Movies
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Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
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Wide Releases
Now In Theaters
76
(500) Days of Summer
60
9
17
All About Steve
37
Amelia
53
Astro Boy
66
Bandslam
45
Box, The
61
Capitalism: A Love Story
55
Christmas Carol, A
43
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant
66
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
29
Collector, The
23
Couples Retreat
80
District 9
61
Extract
39
Fame
xx
Fantastic Mr. Fox
30
Final Destination, The
34
Fourth Kind, The
60
Funny People
32
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
27
Gamer
41
G-Force
39
Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, The
46
Halloween II
73
Hangover, The
78
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
55
I Can Do Bad All By Myself
66
Informant!, The
69
Inglourious Basterds
58
Invention of Lying, The
47
Jennifer's Body
66
Julie & Julia
34
Law Abiding Citizen
33
Love Happens
54
Men Who Stare At Goats, The
67
Michael Jackson's This Is It
51
My Sister's Keeper
42
Orphan
28
Pandorum
63
Perfect Getaway, A
86
Ponyo![]()
35
Post Grad
48
Proposal, The
30
Saw VI
53
Shorts
24
Sorority Row
83
Star Trek![]()
33
Stepfather, The
45
Surrogates
55
Taking Woodstock
47
Time Traveler's Wife
96
Toy Story/Toy Story 2 3D![]()
35
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
28
Ugly Truth, The
88
Up![]()
71
Where the Wild Things Are
67
Whip It
28
Whiteout
73
Zombieland
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Limited Releases
Now In Theaters
58
(Untitled)
96
35 Shots of Rum![]()
56
Adam
72
Adela
39
Adventures of Power
78
Afghan Star
61
After the Storm
66
Afterschool
xx
All the Best
58
American Casino
72
Amreeka
48
Antichrist
73
Araya
62
Art & Copy
55
As Seen Through These Eyes
76
Baader Meinhof Complex, The
86
Beaches of Agnes, The![]()
13
Beautiful Life, A
70
Beeswax
35
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt
71
Big Fan
66
Black Dynamite
51
Blind Date
xx
Blind Pig Who Wants to Fly
76
Bliss
35
Blue Tooth Virgin, The
26
Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, The
57
Boys Are Back, The
45
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
81
Bright Star![]()
70
Bronson
45
Burning Plain, The
xx
Carriers
55
Casi Divas
57
Chelsea on the Rocks
62
Cloud 9
65
Coco Before Chanel
69
Cold Souls
59
Collapse
44
Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
82
Cove, The![]()
75
Crude
82
Damned United, The![]()
67
Departures
xx
Dil Bole Hadippa
71
Disgrace
xx
Do Knot Disturb
70
Earth Days
24
Eating Out 3: All You Can Eat
85
Education, An![]()
55
Endgame
xx
Eulogy for a Vampire
xx
Everyone Else
xx
Fatal Promises
56
Fifty Dead Men Walking
62
Five Minutes of Heaven
74
Flame & Citron
49
Food Beware: The French Organic Revolution
80
Food, Inc.
28
Free Style
xx
From Mexico with Love
50
Fuel
25
Gentlemen Broncos
50
Give Me Your Hand
58
Gogol Bordello Non-Stop
72
Good Hair
89
Goodbye Solo![]()
52
Grace
66
Harmony and Me
81
Headless Woman, The![]()
xx
Heretics, The
63
Horse Boy, The
73
House of the Devil, The
xx
How to Seduce Difficult Women
74
Humpday
94
Hurt Locker, The![]()
29
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
16
If One Thing Matters: A Film About Wolfgang Tillmans
75
In Search of Beethoven
83
In the Loop![]()
61
Intimate Enemies
42
Irene in Time
70
It Might Get Loud
46
Killing Kasztner
19
Labor Day
xx
Laila's Birthday
41
Little Ashes
41
Little Traitor, The
66
Liverpool
34
Looking for Palladin
80
Lorna's Silence
83
Maid, The![]()
xx
Ministers, The
59
More Than a Game
67
Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, The
34
Motherhood
62
My One and Only
xx
Mystery Team
48
New York, I Love You
73
Night and Day
66
No Impact Man
47
Ong Bak 2: The Beginning
34
Other Man, The
xx
Painter Sam Francis, The
54
Paper Heart
xx
Paradise
68
Paranormal Activity
68
Paris
44
Peter and Vandy
35
Play the Game
77
Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire
xx
Pretty Ugly People
65
Providence Effect, The
76
Rembrandt's J'accuse
69
September Issue, The
79
Serious Man, A
40
Shrink
61
Skin
77
Skin Too Few: The Days of Nick Drake, A
xx
Skiptracers
46
Splinterheads
39
St. Trinian's
89
Still Walking![]()
50
Stoning of Soraya M., The
55
Storm
65
Tetro
70
That Evening Sun
72
Thirst
xx
Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D (re-release)
61
Trucker
xx
Turning Green
83
U2 3D![]()
66
Unmade Beds
66
Unmistaken Child
70
Visual Acoustics
55
Walt & El Grupo
67
Way We Get By, The
69
We Live in Public
64
Wedding Song, The
64
Where is Where?
xx
White on Rice
74
Woman in Berlin, A
69
World's Greatest Dad
70
Yes Men Fix the World
69
Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
xx
You, the Living
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Batman

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 17 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 43 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Sci-fi
Written by:
Bob Kane (Batman characters)
Sam Hamm (also story)
Warren Skaaren
Directed by: Tim Burton
Release Date:
Theatrical: June 23, 1989
DVD: April 15, 1997
Running Time: 126 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13
Starring Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl, Pat Hingle, Billy Dee Williams, Michael Gough, and Jack Palance
Tim Burton's 1989 Blockbuster introduces us to the origins of Gotham City's fearless crimestopper Batman (Keaton) and his arch-enemy The Joker (Nicholson).
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Batman & Robin Beetlejuice Big Fish Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Ed Wood Edward Scissorhands Mars Attacks! Pee-wee's Big Adventure Planet of the Apes Sleepy Hollow Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street The Nightmare Before Christmas
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Washington Post Hal Hinson
The movie fixes you in its gravitational pull. It's an enveloping, walk-in vision... As rich and satisfying a movie as you're likely to see all year.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
It's a rare, beautifully made movie that offers you another world. [23 June 1989, Daily Datebook, p.E1]
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
In short, Batman is terrific - funny, smart and sensitive too, the perfect cinematic date.
Read Full Review >Variety Staff (Not Credited)
Nicholson embellishes fascinatingly baroque designs with his twisted features, lavish verbal pirouettes and inspired excursions into the outer limits of psychosis. It's a masterpiece of sinister comic acting.
Read Full Review >Empire Andrew Collins
Jack Nicholson as The Joker helpfully provides all the colour.
Read Full Review >USA Today Mike Clark
There's a cold intelligence at work here. Though its pleasures are plentiful enough to reward a second viewing, only Nicholson has saved Warners from a wing-clip. [23 June 1989, Life, p.1D]
Chicago Tribune Dave Kehr
Burton's Gotham City-constructed on a massive sound stage in London- is a striking blend of spindly gothic, decaying art deco and broodingly bland institutional architecture that seems to lie just a couple of subway stops down from Ridley Scott's ''Blade Runner'' and Terry Gilliam's ''Brazil.'' It's great to look at, but we seem to have been here before. [23 June 1989, Friday, p.A]
The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann
It's relatively easy to convey the claustral in interior scenes, but [designer] Furst and the director Tim Burton do it even when the setting is a great flight of steps before the municipal building or the huge square where Batman and the joker confront each other. [31 July 1989, p.24]
The New Yorker Pauline Kael
It has so many unpredictable spins that what's missing doesn't seem to matter much. The images sing. [10 July 1989]
ReelViews James Berardinelli
Batman is largely content to skim the surface and bask in the light of its visual style.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
It would be a lot better if it didn't lean exclusively on bone-crunching action for its climactic thrills, and the story continues long after its ideas have started to sag. [29 June 1989, Arts, p.10]
Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
The main problem is that Burton operates best on a modest scale; saddled with a blockbuster, he doesn't know how to animate all the dead space.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Staff (Non Credited)
Despite its interesting, grim tone and undeniably striking visuals from director Burton and production designer Furst, the film fails to synthesize its strengths into a compelling whole.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The movie's problem is that no one seemed to have any fun making it, and it's hard to have much fun watching it. It's a depressing experience.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Vincent Canby
It's neither funny nor solemn. It has the personality not of a particular movie but of a product, of something arrived at by corporate decision.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Sheila Benson
The Joker has been demoted into a broad-scale sociopath, without a tempter's power or a mythic villain's complexity. And that's the movie's real undoing. [23 June 1989, Calendar, p.6-1]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.8 (out of 10) based on 43 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Rick F gave it a10:
The only film to still capture every essence of my imagination.
Michael gave it a10:
The best (numero uno) superhero movie of all time. Mops the floor with Batman Begins a thousand times over. Will never be topped.
Shock gave it a10:
This film and Batman Returns are the only films to actually explore the psychology of Batman. It doesn't rely on cliche characterization of the title character or heavy handed moralizing either - just a dark and brooding Batman.
Henry T. gave it a10:
I love this film best batman film ever the joker's great and batman's great I don't like the new Dark knight film the joker looks terrible.
Jared B. gave it a10:
I saw this movie when it first came out in 1989. To me, this is how action films are supposed to be done. Michael Keaton was a better Batman than even Adam West, and certainly better than Val Kilmer or George Clooney. Jack Nicholson was perfect as the Joker. He was mean, menacing, and very, very funny. Kim Basinger made an absolutely beautiful Vicki Vale. Tim Burton's visual style is astounding. If you want an action-packed film with an uncomplicated plot, "Batman" is just what you are looking for. On a scale of 1-10, this movie rates a ten, only because the scale doesn't go to 11.
[Anonymous] gave it an8:
First Batman doesn't have the personal moral resonance and depth of Batman begins. However, this films got another card to play...the brilliant Jack Nicholson cranks out the ultimate joker.
Luke T gave it a9:
Having seen this on AMC and just bought it on DVD, i can say with some certainty that this is one of the best superhero movies I've ever seen. Jack as the Joker is deliciously evil (could have done without the Prince music though) and Keaton captures the psychological pain of Bruce/Batman. I gave this the same rating I gave to Batman Begins because both EXCEL with strong performances and the serious atmosphere of Gotham. However, it looks increasingly that The Dark Knight will surpass both with an even better cast and a truly menacing-looking Joker (played by Heath Ledger). May Nolan continue to build on the seriousness and quality of, not only Batman Begins, but also Burton's (while maintaining his own style).
