Nothing like re-watching old favorites...
May. 25th, 2025 07:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jennaria...with more modern eyes. In this case, as I am still on my Batman kick, this means the 1989 BATMAN movie, which I saw on original release in theaters (and loved).
Do I still love it? Well...
There's kinda this idea - and it's not just mine, I found it in the editorial commentary in BATMAN: A CELEBRATION OF 75 YEARS as well - that the 1989 BATMAN is Dark and Gritty, and more Adult than the 1960s Batman. Fair's fair, the 1960s Batman is super camp! But the 1989 Batman is not actually less camp, it's just camp in a different way. It's still super stylized. These characters are, by and large, not actually behaving like regular human beings, but you don't expect them to, any more than you expect Saturday morning cartoons to behave like regular human beings. It is very much a Comic Book Movie, and I found myself still loving it as such.
(I think this is why I also enjoyed BATMAN RETURNS, and why BATMAN FOREVER and BATMAN AND ROBIN slid off the rails into yet another kind of camp - Tim Burton has a very specific style and vibe, and it matches well with this particular take on Batman. Without him, the franchise slid off the metaphorical tightrope. But this is going on memory: I haven't yet re-watched the other three films.)
Do I wish it had more than two female characters? Fuck yeah. Do I blame the movie for not breaking the mold on female characters in 1980s action movies? Yes and no. First time I re-watched the movie, a long time ago, I winced whenever Vicki Vale appeared. This time, I admit to yelling at the screen regularly, "Why are you talking about True Love? Y'all had one date! One date!" But I allowed myself to forgive the movie its bullshit, and remember the things I loved about it first.
Do I still love it? Well...
There's kinda this idea - and it's not just mine, I found it in the editorial commentary in BATMAN: A CELEBRATION OF 75 YEARS as well - that the 1989 BATMAN is Dark and Gritty, and more Adult than the 1960s Batman. Fair's fair, the 1960s Batman is super camp! But the 1989 Batman is not actually less camp, it's just camp in a different way. It's still super stylized. These characters are, by and large, not actually behaving like regular human beings, but you don't expect them to, any more than you expect Saturday morning cartoons to behave like regular human beings. It is very much a Comic Book Movie, and I found myself still loving it as such.
(I think this is why I also enjoyed BATMAN RETURNS, and why BATMAN FOREVER and BATMAN AND ROBIN slid off the rails into yet another kind of camp - Tim Burton has a very specific style and vibe, and it matches well with this particular take on Batman. Without him, the franchise slid off the metaphorical tightrope. But this is going on memory: I haven't yet re-watched the other three films.)
Do I wish it had more than two female characters? Fuck yeah. Do I blame the movie for not breaking the mold on female characters in 1980s action movies? Yes and no. First time I re-watched the movie, a long time ago, I winced whenever Vicki Vale appeared. This time, I admit to yelling at the screen regularly, "Why are you talking about True Love? Y'all had one date! One date!" But I allowed myself to forgive the movie its bullshit, and remember the things I loved about it first.