Most critics respond favourably to Tim Burton’s Batman, with praise clustering around its gothic Gotham City, imposing sets and dark comic-strip atmosphere. The reviews repeatedly credit Burton with giving the material a distinctive visual style, while several also admire the score and the use of sound and image to suggest character. Michael Keaton’s haunted restraint and Jack Nicholson’s expansive Joker draw substantial praise, though Nicholson’s dominance is not universally welcomed.
The spread is wide: admirers find the imagery and performances compelling despite script weaknesses, while detractors see an unfocused story with too little suspense or emotional depth. The Guardian argues that Nicholson overwhelms the film and pushes it towards parody; Time Out welcomes his humour but finds Keaton’s Batman underdeveloped. The central disagreement is how much the atmosphere compensates for the plotting, with even several sceptical reviews acknowledging the strength of Gotham’s design.
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The New Yorker
3 July 1989 · Pauline Kael
85*
Burton has given the material a look, tone, and eerie intensity that goes beyond pulp into a powerfully glamorous spectacle with potent images and a poetic quality. The film captures the romantic flight of the Batman myth through its nightmarish Gotham City and strong visual stylization, despite some script shortcomings.
The critic praises Burton for taking Batman into dark comic-strip nightmare while weaving an arresting tale with Shakespearean irony, capturing Bob Kane's spirit in a sophisticated film noir with black humour and creepy images. Singles out the performances of Keaton and Nicholson placed in the same psychological bracket, and the impressive Gotham City set.
The critic highlights how the film stands out for its distinctive visual sensibility and personal directorial vision despite some pacing and plotting issues. Burton's gothic Gotham City design and the performances, particularly Jack Nicholson's Joker, are singled out for praise.
The review calls the film the most intelligent adaptation ever made from a comic book, crediting Tim Burton with restoring the dark, serious tone of the original 1939 creation and dispelling the camp of the 1960s TV series.
Burton effectively echoes the visual style of the original comics while conjuring a nightmarish world of his own, with strong visual stylization and film-noir influences. Keaton captures the haunted intensity of Batman, Nicholson steals scenes as the Joker in a masterpiece of sinister comic acting, and the film will appeal to purists.
The critic finds Burton's version compelling for its expressionistic use of sound and image to convey character and theme. The operatic score, surreal Gotham design, and broad acting style are noted as key elements that complement later interpretations like Nolan's.
The film is a triumph of design over story, with a visually distinctive Gotham City but a plot and characters that fail to engage. Burton excels at creating an atmospheric noir-inspired world, but the movie lacks suspense, fun, and emotional depth.
The critic praises the striking visual design of Gotham City as a dark, Blade Runner-inspired urban hellscape that suits Burton's serious take on the material. However, Jack Nicholson's flamboyant, scene-stealing performance as the Joker overwhelms the film, turning it into parody and leaving Michael Keaton's Batman in the shade.
Burton turns his back on camp to create a menacing atmosphere and shiveringly dense, poetic Gotham City with strong production design and score. The screenplay flops about and is disastrously low on wit, leaving the characters without a fighting chance.
The movie is an elaborate but shapeless reincarnation of the comic-book character that meanders from one image to the next without sustaining its vision. Production design is evocative, but the story and title character remain underwhelming despite strong performances from Nicholson and Keaton.
The review finds the film plotless and unfocused like Dune, held together by sets and Burton's flair, but abandons promising angles for a slugging match; praises Nicholson's Joker for stealing the movie with humour, complains about Keaton's Batman lacking depth in the suit and Basinger's over-inflated role.
The critic calls it the best and deepest Batman film, praising Tim Burton's Gothic vision before it turned campier, Anton Furst's astonishing set design, Michael Keaton's slightly dotty Bruce Wayne, and Jack Nicholson's unrestrained, showboating performance as the Joker that dominates the gloomy expressionist world.
The critic praises the film as a stunning achievement thanks to Tim Burton's unique visualization. The surrealistic visual style of Gotham City and strong performances, especially by Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson, stand out as major strengths.
The critic calls Michael Keaton the definitive Batman and praises the film as one of the best in the genre due to its cohesive vision. Burton's distinctive gothic Gotham, practical sets, and the contrasting performances of Keaton and Jack Nicholson as the Joker are singled out for praise.
The piece positions the film as the key work that established the dark, gothic tone for modern Batman depictions and launched the superhero movie boom. It singles out Burton's twisted, Expressionist Gotham City and its atmospheric influence on later adaptations for particular note.
Ordered by the weight we give each publication, then by score. Scores are normalised to 100; * means inferred from an unrated review. Summaries are ours, not quotations; follow the links for the reviews themselves. How we rate
