 'live show' that can be spotted during Eckhart's meeting with Jack, both of which appear in this scene contribute to the believable, lived-in atmosphere we are presented with.

Having been introduced to various comic-adapted characters in the previous sequences, this scene provides the audience with its first glimpse of some of the film's most significant new creations, Lieutenant Eckhart, Alexander Knox and the mononymous 'Bob'.

The corpulent, sleazy Lieutenant Eckhart (played by William Hootkins, who as Homer pointed out was the doomed Porkins in Star Wars, as well as the officious Major Eaton in Raiders of the Lost Ark) has often been compared to Harvey Bullock; prior to his current gruff yet relatively benign incarnation, Bullock was portrayed as a rather mean-spirited, genuinely crooked cop. However, Eckhart's closer comic-book counterpart is arguably Commissioner Gordon's former partner, Arnold Flass who also had several dealings with Gotham's mob bosses, and like Eckhart seems to personify the endemic corruption within the city's police department. Although it is clear from the novelization that Eckhart is one of various cops under investigation as the story commences, this plot strand is somewhat vague in the movie. Nevertheless, it is clear from the later Axis Chemical scene that there is no love lost between Eckhart and Commissioner Gordon.

I've read various opinions regarding the presence of Alexander Knox, many of which seem affronted by the inclusion of such a significant comic-relief character in a Batman movie, especially one who is not a part of the comic mythology. However, I have to say that I'm a massive fan of Knox. As an observer of the film's events, he is essentially the audience's representative. Knox is neither a member of Gotham's law enforcement team, nor its criminal fraternity, and unlike the glamorous Vicki Vale, he is a complete fish-out-of-water at Bruce Wayne's high-society party. In fact, the likeable, yet brash, badly-dressed and openly neurotic Knox is practically the shy, evasive yet suave Bruce Wayne's opposite, and there is almost a screwball element to the tentative love triangle between Wayne, Vale and Knox that is akin to His Girl Friday (except in this version, the 'stiff' gets the girl). Consequently, Knox's amiable, easy-to-identify-with presence is one of the few elements sorely lacking from the relatively colder Batman Returns.

We are also introduced to Jack Napier's loyal henchman Bob, played by Tracy Walter. Although I'm not usually keen on comic henchmen, since they have the potential to detract from the main villain's overall threat Bob manages to stay the right side of annoying, and there is a genuine spark to Jack Napier/The Joker and Bob's camaraderie that is a joy to watch (and can be attributed to Nicholson and Walter's off-screen friendship).

Finally and with respect to Homer's previous comments regarding the dialogue in this scene, I have to state that I enjoy the exchange between Jack and Eckhart. Although it works better in retrospect once the film has established that Jack is indeed an 'A-1 nut-boy' (and this is surely a film that demands repeated viewings anyway), Eckhart's contemptuous invective handily establishes that there is pre-existent relationship between him and Jack. In turn this has the effect of enhancing the audience's belief that these characters exist beyond the handful of scenes we see them in. Eckhart's final line in this scene, "Where have you been spending your nights...?" also suggest that it is he who has been tipping Grissom off about Jack's affair with Alicia, further developing the intrigue and in-fighting between these criminal characters that ultimately triggers the film's plot.

Additional Comments:

- Gotta love Dwayne, the cop who tips Knox off. Also, I love the expression whatever the paramedic gives Eckhart after the cop suggests that Nic and Eddie's injuries were merely the result of 'drinking Drano'.

- Choice Dialogue: "I say you're full of s**t Knox...and you can quote me on that."

 

[Homer J. Fong]

I can't believe I overlooked Bob. (I mean, he had an action figure!) I need a time-out.

Anyway, I want to mention Roger Pratt's cinematography here. Burton, Furst, and Elfman tend to receive the lion's share of the credit for setting this film's atmosphere and striking sense of place, and they're deserving of course, but Pratt is one of the great directors of photography in the business, and he demonstrates why here. This is a movie that's so much more at home in the seediest back alleys and darkest shadows, where creatures like The Batman and The Joker can wage their war. It's like a lower-key version of the expressionism that Batman Returns would really let loose with.

JohnnyGobbs, I do enjoy the dialogue between Jack and Eckhardt, the way it builds their tension and hostility, but the fact that we haven't exactly seen the 'A1 nutboy' side yet kind of makes me feel like there's a moment missing.

 

[Cain]

Brilliantly creative thread it helps that you guys have done a wonderful job with the commentary thus far

 

[dude stannis]

Great thread Homer. Really digging your review.

 

[Homer J. Fong]

5. Knox Meets Vale

(Running time: 0:12:20 - 0:14:39)

Spoiler

I've got a great idea for a coffeetable book: The Ineffectual Mayors of Gotham City. Or does that sound more like a calendar?

I'm not revealing anything startling by saying that Mayor Borg, noble as his promises of a clean and safe Gotham are, has nothing on his mind but bicentennial floats and Happy Birthday banners. It's telling that after this film - where we have Dent and Gordon as apparently the last honest crimefighters in the city who don't wear masks - Batman works single-handedly in his war on crime (well, there's Robin and...ugh, Batgirl too of course). The police seem to collectively become either lazy or incompetent after Batman presents them with his signal.

Moving onto the newsroom of The Gotham Globe, in the great underdog tradition, if you meet Alexander Knox, you have to tell him what a crackpot he is - I mean, there couldn't be a six-foot bat running around town giving muggers mental and physical scars, right? Of course we the audience know the truth, so having Knox blow off the mocking cartoonist with a simple "What a dick" is actually endearing and funny. (And having Bob Kane draw the above image was a hilarious touch; it would've been even better if he'd played the cartoonist.)

And here's Kim Basinger ("hello, legs") as Vicki Vale, and I actually think this is her best scene in the movie. First off, to me she's never looked better. Also, she seems to have more personality here than in the rest of the film; the way she plays the line "I like...bats" and takes that pause, it's almost sexual, and she does come off as a credible photojournalist who genuinely believes in this bat story. She and Robert Wuhl have a good rapport throughout too (the scene is called Knox Meets Vale after all).

 

[CFE]

Yeah, Kane had plans to cameo as the cartoonist...but he became ill and couldn't shoot. He also apparently has a cameo in "Batman Forever" as a guest at the Nygmatech party, dancing with wife Elizabeth Sanders (who plays Gossip Gerty in the Schumacher films) but was constantly upstaged by extras...I've never been able to make him out in any shot, but he made mention of it in a 1995 interview.