The film that taught me "C'mon you gruesome son of a b****, come to me!" in kindergarten, and obviously caused multiple parent-teacher conferences.

There's no doubt that Tim Burton's "Batman" gave a whole new dignity to the character, and that all subsequent incarnations owe something to this film. But, at the same time, we can't really say it aged well. It was one of the first attempts to create something between a comic strip and something a little gloomier, but the writing is all over the place, and the direction is so clunky it hurts. While it’s definitely a must-watch if you are looking into the history of the character, I doubt it will have anything to offer to casual viewers.

However, the trench coat and wide-brimmed hat film noir atmosphere is perfect for Gotham City. In retrospect, it may lead you to believe that the clumsy staging and stiff acting were intended to channel the classic film noir vibes. Kim Basinger could have been the femme fatale, but other than crossing her legs in her first scene, she is the average superhero flick damsel in distress who yells and falls from various buildings.

Jack Nicholson's performance is the most confident, and he is indeed carrying the whole film. There are times he ends up being as campy as the Joker from Adam West TV show, but he is not the only one to blame. His performance works when Burton had managed to build tension around his character, but especially in the second half, he ends up being as quirky as he is harmless. His motivations are unclear, but that’s part of his anarchic and chaotic charm. In the end, it all resolves into a bizarre love triangle between him, Batman, and Vale.

The Caped Crusader is quite absent, and it’s clear that Burton didn’t care much about the original character. The fact that he purposedly kills already says it all. However, I liked how clumsy and out of place Bruce Waye feels while acting like a billionaire playboy. Burton suggests that Batman is just as much of a freak as Joker is, and the fact that the two characters caused the birth of each other’s second identities is not a coincidence. A concept that Burton was probably planning to expand in further movies, but that in this case gets only roughly sketched.

While Elfman’s score is still regarded as the best and most representative in the franchise, Prince’s original songs are atrocious…