"Batman" to this day remains one of my favorite superhero to screen adaptations. Part of that comes from the comics being among my favorites to read. I’ve been fascinated with Batman for a long time even to the point of writing a highly-praised college term paper comparing his world to Greek mythology.

Tim Burton and his crew managed to capture much of what I most enjoy about the character. Bruce Wayne deals with death by staring it in the eye every night and stopping it wherever he can. Other heroes do that to some extent, but with a character as powerful as the Hulk or Superman the challenges are generally harder to relate to. Batman can’t throw cars, leap over buildings, or stop a train with his hands -- his primary weapons are his intelligence and training sometimes to the point of being portrayed as a Sherlock Holmes type character.

The mystery stories were always my favorites when reading the books. The movie doesn’t have that much mystery, but it does portray Batman’s detective skills and has the dark, gothic atmosphere inspired by the detective’s late-night investigations. It also deals with the character nicely.

Say what you will about Michael Keaton, but he captured the essence of Batman with a dose of realism. Batman is intense, precise, and brilliant. However, he’s obsessed, and an obsessed man is bound to have some drawbacks in his life. As Bruce he’s a bit absent-minded. It’s difficult for him to say what he wants to say, and he definitely needs Alfred’s help to put on the air of the socialite his cover requires him to be. To an unsuspecting looker-on he might seem to be a careless playboy, but we know he’s got bigger things on his mind.

While I enjoy the animated Bruce who is the consummate businessman and who can add oration to his list of skills, this movie version gives us a Bruce that is not flawless yet still very much super-heroic. Keaton also gives us a Batman who has the intensity but not necessarily the physicality to be imposing. His costume is an important part of his equation to psyche out his opponents, calculated to be recognizable and fearsome. The costume is designed to make up for what he would otherwise lack in his ability to intimidate his adversaries.

The Joker… an insane prankster clown. Sounds pretty lame doesn’t it? He has no powers, he’s got a permanent grin, and his face is greasepaint white. I mean are they serious? Yet he is one of the most fearsome villains ever. Strange villains are a dime a dozen so what makes him so much better? For one thing he’s not putting on a clown costume to be the Joker, he’s actually disfigured. He’s not driven by greed or the desire to blow up the world, he’s a true sociopath. He’s looking for amusement, and his lethal pranks are fun for him. He’s Batman’s nemesis because of his brilliance, warped though it might be.

Two-Face, Riddler, and others can be dangerous but are to some degree predictable. Figure out the Riddler’s puzzle, exploit Harvey’s duality, smack the Penguin. Joker is more dangerous than any of the others. With the possible exception of Harley (and what evil clown wouldn’t want the likes of HER around??? Maybe in a future movie…) he might at any time have an exploding whoopee cushion or joy buzzer of death waiting for the next guy that says something he doesn’t like.

In addition to Joker being a great villain, I enjoy the ferocity with which Nicholson plays the part. Seeing the betrayal that leads to his transformation and the believable (from a characterization standpoint at least) roots of his insanity adds a layer on which Nicholson is able to build a disturbing intelligence and disdain for normalcy. The depths of his dark humor are frightening. "The Killing Joke" has long been one of my favorite Batman stories. I quickly saw the similarities between it and the movie. It was only recently that I learned that this, more than any other single story, directly influenced the movie. There’s a dark humor there as well as an attention to characters that sets "Batman" apart from standard action or super-hero movies.

The costume and props have gone through many redesigns over the years. It’s no surprise that the movie would want its own style. This costume is rubber with the practical use of body armor. The car is low to the ground and sharp. Years later it's still one of the best designs ever. There’s a gothic look to everything which seems to be what Batman would want. It doesn't quite have all the practical technology of the Dark Knight movies, but it's much more than a costume for the sake of a costume.

The story is in some ways exactly what you might expect from the cinema treatment: facing off with a villain that culminates into a final battle while creating more personal ties: love interest, love interest conflict with the villain, and oh-no-Batman-might-be-dead (yeah right). There is one thing that is different from most other super hero movies, in that it does not begin with Batman’s origins. That’s not to say they aren’t revealed, but when we first meet Bruce he’s already Batman. Don’t get me wrong, I love seeing the lives of Peter Parker pre-Spider-Man and Clark Kent pre-Superman, but it’s nice to get a different pace.

My one big complaint here is that Batman doesn't seem as worried about the preservation of life as he does in many other incarnations. He will beat up and subdue criminals, but he is not a killer. Take a scene from the "Arkham Asylum" game, for an example. A thug falls down into Joker's toxic gas prompting Batman to say for the benefit of the player, “I can't let that man die.” If you don't save him you can't advance to the next part of the game. This is exactly how I think of Bats. Keaton's Batman is less concerned about such things even to the point of blowing up a building that presumably has people still inside it.

Everything about this production is outstanding, and that includes the score. While there are many good things about the newer Dark Knight movies, they can't live up to this iconic score (of which I own 2 different versions on CD). Danny Elfman’s theme is the most recognizable super-hero theme since John Williams’ Superman. I enjoy a lot of soundtracks, and this one is near the top of the list of the best ever. The songs by Prince (who may or may not be going by that name when you read this) got old fast even though I liked them as a kid, but for the most part they work within the context of the movie. I'm glad they dialed Prince down in favor of Elfman.

All in all this is a great balance of realism and comic book lore. It's still a little campy for some people, it definitely has less of the realism found in the Dark Knight series and has a more classic comic book feel mixed with a little of Burton's dark fairy tale style. It's far more gothic and modern than the old Adam West series so it doesn't take a comic book nerd like myself to appreciate it, but as a comic book nerd partial to Batman I love it.