by Max Scheinin Read more of Max's work at http://www.garfieldlib.com/yanews/july97/max/max.html
Batman is not a perfect movie. It is a perfect entertainment. It takes place in a dark world in which no one is safe. Police roam every street but they are no match to the criminals. A new breed is rising. Led by...the Joker. A grotesque face that never stops smiling is the mask that serves Jack Napier, the criminal who, as a young man, killed the parents of Bruce Wayne. Wayne swore that he would protect the night skies and grew up into Batman, a cowled figure who, in dark shadow, swoops by the moon as a warning to all those who do not abide the law.
Batman, according to the internet's Scott Renshaw, is at this point the eleventh highest grossing film of all time. It made 251.2 million dollars. It is the only art house block-buster ever made. Yes, I consider it a work of art--Batman as Batman should be. Dark annd secluded, living alone in the Wayne manor atop a stormy hill. But Burton never forgets that his subject is a comic book character--he keeps him fun. Now that we've been awarded three awful sequels--Batman Returns, Batman Forever, Batman And Robin--we can sneer at the Batman name, but that's not fair. Burton created a kind of comic book masterpiece--I wouldn't quite place it on par with all-time genre classics like Back To The Future, Jaws and Raiders Of The Lost Ark. But all those would be in my personal top 30--coming from me, I would like to believe that that is quite a compliment. Rather, comparisons with The Fugitive are on par--it's exciting and funny, crisply edited and a joy to watch. The Fugitive would be in my top 50--which is still a high place--and so would Batman. There's a moment in the film when we see what a film of this sort should be like--the Batplane flies by the moon--what an unforgettable image.
In the end everything works out as planned and we see a stylish little adventure flick that does what it wants to--it keeps all who watch enthralled in the tale of Batman.
Grade: A
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