warning Hi, we've moved to USCANNENBERGMEDIA.COM. Visit us there!

Neon Tommy - Annenberg digital news

Retro Movie Reviews: Why Did Batman Really Save The Joker?

Kent Martinez |
October 23, 2015 | 10:51 a.m. PDT

Columnist

Batman in 1989 (Warner Bros)
Batman in 1989 (Warner Bros)

The "Batman" plot consists of an unknown dark superhero Batman (Michael Keaton) battling the crime spree of a visually colorful yet evil villain known as the Joker (Jack Nicholson). The way he battled Joker is what made this unknown dark superhero somewhat controversial during the time of the film’s release.

In Act 1 of the film, around the 27-minute mark, Batman (relatively unknown to Gotham at this time) is attempting to stop Jack Napier’s crew at whatever cost, from whipping out evidence that incriminates Napier’s boss Carl Grissom (Jack Palance) from previous crimes.

Toward the very end of this scene -- just as Jack Napier is getting ready to shoot commissioner Gordon (Pat Hingle) -- Batman rescues Gordon by jump kicking the gun right out of Napier’s hand, grabbing Napier by the shirt and lifting him off the ground. Bob (Tracey Walter), Napier’s right hand man, puts a gun next to Gordon’s head and threatens Batman that he will shoot if Napier isn't released. Batman reluctantly lets Napier go and disappears before Napier attempts to shoot him.

Napier then turns around and shoots his partner in crime Lt. Max Eckhardt (William Hootkins), who is revealed to have set him up during the entire operation. Batman reappears right before his very eyes and Napier attempts to shoot him only to have Batman block the gun shot with his armor which bounces off Napier’s face, throwing him off the edge momentarily. Napier is then hanging on for dear life.

Here is where the controversy comes in!

While Nappier is hanging on for dear life, Batman makes an “attempt” to rescue him by grabbing his hand, and pulling him up to the barricade. While he is pulling him up, Batman has a look in his eye as if a part of him wants to save Jack, while the other really doesn’t. Then there is that moment where Batman finally lets him go. So did Batman actually let him fall? Did Batman create the Joker? Did Batman seek revenge for all the chaos and destruction that Napier had caused? It feels like Batman was more reluctant to helping him, more so than dropping him into that vat of chemicals. Batman, throughout his history, has always stood for a fair system and has stopped the bad guys the right way. His eyes are what gave him away. He had a look unlike any other he had ever had up until that point in any of the previous Batman movies.

READ MORE: White Casting Serves As A Modern-Day Issue

The "Batman" shows throughout the 60s were never a serious attempt to showcase the dark crusader in all of his glory, but the Batman movie directed in 1989 by Tim Burton was. So by Batman doing what he did, it may have made audiences wonder, is this who the Batman is going to be? Did audiences appreciate this possibility of a character? More importantly, why didn’t anyone make a bigger deal about this scene during that time? Batman failed as a superhero in this scene. Just to remind everyone, he did this act of revenge without even knowing that this was the man who cold bloodily murdered his parent’s right in front of him when he was a child. What more would he have done to Jack had he had this knowledge prior to "helping" him from falling into the vat of chemicals.   

Is this an act of saving or revenge? (Warner Bros)
Is this an act of saving or revenge? (Warner Bros)

Now, my professors and friends argue that this scene and Batman’s actions are open to interpretations -- no disrespect to my friends' brilliant minds and analysis -- but this scene isn’t open to interpretation and Batman made that clear by the look he had in his face the second he dropped Napier onto the vat of chemicals. The fact is, if that had been Vicky (Kim Basinger) or Alfred (Michael Gough) hanging on to the edge of that barricade, Batman would have put a lot more effort in trying to save them, including throwing himself to rescue them. 

A big theory as to why this particular Batman character had to be so vicious and dark has everything to do with the actor used for this role in Michael Keaton. Keaton comes off as a really nice guy who appears not to be suited to play the dark superhero because of his charming attributes, which is exactly why Burton may have gone the directorial direction he ended up going in. Keaton has to prove to the hardcore fan that he is the real Batman and is just as capable of playing this character as any legit actor was at that time. If another actor had played this Batman character for this particualr movie, maybe that Batman would’ve been as violent and dark because there would have been no need for him to proof that he was suited to play this superhero.

READ MORE: 'Empire' Season One Recap

During the climax of the film, Jack Napier who now is the Joker, attempts to flee from batman and the police by hanging on to a ladder connected to a helicopter that’s ready for takeoff. Batman who now is hanging on to the edge of a building for dear life and at the same time, protecting Vicky Vaile from falling hundreds of feet down, throws a grappling hook from his armor that leaches on to the bottom of Jokers leg. Joker is now in the same situation that he was in before, facing the possibility to again, fall down only this time straight to his death if he were to fall onto that concrete floor. Batman ultimately caused Joker to fall a second time and soon after rescued himself and Vicky Vaile.

Now was this too dark for the Batman to do as well? Now Joker turning Batman into a lonely dark superhero I can understand, but Batman turning an evil villain into an even more evil villain is where the controversy came in.

Retro Movie Reviews is a weekly column by Kent Martinez, published every Friday. Read other Retro Movie Reviews here.

Reach Columnist Kent Martinez here. Follow him on Twitter here.



 

Buzz

Craig Gillespie directed this true story about "the most daring rescue mission in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard.”

Watch USC Annenberg Media's live State of the Union recap and analysis here.

 
ntrandomness