The biggest hurdle the movie has faced in recent years is how little regard it shows for the comics. Only in his earliest 1930s comic book incarnation did Batman kill. In fact, for most of the characters existence, his strict non-killing policy was crucial to his personality. However, in this movie, Batman kills without hesitation countless times. Alfred, the superheros trusted confidant for decades in the comics, openly betrays Bruces trust in the film by letting Vicki into the Batcave. Probably the most problematic change for fans is the twist that it was the Joker, as a young Jack Napier, who killed Bruces parents and thereby inadvertently created Batman.
Hence, another reason why this is more Burtons fairy tale than a comic book adaptation. While the duality of Batman and Jokers relationship is brilliantly explored in Nolans The Dark Knight, it has never been more symbiotic than in this film. In the comics and more recent movies, Batmans order needs Jokers chaos. But for Burton, it is good and evil co-existing because they literally make and remake each other out of necessity.
Napier created the only singular force that would one day stop him like a bratty child wanting to be punished. Batman created an adversary to justify his extreme existence. It is a causality dilemma, like the chicken and the egg, wrapped up in comic book drag. Its so elegantly realized, this writer still wishes the filmmakers knew better than to kill the Joker at the end. Even so, the Batman mythology of the comics allowed Burton to explore what interested him about the character in a broader sense. If Batman was originally created to be a symbol for good, the director created a world where such an unsubtle figure could not only exist, but also seem commonplace.
Batman still works today because it is not an action flick of its time. Instead, it soars as a timeless tale of the age-old battle redecorated with pop culture icons. Characters in the film dress not only as people from the 1980s, but also from the 30s, 40s, and 50s. Almost all the cars are at least ten years old in the movie. It exists in a murky Never Never Land where Batman and Joker can do battle for eternity in our imaginations. Even now, they battle there and its still bloody entertaining.
t: thanks.
