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LTTP: Batman '89 (It's awful)

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N

neogaffer1

Banned
Watched this movie a few days ago and couldn't decide whether or not I wanted to make this thread. It's such a bad movie, I struggled to keep watching. So many bad puns and jokes, and they butchered so much of the Batman canon. Batman and Joker sharing a love interest? The fuck? And since is Vicki Vale a photojournalist? And half of the interactions she has with her partner is him hitting on her. She's such an awful caricature woman who only cares about her boyfriend and ignores her job in trying to find out more about him.

And that godawful batsuit. God. It looks so inflexible and so every time you see him, he isn't a dark shadow or an imposing figure, but like an idiot wearing a rubber suit that prevents him from bending his back. He looks just so stupid.

Nicholson does a decent job as Joker, but some of his actions are confounding and nothing more than "meh" worthy stuff. Like the whole climax where he tries to marry Vale. Why? And then that scene in the museum, with fucking Prince and trying to comically destroy the art, except by this point I'm both bored and cringing so hard I want to stop watching the movie already.

I don't understand why people like it so much. Nostalgia maybe? I only pushed through because my friend (who also didn't like it) pushed me to finish it so that I would have at least watched the first modern comic book movie.

Ugh.
 
G

George Oscar Bluth II

Banned
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L

Loxley

Member
Overall I think it's a poor Batman film with some good aspects (namely the cast) that are wasted by a director who doesn't really give much of a crap about Batman as a character.

That said, I highly recommend watching it with Kevin Smith's commentary, it's hilarious. He's done one for all four of the pre-Batman Begins films.
 
J

Jigorath

Banned
Awful? Oh no no no no no. Keaton and Nicholson made this movie. Their performances and interactions were gold. Okay the plot was pretty much nonexistant and Batman and Joker are nothing like their comic book counterparts, but Keaton and Nicholson are so fun in their respective roles that I can ignore all that. Fun movie.
 
R

RP912

Banned
Hero_of_the_Day said:
Yep. I like the first enough, but it's really all about watching Nicholson and Keaton shine. Returns felt more like an actual story about characters.



Funny to say you love it, but can't sit through it.
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It's one of those movies if it comes on cable...I'm down to watch it.
 
V

VeryGooster

Banned
I still have more fun watching Batman '89 than any of the Nolan movies.

His suit is better in Returns but having watched it recently it's entertaining and painful to sit through at the same time.
 
S

Shaanyboi

Banned
Hero_of_the_Day said:
Yep. I like the first enough, but it's really all about watching Nicholson and Keaton shine. Returns felt more like an actual story about characters.



Funny to say you love it, but can't sit through it.
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...when was the last time you watched that movie? Selina's pointless goddamn monologue in-front of Shrek and Bruce in the office? Penguin's scheme changing every 20 minutes? Batman barely being in the movie at all? Returns is awful.
 
H

Hero_of_the_Day

Member
zbarron said:
Does batman murder a henchmen in '89 like he does in Returns?

If not, I prefer '89.
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He blows up a factory filled with guys, and definitely uses his bare hands to murder the shit out of everyone in the bell tower at the end, including Joker.

Shaanyboi said:
...when was the last time you watched that movie? Selina's pointless goddamn monologue in-front of Shrek and Bruce in the office? Penguin's scheme changing every 20 minutes? Batman barely being in the movie at all? Returns is awful.
Click to expand...

Christmas time, so not too long ago. Actually saw the first more recently. Returns is easily my favorite out of the first four.
 
SonicMegaDrive

SonicMegaDrive

Member
Story-wise it's not that great, but for me it's the one live action Batman movie that most perfectly strikes that balance between gritty realism and the kind of comic book stylishness that makes me enjoy superheroes so much in the first place.
 
I

Imbarkus

As Sartre noted in his contemplation on Hell in No Exit, the true horror is other members.
It's like the old Superman movies: skip ahead to the fourth one if you want to contrast it to the kind of treatment we were used to.

Danny Elfman's score was like half of the impact at the time, too.
 
D

Data West

coaches in the WNBA
Oh no, a comic book movie that doesn't follow the canon. How could that have ever happened? Just ask Two-Face about what a great job Nolan does with Batman canon. And oh man, a Joker henchman being given some kind of attention that doesn't exist in the comics?
harley_quinn_br_rafaarsen_by_rafaarsen-d817i1l.jpg
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How awful
Game4life said:
Horrible post. Begins shits on both of Tim Burton's movies.
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You mean because Beigns is literally boring shit, right?
 
T

ThoseDeafMutes

Member
It's ok. I would take any Nolan Batman over any Burton or Schumacher one though. These are films that really benefited from improved cinematography and technological advancements in special effects. It's funny now to think about the Burton batman films as the darkest and most serious incarnation of the character put to screen up until that point, really all you had before this was the Dozier/West show from the 60's, the 50's cinema shorts, and the Superfriends. If I had any kind of nostalgia for the Burton films I'm sure I'd like them more, but my first exposure was only a few years before BB (and after I'd already seen the Schumacher stuff) and in my mind BB/TDK blew them the fuck away on almost every level.
 
D

Data West

coaches in the WNBA
ThoseDeafMutes said:
It's ok. I would take any Nolan Batman over any Burton or Schumacher one though. These are films that really benefited from improved cinematography and technological advancements in special effects. It's funny now to think about the Burton batman films as the darkest and most serious incarnation of the character put to screen up until that point, really all you had before this was the Dozier/West show from the 60's, the 50's cinema shorts, and the Superfriends. If I had any kind of nostalgia for the Burton films I'm sure I'd like them more, but my first exposure was only a few years before BB (and after I'd already seen the Schumacher stuff) and in my mind BB/TDK blew them the fuck away on almost every level.
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I'll take Burton's set design and Elfman's socre over Nolan's improved cinematography and technological advancements any day of the week. And I grew up with neither Burton film(unless you count constantly seeing commercials for them.)
 
C

Currygan

at last, for christ's sake
Batman 89 is goofy as hell, looks very much like a TV episode. can't watch it anymore. Burton is horrible at action, too
 
N

neogaffer1

Banned
Data West said:
Oh no, a comic book movie that doesn't follow the canon. How could that have ever happened? Just ask Two-Face about what a great job Nolan does with Batman canon.



You mean because Beigns is literally boring shit, right?
Click to expand...

At least the characters themselves in Nolan's movies fit their comic book counterparts quite well. And the story isn't shit. And the batsuit doesn't look idiotic. And there aren't any corny/lame jokes. And it doesn't make a female protag into little more than the 50s era girlfriend character. And Batman doesn't kill people. And even at their worst, they still were good enough that you didn't want to quit watching, or at least weren't offended enough that you wanted to quit watching.

Seriously, how can anyone like Bats '89 outside of "I saw it as a kid and have lots nostalgia for it so I'll always love it whenever I see it."

Edit: You updated your post with Harley Quinn. How kind of you to give a good example of a well-written and well-justified character added in a medium outside of a comic as a comparison to the nonsense that was Bob the Goon.
 
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